Kidney Issues? Not Sure What To Do.

[christinepi]

Tracker’s (he’s almost 12) nighttime peeing saga started first week of September. Initially it was only once a night. He worked his way up to 3-4 times a night by Sept 22^nd. Sept 28 he was put on Desmopressin on suspicion of diabetes insipidus. This worked relatively quickly and since Oct 1^st he’s been down to once a night. So far so good.

 

I measured his drinking two days in a row at the beginning of September (when this all started) and it was 850ml both days. Starting Sept 25, I started measuring water intake again. Since then, he’s been drinking somewhere 1.5 to 2.1 liters per day. Even though he has been peeing much less since Oct 1^st he still drinks the same amount. What does that mean? Is that a good sign?

 

Of course we’ve done all sorts of tests during this time. No UTI; no Cushing’s; no Lepto; no tickborne disease. Chest x-ray and abdominal ultrasound unremarkable. However, Sept 10 he was found to be low on Vitamin B12 (241, see below). He got an injection and he’s up for re-testing next week to see whether he’s still low. We’ve had a hell of a time catching morning urine that’s been in him for at least 7 hours or more, since he had been peeing so frequently it was never in him for more than 3 hours. The most recent catch was 7 hours.

 

He still loves to eat.

 

Below are the blood test results from Sept 18 that were whacky (with the exception of phosphorus):

 

RBC 9.2, Grey normal 7.4-9.0

 

Hematocrit 68.3, Grey normal 55-65

 

Hemoglobin 23.5, Grey normal 19.0-21.5

 

Lymphocyes 0.737, normal 1.06-4.95

 

Monocytes 0.067, normal 0.13-1.15

 

Eosinophiles 0, normal 0.07-1.49

 

SDMA 21, normal 0-14, though according to Dr Dodds and Dr Couto 21 CAN be ok

 

Urine Specific Gravity: two days ago it was 0.018 (inside him for 7 hours)

 

Phosphorus 5.4, normal 2.5-6.1 However, at the time of blood draw, he’d been on the Hill’s z/d diet, which is low phosphorus (0.58), for 3 weeks, if that matters)

 

Total protein 6.6, Grey normal 4.5-6.2

 

Creatine Kinase 545, normal 10-200

 

Vitamin B12 241, normal 284-836, tested Sept 10

 

Also, the vet did a urine protein:creatinine ratio, which was normal.

 

Most recent urine tests show protein in urine: Oct 1 it was ++, Oct 10 it said protein +1, whatever that means—before that date, there never was protein in the urine.

 

Ultimately, we’re uncertain whether his kidneys are compromised or not and whether, consequently, we should put him on a Hill’s diet as recommended by our vet (she’s suggesting I/D, since he also seems to have has GI issues)). We’ve heard contradictory recommendations of normal vs. low phosphorus diet for him and also low vs. normal protein diets for him. The current diet he’s on is a mix of z/d and d/d, both of which are only 14% protein, which seems such a pittance. The suggested I/D is even lower.

 

Sorry for this tome and thanks for reading.

[christinepi]

Need to add that the vet wants to put Tracker on a phosphorus binding drug which seems overkill to me, but what do I know. He's already on Tramadol, Gabapentin, Desmopressin and Thyroid Tabs, so adding one more drug, if it is even needed, makes me worried.

[cleptogrey]

what lab does your vet use?

 

check out IRIS, kidney stages and values. a friend who is a vet told me about it. you can compare #s and stages.

as to diet- i thought ID was for the gut?http://protien level of hills i.d. diet for dogs KD/ kidney.....https://www.hillspet.com/dog-food/pd-kd-plus-mobility-canine-dry

 

kidney diets are LOW in protein, hight in fat. felix has both kidney and pancreatic issues, neither will work for him. so, it's rice, rice, cereal, chicken broth, ground chicken breast or raw green tripe. from what i have been told the raw green is high in phosphorus. so far felix's phosphorus level is o.k. but my pocket book isn't. the chicken is much cheaper.

 

i have had dogs w/ kidney issues live on rice for years. it's getting it palatable. yes, a supplement will help, but at 12 does it really matter?

 

felix's last blood work is posted here http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/323280-kidney-disease/page-3 you can compare if you like.

[christinepi]

what lab does your vet use?

 

check out IRIS, kidney stages and values. a friend who is a vet told me about it. you can compare #s and stages.

as to diet- i thought ID was for the gut?http://protien level of hills i.d. diet for dogs KD/ kidney.....https://www.hillspet.com/dog-food/pd-kd-plus-mobility-canine-dry

 

kidney diets are LOW in protein, hight in fat. felix has both kidney and pancreatic issues, neither will work for him. so, it's rice, rice, cereal, chicken broth, ground chicken breast or raw green tripe. from what i have been told the raw green is high in phosphorus. so far felix's phosphorus level is o.k. but my pocket book isn't. the chicken is much cheaper.

 

i have had dogs w/ kidney issues live on rice for years. it's getting it palatable. yes, a supplement will help, but at 12 does it really matter?

 

felix's last blood work is posted here http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/323280-kidney-disease/page-3 you can compare if you like.

 

Our vet uses IDEXX.

 

I'll check out IRIS, thanks!

 

Well, our vet talked to Hill's re diet. He has had GI issues for the last 2-3 months (soft stool in th eafternoon/evening). So she initially (this was before the urination stuff started) put him on z/d, after a bout of coccidia which was treated with antibiotics. This helped. Now that the kidney business has been added, the quest was to find a diet that accommodated both. Since apparently the k/d is not for use long term, I guess the vet and Hill's figured that i/d is a good compromise.

 

I hear you on the question whether it matters at 12. It's true.

 

I'll check out Felix's blood work shortly.