Protein Losing Nephropathy

[HJsM]

Does anyone know much about this or had a dog that suffered from it?

 

If your dog survived, what did you do?

 

edit: i have "googled" and am learning some, but any first person stuff is good, too.

Edited March 31, 2010 by HJsM

[Guest Fasave]

My guy had both PLE and PLN. I always get the two confused but I believe that PLN is protein losing through the kidneys (kidney disease) and PLE is protein losing through the gut. I believe a lot of people here on GT can offer you a lot of advise on both. I would recommend a special diet. For PLN, low protein is often recommended.

[MP_the4pack]

Nephropathy is kidney. Anything with 'nephro' in the word is kidney.

 

My Onyx has it right now, she is losing protein thru her kidneys but the vets are calling it glomerulonephritis.

I lost my first girl to liver disease and that was PLE.

 

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[3DogNite]

Nephropathy is kidney. Anything with 'nephro' in the word is kidney.

 

My Onyx has it right now, she is losing protein thru her kidneys but the vets are calling it glomerulonephritis.

I lost my first girl to liver disease and that was PLE.

 

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

 

 

My Rascal too has been diagnosed with the Glomerulonephritis.

when i googled Protein Losing Nephropathy the description is the same as Glomerulonephritis.

 

And here I thought I was the only one right now going thru this - Knowledge is power, i just wish this disease were treatable.

 

How is Onyx? when was she diagnosed?

 

for our babies!

Edited March 31, 2010 by 3DogNite

[greyhndz]

PLN is the loss of protein, in this case, through the filtering cells of the kidneys. For whatever reason (autoimmune disease, infection, congenital, etc.) the portions of the kidney filtration system that are supposed to hold protein within the blood vessels do not function normally, so protein then spills into the urine. (There should not, as a general rule, be protein in the urine.)

 

Several problems must be considered: the loss of protein, resulting in low albumin/protein levels in the blood; and the underlying kidney disease that caused the proteinuria (protein in urine).

 

Depending upon which part of the kidney filtration system, you may or may not be steered toward a kidney diet. Most kidney diets have lower protein, but of greater importance is lowering the phosphorous level in the blood, which can become very elevated in kidney disease. Many dogs (and humans) with nephropathy are also put onto ace inhibitors such as enalapril and benazopril.

 

The first thing your vet should have done was to check all kidney functions, check the urine including cultures to rule out infection, and obtain a UPC: urine protein creatinine ratio. This quantitates the amount of protein in the urine and is a good marker of disease progression. The vet will also likely get a renal ultrasound as well.

 

I think it's always a good idea to consult an internal medicine vet who has a special interest in nephrology, and who can continue to monitor your pup on a regular basis.

 

An excellent, easy-to-understand webpage is DogAware: Lots of great info to be found.There are also some very good home-cooked diets for kidney disease.

 

My iggy, Lexi, battled renal disease for 2 years, and if you'd like any more details, please PM me. I also still have much of the literature I collected, including diets, when Lexi was diagnosed.

 

I hope things go well for your pup. WIth a special diet, meds and regular follow-up, I'd bet that your pup's PLN can improve.

[EllenEveBaz]

My Scout had it for about three years. For two of those years, it stayed well controlled with a low phosphorus diet as suggested by the research cited on the Dog Aware site suggested above, acupuncture, and Azodyl (probiotic supplement -- see the Dog Aware site for reference). We monitored for high blood pressure, as that is a common accompanying condition. We also needed to be careful about fat content, as dogs with kidney conditions are evidently more prone to pancreatitis. Scout had several bouts of pancreatitis in his last six months.

 

Scout had a happy, vigorous life for almost all of those three years, until his death at age 13. His last couple of months saw rapidly rising BUN and creatinine values, and rapid weight loss and muscle wasting in spite of large amounts eaten.

 

I have recently moved and my office is still a wreck, but I'll try to look for a copy of a veterinary research article on this condition by Couto and colleagues.

Edited April 14, 2010 by EllenEveBaz

[Guest lindarose]

Does anyone have an idea what the chances are for a 4 yr old male greyhound that has a female littermate diagnosed with PLN, to inherit this disease? We have the male in foster care now and we are waiting for test results on him, because the family wanting to adopt him is hesitant because of his littermate. He is showing no physical signs of this disorder, it's just precaution testing requested by potential adopters.

Thanks,

Linda

[tbhounds]

I think the question you need to ask is why the littermate has pln. Is it secondary to a disease (Lyme for example)?

[Guest lindarose]

From what the owner said, the vet couldn't tell him what could have caused it...no lymes disease or any other illness.

[Guest lindarose]

Actually our foster boy had blood and urine sent away to be tested and we got it back today and everything is excelent, no sighs of the disease. We wanted to get it done before he got adopted, only because his littermate sister has it and we wanted to check him out to put our mind at rest. He is getting adopted tomorrow!!!!!

I also read that females are more likely to get this than males.

Thank you,

Linda

[Guest Forewatch]

Hi. My girl Laura developed PLN four years ago. I had her seen by an internist who specializes in kidneys. She put Laura on a special diet (I cook for her). She's also on two blood pressure medications. I have her checked every six months and her kidneys have been stable. She's now 13 1/2 and still doing (slow) zoomies in my back yard!

 

I think the key is to find someone who really knows kidneys and get your dog on a plan.

[Guest lindarose]

The female that has this is also on a special prescrption diet and I remember the owner telling me she is also on blood pressure meds..

I'm gad your Laura is still doing well especially since she was diagnosed 4 years ago. I've been hearing 2-3 years life expectancy after it is diagnosed. Iguess it all depends on how early it is caught. The female's name is Lola and I hope she has a lot of years ahead of her. I'm going to be dog sitting her next tuesday. I've had her several times when her daddy vacations or has to go away for work. She's a sweet little girl. I'm hoping her littermate Rufus never gets it. they will have testing done every year as a precaution. He's in his new home now and they just love him!!

Thank you for your response

Linda