Questioning Lab Results

[macoduck]

Wally is 8. We've only had him since August. His previous medical record showed many vet visits, mostly diarrhea, nothing serious. Very few lab values were recorded for his previous owner. Contacted the clinic and they have nothing more either.

 

So Wally goes for his heartworm test Monday and it was OK. He'd been skipping breakfast most of the week but would eat in the afternoon. Pees and poops fine. Had some ear mites, on drops for that.

 

Since I wanted his thyroid re-checked (he's on .8 soloxine) and they were drawing blood, vet said let's run a panel.

 

His T4 was 2.1 so he'll stay on his Soloxine.

 

However, Wally's got a few highs on the lab results:

BUN 28

CREA 2.1

ALB 4.0

TBIL 1.4

 

Vet said this could be the beginning of some kidney problems and by later in the year he may need to go on a KD diet.

I just read Dr Feeman's paper on kidney disease and it said these values can be slightly higher in a greyhound and not mean there is kidney disease. He recommended some urine tests.

 

Vet was in no hurry to re-test any time soon (which is good for my wallet). And I'd told him Wally would be back in October for his annual vaccinations and re-check.

 

Wally does have a bad habit of not wanting to go out to potty before bedtime and has no problem holding his bladder overnight.

 

Do these values look alarming to anyone? Any harm in waiting til October to re-check? Should I insist on a urine check now?

[Guest Tigonie]

I'm sorry, I can never keep the numbers straight so I can't help you with those. But I did have a few thoughts.

 

For a urine test, you shouldn't need an office visit--just drop off pee in a cup. If it's still looking like kidney problems, they may send you to a specialist for an ultrasound (was about $300.00 for us). If you wind up using a prescription diet, Purina NF is cheaper and does the same thing, so if it's available, you might also consider that. If your vet prescribes Enalapril, which is common for kidney treatment, it's a $4 prescription at WalMart/Target/etc. for 30 days' worth of pills.

Edited March 18, 2008 by Tigonie

[Guest CyndiW]

I am curious to read all the responses on this because I have 2 (age 11 and 12.5) that have crea - 2.2 and bun - mid 30s. They do not drink excessively or need to go out any more than anybody else. Specific gravity is always fine so I have chose to not do anything just yet.

[StridersSis]

Lizzie has kidney disease and just had a full workup and her values are in the "high normal" which the vet said is NORMAL for greyhounds because their baseline values are higher than most dogs. Lizzie is on KD because she was heading to kidney failure and as you see the vet said shes doing great. I know the greyhound values are around on the board somewhere, I hope someone can quick link it for you. Good luck

[tbhounds]

Actually, I don't think those renal #'s look that bad. I would just drop off a first a.m. urine sample so your vet can check the specific gravity just to make sure he's still concentrating the urine. The total bili is a bit high according to the lab we use (normal is 0.0-0.4) but, if all other values are within the normal reference range and your vet's not worried I personally would wait to re-test.

[macoduck]

Thanks for the info so far - keep it coming.

This is Dr Feeman's article that I was referring to:

kidney disease

[Guest Tigonie]

If your vet prescribes Enalapril, which is common for kidney treatment, it's a $4 prescription at WalMart/Target/etc. for 30 days' worth of pills.

I misspoke: it's $4 for 30 pills. We do two a day, so for us that's 15 days worth.

 

ETA: Is this the Greyhound Blood Work link you're looking for?

Edited March 19, 2008 by Tigonie

[macoduck]

If your vet prescribes Enalapril, which is common for kidney treatment, it's a $4 prescription at WalMart/Target/etc. for 30 days' worth of pills.

I misspoke: it's $4 for 30 pills. We do two a day, so for us that's 15 days worth.

 

ETA: Is this the Greyhound Blood Work link you're looking for?

 

Looking at Dr Stack's info, Wally's got 2 other higher readings that would have been normal for other dogs:

TP 7.3

GLOB 3.3

[Guest ss556]

Alan has kidney disease and his BUN is 40 and creatinine is 2.3;

alb 2.8 and total bilirubin 0.5. all are elevated except his albumin.

 

giving you these numbers as a comparison- although the reference range may differ.

[turbotaina]

Here's Turbo's most recent SuperChem. The numbers on the left are his, the second set of numbers is the reference range. My vet saw nothing alarming in his numbers, but said "he's all greyhound." We ran a u/a just for kicks and his urine was fine, concentrated normally, etc. No kidney disease flags whatsoever. He's a 7 y/o neutered male, eats a high protein diet:

 

Glucose 90 70-138 mg/dL

Urea Nitrogen 34 (HIGH) 6-25 mg/dL

Creatinine 1.8 (HIGH) 0.5-1.6 mg/dL

Total Protein 6.1 5.0-7.4 g/dL

Albumin 3.0 2.7-4.4 g/dL

Total Bilirubin 0.2 0.1-0.3 mg/dL

Alkaline Phosphatase 18 5-131 U/L

ALT (SGPT) 44 12-118 U/L

AST (SGOT) 43 15-66 U/L

Cholesterol 140 92-324 mg/dL

Calcium 9.5 8.9-11.4 mg/dL

Phosphorus 5.0 2.5-6.0 mg/dL

Sodium 149 139-154 mEq/L

Potassium 4.7 3.6-5.5 mEq/L

Chloride 112 102-120 mEq/L

Albumin/Globulin Ratio 1.0 0.8-2.0 RATIO

BUN/Creatinine Ratio 19 4-27 RATIO

Globulin 3.1 1.6-3.6 g/dL

Lipase 239 77-695 U/L

Amylase 720 290-1125 U/L

Triglycerides 103 29-291 mg/dL

CPK 212 59-895 U/L

GGTP 10 1-12 U/L

Magnesium 1.7 1.5-2.5 mEq/L

Corrected Calcium 10.0

 

 

[GeorgeofNE]

George's creatinine is a little high--without a urine test, the vet can't say for sure if those values are normal greyhound high, or high!

 

George's urine is TOTALLY normal, so nothing to worry about (I sent his blood work and urine results to Dr. Couto, because my vet insisted on redoing the blood and urine over and over and over) and he confirmed that absent any symptoms of kidney disease, if the urine is normal, slight elevations to BUN and creatinine are to be expected in a greyhound--but I don't think I'd feel comfortable assuming that would the urinalysis. You don't need a culture, just a regular UA, and that's not expensive (even at my over priced vet)!

 

Good luck!! I hope it's all ok.

[feemandvm]

I'd get the urine checked now. You'll primarily want ot look at 2 things:

 

1. Protein in hte urine. If the protein level is high, you may need a "urine protein:creatinine ratio" done to quantify the amount of protein.

 

2. The urine specific gravity. If the urine is concentrating well... the mild elevations noted in BUN and creatinine are normal.

[Guest spider9174]

did they do any Urine tests or test for BUN/Creatinin levels in the urine?

 

My boys BUN/Creatinin levels sit where your pups are.

 

Can you have a Urin test done, maybe an ERD test and the creatinin levels in the urnine tested. Then recheck blood work in 3-6 months?

 

OH and is your vet, grey savvy?

[macoduck]

I just dropped some urine to do the urine protein creatinine ratio and urine specific gravity tests. Vet has shipped it to Idexx and we should hear something by Tuesday.

 

[Guest Sassy]

Over the years, I've seen a number of greys with creatinine in the 2.0 - 2.3 range who were perfectly healthy. Some greyhounds have what some would consider high creatnine levels, but it is normal for that dog. As long as everything else is fine and the dog is healthy, it is probably just normal for that dog.

Edited April 1, 2008 by Sassy