More Worry, I Think I Might Pop!

[Guest dobiegrey]

In November when Betty was attacked on her walk they of course did bloodwork before her surgery and her creatinine was just a tiny bit high, so my reg vet yesterday decided she wanted to recheck it, mainly because this was the first time she had seen Betty, having decided to go the holistic route with her because she has done so much for Jack my doberman with all the health issues, anyway, her bloodwork was perfect except that creatinine again, this time it was 2.3!! BUN fine, BUN/Creatinine ratio was 10, she is fed homemade food that is high protein for Jack so we are droping the protein level in her food and putting her on a Renal Health Supplement and rechecking in 3 months, should I be real scared?? With what we are dealing with with my Granddog Nibbles I am feeling pretty overwhelmed by it. Any advice is greatly appreciated. She seems to feel great, totally asymptomatic of any type of kidney issue, but of course I am worried. Please my vet's on here that are of course Greyhound savy please chime in....... My vet is a great doctor but admits she does not see a great number of Greyhounds but more and more from are group are moving to her, just because of how wonderful she is, and she is the first to "find out" and she does not seem overly concerned but says we have to watch it. It is the Momma (me) that feels like I am about to freak out!!!

 

Lou

[duncan41]

Lou, we need to talk! Please PM me!!!

 

Linda

[JJNg]

What was the initial creatinine level? And what is the normal range for the lab or machine that was used?

[Guest dobiegrey]

Hi Jennifer, I thought it might be easier if I just copied and pasted the info, the first one was run on November 25th in house at the Evet when she got attacked on our walk before surgery. The second once was run this past Wednesday 4/8 drawn at my vet's and sent out as a pre surg, even though she was not having surgery. I hope this works Nope! They are on adobe files and will not let me copy and paste!! Dang!! so here are the "important one"

November 25th

Bun 22 range for in house machine 7-27

Crea 1.9 " 0.5-1.8

ratio 12 no range for this.

 

April 8th Sent out to Lab

Bun 22 range 6-31

Crea 2.3 range 0.5-1.6

Ratio 10 range 4-27

 

Everything else was just fine all within normal ranges, it would help me so much to hear from a Grey Savy vet, we just don't have any in this area. My vet is wonderful and she is trying and she has looked things up etc, but that is not the same as be Grey Savy yet, we (this Greyhound Community) are gonna get her there!!! We have reduced the protein in her homemade food to about 20% overall of her food recipe and she is on Standard Process Canine Renal Support. Otherwise she seems normal and healthy.

Thanks for your input.

Lou

[Batmom]

Here we (my vets and I) would not worry about that creatinine (given the lab's normal range). We might want to recheck in 6 months to make sure the BUN is staying in normal range and the creatinine hasn't risen further.

[MaryJane]

Chances are the value is not going to be a concern but, before assuming that I would also do a urinalysis and make sure that is normal.

[GeorgeofNE]

George's creatine has ALWAYS been out of "normal" range. My vet insisted on running tests over and over. I finally emailed the results to Ohio State and they responded that his results were totally in line with "Greyhound normal" and that "this dog should not be subjected to further tests given he is totally asymptomatic of any problems."

 

It remains high to this day at 2.4. My vet no longer worries about it as all of his other values are normal (enough).

[Guest dobiegrey]

We did do a urinalysis and it was perfectly normal!! Oh goodness you guys have made me feel so much better, I will definitely keep and eye on it and repeat in 8 weeks to 3 months per my vet but I feel better. Any commerical dog treats that you know of that might be ok for her to have??

[Batmom]

If urinalysis and BUN are normal, and creatinine is @ the level you've posted, and dog has no symptoms of any issue ... we don't change food, don't add kidney supplements, don't medicate. It's greyhound-normal.

[JJNg]

The one additional piece of information I'd want to know before concluding that the creatinine is greyhound-normal is the urine specific gravity. If her urine is well-concentrated (best to test a first morning urine sample), then her kidneys are fine.

[Guest dobiegrey]

Specific Gravity 1.017 Range 1.015-1.050

This was her urinalysis from last week 4/8 but it was not a morning sample it was late afternoon.

Edited April 13, 2013 by dobiegrey

[tbhounds]

Specific Gravity 1.017 Range 1.015-1.050

This was her urinalysis from last week 4/8 but it was not a morning sample it was late afternoon.

Definetly check the first a.m. sample

[Guest SealDogMermaid]

George's creatine has ALWAYS been out of "normal" range. My vet insisted on running tests over and over. I finally emailed the results to Ohio State and they responded that his results were totally in line with "Greyhound normal" and that "this dog should not be subjected to further tests given he is totally asymptomatic of any problems."

 

It remains high to this day at 2.4. My vet no longer worries about it as all of his other values are normal (enough).

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for this post - we are currently in a similar situation where Seal's creatine level is at 1.6 (the "normal" limit is 1.4 aparently). She was supposed to go under for a dental and epulis removal, but i got a call to come pick her up because the pre-op bloodwork showed creatine at 1.6. They put her on a special food (which i am grudgingly doing - i dont like the nutritional values at ALL) for 3 weeks until we try again to see if the creatine level comes down.

 

Last time she got bloodwork the creatine was at 1.4 and deemed acceptable. I dont remember the month we switched foods, but im pretty sure we switched foods since that blood panel. She is now eating a grain-free, higher protein food (switched from nutro sensitive stomach to TOTW) which would possibly account for the difference in creatine. Im glad to play it safe, however we just dropped $350 on bloodwork and special food (and of course we will have to shell out for yet another panel in 3 weeks, plus the dental etc). It helps to know that sometimes high creatine is normal for greys. Hopefully this little experiment with the special food will prove that the creatine level is a result of the high protein diet and we don't have to go through this every time she has to go under. *fingers crossed*

 

With George, did your vet try him on a special diet? If so, did that effect the creatine level at all?

[JJNg]

we are currently in a similar situation where Seal's creatine level is at 1.6 (the "normal" limit is 1.4 aparently). She was supposed to go under for a dental and epulis removal, but i got a call to come pick her up because the pre-op bloodwork showed creatine at 1.6. They put her on a special food (which i am grudgingly doing - i dont like the nutritional values at ALL) for 3 weeks until we try again to see if the creatine level comes down.

I'd consider a level of 1.6 completely normal for a greyhound. Especially if her first AM urine sample is well concentrated, there's absolutely no need to try to get that level to come down with a low protein diet.

 

[Guest SealDogMermaid]

 

I'd consider a level of 1.6 completely normal for a greyhound. Especially if her first AM urine sample is well concentrated, there's absolutely no need to try to get that level to come down with a low protein diet.

 

 

thanks for the feedback! I put a call in requesting that we move ahead with the procedure provided the rest of the bloodwork and the urine sample is ok. That bloodwork was done a week ago now, but im thinking it should still be ok to go off of? What is the longest acceptable amount of time between blood panel and going under anesthetic?

[Batmom]

If the dog isn't ill and nothing suspicious is going on (I would concur with JJNg about the creatinine NOT being suspicious), a week or two is fine. More than that, my vets (and I) might want to run a quick CBC (red count, white count, platelets) the morning of surgery just to make sure all is still well. We might rerun the CBC even after just a few days if the dog had been fighting an infection etc.