Kyna Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 My lilttle (11 years old) Isla seems to have knocked the sealent off her bottom right broken canine. In preparation for surgery we did a blood panel. For the last 5 years or so I have been told that she has slightly elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinin. Looking back her BUN was around 9.5 mmol/l and her creatinin was around 117 umol/l. Now her BUN is 12.9 and her creatinin is 150. The vet called me with the results and she has recomended a urinalysis to further investigate which we will do tomorrow. I know we will go through the investigation and then decide how to proceed with tooth - I am trying to be patient. But does anyone know what the likelihood of being able to proceed with fixing the tooth and cleaning her teeth? I gather we will need to change what we feed her (Acana Senior) and may need meds - but I really don't know what she is in for and don't want to over-react. I did find this site on previous posts and will read more when I know more from the results http://www.dogaware.com/kidney.html Does anyone have any experience with this? K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 are you sure you have the values right? Perhaps I'm being dense but standard lab values - a creatinine of 10 is extreme end of renal failure. You said she as 150?? How are you measureing this? (Yes I see u/mol but what are your lab norms?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyna Posted January 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 You're not being dense! But have a look at the units: I think you are working in mg/dL - I believe that that would make her creatinine 1.7 mg/dL. (the conversion can be found at www.dogaware.com/kidney.html. On the historical tests the norms/reference ranges are 68-141 umol/l and 77-155 umol/l (some of these tests were done a few years apart to it seems the reference range moved down slightly). I don't know what the reference range/norm is for the 150 as she gave it to me on the phone. I'll likely get a copy tomorrow when I see the vet. I believe the creatinine is not too far off normal but that the BUN is quite high which is why I gave the creatinine level. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted January 21, 2009 Report Share Posted January 21, 2009 1.7 is not that bad given her age. For Joey do the diet per the dog aware site and reduced it from over 3 to 2.1 This has been going on for years. She's going to be...checked the paperwork...18 in March. Joey also has chronic pancreatitis, and liver disease. Joey also gets biweekly subq fluids - easy, painless, and keeps those kidney's clean and clear. Now I am *not* a vet, but in my experience the greater risk to an old dog is the anesthesia. The longer they are down, the greater the risk to the kidneys, etc. If it were my dog (and if this was the whole story, which it can't be becuase this is the internet) I'd do whatever was needed for her tooth in the quickest surgery possible, and let the vet make sure her kidney's were well flushed after. One of my vets will also do acupuncture while they are out to help with the kidney support and clearing I clean Joey's teeth myself - a job only needed because she can no longer eat bone and requires grain (which seems to goo up the teeth faster than anything) in her special diet. I would like to know what the vet says please - keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyna Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Hi there, I will keep you posted. I spoke with the dental vet - they can use anaesthesia that basically bypasses the kidneys but we always try to keep it short. Isla also has three growths (of different types) upon which I have been meaning to have needle biopsies - we will do that this week. Two of them are tiny but one is larger - none suspicious. But since she is going under aenasthetic for her tooth I'd like to look at them as she has had mast cell tumors removed before. Right now I just need to hurry up and wait. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyna Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Isla's urinalysis was normal so the only issue is the high(ish) BUN. We are just going to keep an eye on it. The vet is happy with the Acana senior and the Missing Link and the dollop of yogurt she gets each day. So we will just check her blood and urine every 6 months for now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCjetta Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 My BC has had highish BUN and creat values in the past when I've checked. One of the vets I work for is a clinical pathologist and she said it wasn't a concern for some dogs to have a highish BUN. I just can't remember why she said it would be high (it may be that she's in peak shape, or something to do with higher amounts of protein in the food causing a higher BUN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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