My dog has high microalbuminuria. Is it early kidney disease?

Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Having trace albumin (protein) in a dogs urine is pretty normal. We only get concerned about kidney damage when the albumin is moderate-severe and also when CREA is high. High BUN can indicate a GI bleed or a high protein diet in most cases. I don't see a complete cell count (CBC) analysis in the records you sent. Swelling of the limb can indicate edema, a musculoskeletal injury or even a seroma. I would suggest doing a urinalysis to rule out a UTI or stones causing the bloody discharge you are seeing, and a radiograph of the leg (if medical management with an anti-inflammatory hasn't shown improvement with this already). I hope this helps and best wishes with Scooby moving forward. Take care.

Hi there! After looking at the lab results, I see that all of these are extremely minor changes - they usually don't mean anything at all, in a dog that's clinically healthy and acting normal. The one possible exception would be the elevated BUN, as this can sometimes be a sign of early kidney disease - but it can also be caused by mild dehydration (common in anxious dogs who are panting at the vet's office!), a high-protein diet, or other things that don't have any clinical significance. If you wanted to be sure that his kidneys are fine, your veterinarian could do a urinalysis to make sure that his urine is appropriately concentrated and doesn't contain protein or any other abnormalities. The other values will often be slightly variable from one patient to another, and should not be any cause for concern.

This is best to discuss during a one-on-one consultation; however, the blood work results reveal that your pet has a high white blood cell count (indicates infection or inflammation), mild anemia (low red blood cells), a UTI with a low specific gravity (concentrating ability of the kidneys which should be rechecked once UTI resolved, as well as protein in the urine which should be rechecked after resolution of UTI. as well as high BUN, CREA, which suggests kidney damage or kidney failure. Because of the concurrent UTI, it is best to resolve the UTI with anti-biotics, perhaps consider a SDMA test (specific kidney disease test) to confirm suspected kidney disease/insufficiency, and then rechk Urinalysis in 2 weeks. I am not sure why your pet is on Lasix, unless there is also underlying heart diseasee, which could have caused the erroneous reading of low specific gravity on the test. If there is more to discuss, then pleasea don't hesitate to request a private consultation for this, because this is a complicated case that needs to be on a more personal level in order to get full clarity on the recommendations above. Best wishes and take care.

Your veterinarian is correct that it could be related to the diet and some dehydration. You definitely should follow up with another blood test in three months or have a different kind of test called an SDMA. The SDMA will catch kidney disease well before there is an increase in the kidney enzymes levels. Talk to your veterinarian about this option. The most important thing is to catch kidney disease early. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Sundari. Her BUN and Cr are mildly elevated. This can indicate early kidney disease, but there are other causes as well. Simple dehydration will make these values increase. I would recommend that she has a urinalysis performed on a first morning urine sample. This sample will be the most concentrated and give you more information regarding how the kidneys are functioning. There is also a new blood parameter known as SDMA. This is much more sensitive indicator of kidney function than BUN/Cr. I would recheck her blood work in 1-3 months to monitor the liver value (ALT) that is slightly elevated to see if this is a consistent finding. Liver enzymes can fluctuate in the blood stream so this may not be significant. I hope this information helps!

Poor girl. Depending on how much protein was found in the urine and her urine protein ratio, as well as clinical symptoms, a biopsy may not be needed. In addition, biopsies are indicated when there is detectable abnormal looking organs. So if the kidneys look abnormal on ultrasound, then a biopsy can be done to definitively diagnose the kidney condition. However, in some cases a biopsy isn't needed if it is obvious what the condition is. I would recommend starting with the ultrasound and also I would then consult with another vet who can go over all her lab findings and come up with a game plan for Dotty. If you wish you can also get all her medical records and then request a consultation with one of the experts here to go over her case more in detail. I hope that your pet Dotty has some improvement with her values soon. Best wishes and take care.

It doesn't look like Pitambar received a urinalysis. This test needs to be run to help stage the renal disease or if dehydration is present and causing the increase in the renal values. Talk with your veterinarian about having this test run asap: https://www.petcoach.co/article/urinalysis-testing-a-urine-sample/ There is another test called an SDMA which will help stage renal disease: https://www.idexx.com/en/veterinary/reference-laboratories/sdma/ Pitambar should also have a urine protein:creatine ratio run to check for protein loss and the need to medication to control that if it is present. This website discusses how renal disease is staged: https://www.idexx.com/en/veterinary/reference-laboratories/sdma/sdma-iris/ Kidney disease is serious and if caught early, many pets will respond to easy treatment and this will not only slow down disease process but will also increase the life expectancy. Often the first step is changing the diet to a prescription diet meant for pets who have kidney disease. These diets have lower protein, phosphorus and high amounts of omega 3 fatty acids, higher amounts of antioxidants and have a higher calorie amount. Supplementing with an additional omega 3 fatty acid can also help. Pitambar will need followup bloodwork and a urinalysis 4-6 weeks after starting treatment. As things progress, other treatments will be needed. https://www.petcoach.co/article/kidney-disease-causes-signs-diagnosis-and-treatment/ I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.