Upc

[Charlies_Dad]

Our Charlie has shown protein in his urine twice over the last 5 weeks when he has gone in to the vets (for bloodwork and monitoring). The last test was done was a UPC (urine protein/creatinine ratio) and the result is 2.7 which is high. The vet said not to get too worried yet as we are going to do another in a couple weeks. I did some searching on GT and didn't like what I was reading about kidney issues. My question is how high is 2.7? Below were the actual numbers:

 

Protein 467 mg/dl

Creatinine 15323 umol/L

 

Thanks for any help.

[greyhead]

Can't be of any help, Kyle. But I hope someone happens along who can be. And I hope this gets resolved quickly.

 

 

[tbhounds]

Yup 2.7 is high. Anything over 0.5 is a concern. Your pup may have Glomerulonephritis. A high quality low protein diet may help as well as enalapril. Check your pups blood pressure.

Oh-I wanted to add that you should ask your vet about starting aspirin--if he has GN then he may tend to have a thrombo event (clots).

Edited November 26, 2010 by tbhounds

[Burpdog]

Is he on any drugs?

[tbhounds]

I forgot to ask--did you do a urine culture??

[Charlies_Dad]

GN is one of the things I researched. We'll have Charlie's blood pressure checked and a urine culture as I don't know if they did this or not. Also we'll ask about the aspirin. Just another worry we have for a boy...

 

Diane - He is on Palladia however they do not note this as potential side effect however then again every pup is different. Three days on from between 80mg to 100mg and then three days off. He is also on Artemisinin, 200mg, 7 days on, 7 days off.

[Burpdog]

I thought he had osteo, not mast cell? Re side effects: it's manufactured by Pfizer. They like to do their testing on general population..... It's only been approved recently.

 

Safety

The safety analysis included 151 animals (64 placebo-treated, 87 PHA-291639E-treated). The National Cancer Institute’s Canine-Adapted Common Toxicity Criteria (C-ACTC) was used to assign severity of grade 1, 2, 3 or 4 to the clinical signs. For those adverse events not listed in Table 10, grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 corresponded to mild, moderate, severe and life-threatening, respectively.

 

Table 10: Canine Adapted Common Toxicity Criteria

 

Creatinine

0

1

2

3

4

Creatinine 0.5-1.6 mg/dl

Creatinine 1.7-2.0 mg/dl

Creatinine 2.0-3.5 mg/dl

Creatinine 3.5- 4.5 mg/dl

Creatinine >4.5 mg/dl or clinical uremia

 

 

 

 

 

Original FDA Application

[Charlies_Dad]

Diane,

 

Yes he has Osteo. We chose the Palladia and Artemisinin protocol as that is what Dr. Coutu suggested. While Palladia was created for mass cell tumours, he stated it has shown some positive effects in preventing/reducing/controling lung mets. So we chose to go this path rather than do nothing. Now I am wondering whether the drug is causing him the issue. I guess the only way to find out is to stop taking it for a period and retest.

[tbhounds]

Just wanted to comment that GN is not uncommon in our GH's.

[Guest Gingergrey]

I'm hoping and praying that Charlie shows improvement soon. Hugs to you and Charlie.

[mychip1]

Many prayers for Charlie.

[EllenEveBaz]

Sending hugs and ear scritches to Charlie. I don't know anything about medications causing kidney problems, but here's a website that was helpful during the years we were managing Scout's chronic kidney problems: Diet info for kidney problems in dogs. In Scout's last year, we also gave him Azodyl, a nutritional supplement for kidney problems. It brought down his creatinine levels.

Edited November 29, 2010 by EllenEveBaz

[joejoesmom]

Kyle,

 

My Shelby (one of my whipadors -- half whippet and we think half black lab) has had kidney problems for 1 1/2 years now. She turned 14 this past August. She has done well on a low phosphorus / low protein diet. We use Iam's early stage renal diet (prescription and pricy of course). It has reduced the protein in her urine to an acceptable level. If my memory serves me correctly, these are the things we did:

 

1) Urinalysis showed dilute urine and protein

2) Culture showed nothing (did this twice)

3) Protein/creatinine ratio was bad

4) Ultrasound showed minor kidney changes indicative of glomerular nephritis

5) Put on renal diet

6) Monitor blood pressure (it has been fine).

7) Do a urinalysis every 4 to 6 months along with a blood pressure check. I also do complete bloodwork every 6 months as she is a senior.

 

Shelby drinks a lot and needs to go out every 5 to 6 hours. Otherwise she is a very happy girl.

 

So if the culture is negative and the protein remains high with a poor protein/creatinine ratio, I would put him on a renal diet. Be sure to check his BP regularly and put him on enalapril if it is on the high side (remember that greyhound BP is typically a little high). One of the IV chemos (I can't remember if it is carboplatin or doxorubicin, but I would guess carboplatin) can be hard on the kidneys.

 

Hope this info helps. Hugs to you and Charlie.

[Burpdog]

I wouldn't put a dog on a renal diet that has cancer. But that's my personal opinion-what-I-would-do.

 

I beleive his renal problem is coming from the drug.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Burpdog

[Charlies_Dad]

Thanks everyone. We are not currently planning to change his diet as we believe he is on a good one now. I know that doxorubicin, which he was administered after his amp, can cause kidney damage. It's possible this is the culprit or it could be Palladia. We were planning to send a note to Dr. Coutu's team concerning Palladia.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Charlies_Dad

[Guest Smiley]

I have no feedback, but am sending good thoughts to your Charlie. You've all been through enough this year.