Penny And Her Kidneys

[Guest BradyzMommy]

All of the tests came back normal; urine tests, urine culture, all bloodwork, x-rays, etc. The only thing that was out of normal range was her thyroid. When we adopted her, she was already on soloxine. But her thyroid figures have changed since they were last looked at about a year ago, so we have decided to up them and re-test her in a month. Her kidney levels are within normal range, just like all of her other levels. She is now eating Royal Canin SO, which is a prescription dog food. The excess protein in her urine may be completely unrelated to the thyroid levels and may just be caused by her diet and nothing more. Since there seems to be nothing wrong with her kidneys, we are treating them as two separate things; her diet and her thyroid. We are watching her closely in case anything changes, but so far after only a few days on the new food, the incontinence seems to have subsided. Our vet is also a friend and he treats our dogs the same way that he would treat his own, so I know Penny Poo is in good hands. Thank you for the concern.

[Batmom]

If there's excess protein in her urine, there IS something wrong with her kidney function. That isn't a benign diet-related issue.

[Guest BradyzMommy]

If there's excess protein in her urine, there IS something wrong with her kidney function. That isn't a benign diet-related issue.

and if all tests for her kidneys come back in the normal range?

[Guest BradyzMommy]

Everything that I've read says that if all underlying problems (she has none) are controlled, a modified diet should decrease the protein in the urine which will help with the incontinence. Her tests have ALL come back negative for any kidney problems. ALL tests were within normal range, as they should be. There is nothing wrong with her kidneys and trust me when I say that we have run all tests that we can.

 

I have spent unbelievable amounts of money on medical treatment for all of my pups. Why do I always have to defend myself when I come here?

Edited May 14, 2012 by BradyzMommy

[greyhead]

Please don't feel that you have to defend yourself. FWIW, there can be a kidney problem that doesn't show up in tests. Someone on GT (sorry, I forget who) has a dog who had perfect kidney blood values yet distinct kidney disease shown by ultrasound. (I don't recall what his or her urine protein was.) If I can figure out who that GT-er is, I'll let you know.

 

In any case, I'm not arguing with you, just sharing info. And one further bit: Our Shane had incontinence and leakage until we put him on medium-protein kidney diet. (Also a small amount of protein in urine and 2.2 creatinine. Nothing showing on ultrasound.) And whenever we've tried putting him back on regular food, the leakage increases; it goes away as soon as we put him back on the kidney food. (Oh, and he's hypothyroid too, for whatever that's worth.)

 

We (and his vet) believe Shane's leakage issues may be TBD related. We're about to retreat him for Babesia this week, and after that we'll treat him with amoxicillin for Lyme. He was positive for Lyme last fall, but we we waiting for follow-up tests and for his tummy functions to improve before treating.

ETA: I think the GTer I was thinking of earlier is Gracegirl and her boy Fenway. Here's the thread: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/269224-fenways-mystery-pee-problems-ultrasound-results-kidney-damage/page__p__4861692__hl__ultrasound__fromsearch__1?do=findComment&comment=4861692

Edited May 14, 2012 by greyhead

[tbhounds]

Protein in the urine of a greyhound = glomerulonephritis.

It's basically protein passing through the glomeruli of the kidneys. You may indeed have completely normal renal values. You need to run a UPC (urine protein creatinine ratio) on a voided urine sample. This is not an uncommon condition in the racing greyhounds.

Aspirin is the medication of choice- as protein passes through the kidneys so will antithrombin 3 (an anti clotting factor) making you hound more prone to throwing a clot.

Edited to add- please don't feel that you are defending yourself here- comments and replies I'm sure are only meant to help not to be judgmental. You have to understand that we are only reading half of what's going on here. You first mentioned incontinence and jumped to increasing your thyroid dose (which I will refrain here).

Please research PLN or Glomerulonephritis -or forget I mentioned it.

Edited May 14, 2012 by tbhounds

[Batmom]

If there's excess protein in her urine, there IS something wrong with her kidney function. That isn't a benign diet-related issue.

and if all tests for her kidneys come back in the normal range?

 

 

Some kidney blood tests may not be abnormal until quite a bit of damage has been done. So I would keep an eye on that and recheck in 6 weeks or so. It would also be worthwhile to check her blood pressure, and to recheck or culture for infection as those two things can cause protein in the urine. If she had high blood pressure, you wouldn't want to increase her thyroid meds as that could make the problem worse in a dangerous way.

 

The kidney is basically a filter with really small holes (when healthy). Protein molecules are too big to fit through the really small holes of a healthy kidney. So you'd generally see protein in the urine only if the kidney has been damaged, or if the protein is being added *after* the filtration process (as in a bladder infection).

 

For most tests, it is possible to have a funky test result that is unexplained and unrepeatable, and I will hope that is the case for your pretty girl!