Kidney Problems. The following are real life cases of Kidney Problems in Dogs that have been treated by Dr. Mike Richards, DVM. Chronic Kidney Failure Kidney Transplant for Dogs. PET DETECTIVE Written by Jack Bernstein Tom Shadyac Jim Carrey EXT. STREET - DAY A UPS Man with a big pot belly is walking down the street, whistling and carelessly. Use as a dietary supplement. For some time, tryptophan was available in health food stores as a dietary supplement, although it is common in dietary protein. It’s not the first time this experiment has been delayed, but it marks the end of the launch window which ran from May 31st through June 6th. Saba isn’t your grandmother’s diet product. We researched an in-depth review, examining the ingredients, side effects, clinical research and customer-service quality. Read the latest Cardiology news, opinion, conference coverage, thought leader perspectives, medical journal articles and more from theheart.org and Medscape. An under-the-radar distance running talent, Taylor has a lot more than training on her plate. Medications that are Linked to Kidney Failure in Dogs. Serum (or Blood) Urea Nitrogen Levels and Serum Creatinine Levels. Kidney Disease - When to Put on Calcitrol. Kidney Failure and High Calcium Levels. Causes and Treatment of Kidney Failure in Dogs. Kidney Failure and Heart Murmur Kidney Disease or Kidney Failure? Kidney Disease Family History. Cystic Kidneys. Causes of Canine Kidney Failure Leptospirosis (zoonotic) Question: Thanks for your quick reply and help. Hamish's excessive drinking has stopped after six days of Marbocyl and he appears much more himself although a little lazy. He doesn't appear to have lost anymore weight and is eager for his meals. I took a urine sample in for testing today and the test showed his specific gravity is still 1. You say that can happen for a lot of reasons, what are these? If it were a bladder infection as our vet suspected and the anti- biotics worked would the S. G by now be normal? I read up on Cushings from your site but he doesn't have any of the signs and now the excessive drinking has stopped I don't know what to think his coat is excellent and he has no pot belly. He is now on his normal food, should I get more blood tests done or leave him as he seems OK now? The Vet has suggested another urine test in two weeks. Also the update. Our Vet has now given him a diagnoses of early chronic kidney failure. All his urine samples are all in the region of 1. The vet even remarked that he thought his dipsticks were faulty but this has been confirmed by lab tests. His creatine is in the normal range 9. I think. One question I have is; as his S. G is so low will that mean his creatine levels will start to rise very shortly indicating a worsening of kidney functions or will he continue just with the low SG and no worsening for months or years? I haven't been able to find an answer to this question despite checking your site and other information on line. Hope you can give us some indication of his lifespan as he is only 6 years old and we previously lost a Great Dane at the age of 2. I am not sure why this range isn't called hyerthenuric but it doesn't seem to be. Isothenuric urine is not concentrated or dilute and urine that stays consistently in this range can indicate kidney failure or hormonal diseases. However, your dog has hyposthenuric urine and there are some specific causes for this. These are the causes of hyposthenuria in a single urine sample: 1) Excessive drinking for behavioral reasons (any cause) 2) central diabetes insipidus (lack of production of anti- diuretic hormone, or ADH, by the brain) 3) nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, or resistance to the effect of ADH at the kidney level: a) hyperadrenocorticism can cause this b) hypercalcemia (too high calcium levels - - hyperparathyroidism, metastatic cancer, poison) c) low serum potassium levels d) kidney failure due to amyloidosis e) pyelonephritis (infection of the kidney itself) f) some forms of drug therapy g) very rarely as a congenital defect. Of the things mentioned above, behavioral excessive drinking is probably the most common cause of dilute urine. However, this should not be a constant finding in a series of urine samples, in most cases. So the first step is usually just to test several samples, trying to get at least one at a time when the urine should be concentrated, like the first urine sample in the morning for a dog that doesn't have access to water during the night. Per the specialist instructions we have begun changing him over to a new low protein diet (Eukanuba) specially formulated for dogs with kidney disease. Answer: It is possible to pursue a kidney transplant for dogs at this time. The University of Minnesota and the University of California at Davis (UCD) are the only places I know of where this surgery is being done in the U. S., but it is an available option. I do think that it might be best to continue with medical treatment for the current problem until the presence of chronic kidney failure is well established, though. The urine specific gravity below 1. The general rule of thumb is that about 7. It might be a good idea to check several urine samples, especially ones from early in the morning, to see if the kidneys can concentrate urine at times, though. There some medications that you might consider using to attempt to slow the progress of the kidney failure or to make your rottie feel better. Enalapril (Enacard Rx) can help decrease protein loss and possibly slow the progression of kidney failure in dogs. It is important to monitor its effects in the first week of use, though. In a few dogs it can make the kidney failure worse. We have used enalapril now in several patients and our subjective opinion is that it is helpful. Even moderate protein elevation in unconcentrated urine samples is indicative of protein loss in the urine. Calcitriol is recommended by some veterinary kidney specialists and avoided by others. It is an active form of Vitamin D which may help to prevent secondary renal hyperparathyroidism. I am not sure who will turn out to be right in the long term, the people for or against the use of calcitriol. We use this and we think it is helpful but we are not sure. An alternative approach is to use phosphate binders (aluminum hydroxide gel, others) to try to keep phosphorous levels from rising. This is the approach favored by the kidney disease specialists that avoid calcitriol use. It is very important to maintain hydration in patients who have kidney insufficiency. If you can not encourage adequate drinking, it may be necessary to consider using occasional fluid therapy. This is harder to do in dogs than in cats and is utilized less frequently due to this. It is critically important to use fluid therapy if your dog stops drinking or cuts down on drinking significantly, no matter what the cause. It is important to try to maintain a patient's appetite, so if there is a time when it decreases, appetite stimulants are appropriate. A lot of patients with kidney failure have gastrointestinal irritation and using cimetidine (Tagamet tm), famotidine (Pepcid AC tm) or ranitidine (Zantac tm) can be helpful, as well. Monitoring the progress of the kidney disease through repeated urinalysis and periodic blood tests is a good idea. Sometimes clinical signs do not occur until after there are significant changes in laboratory values and early recognition of a change in the status of the kidneys can be very helpful. Question: You said in an earlier post than antibiotics and non- steroidal anti- inflammatory medications used for arthiritis probably cause kidney failure. Of these,the two aminoglycosides (amikacin and gentamicin) are the most toxic to the kidneys but are only available as injections so are rarely dispensed, although they are used in severe infections in hospitalized animals not too infrequently. The entire class of non- steroidal anti- inflammatory medications can cause kidney damage due to constriction of blood vessels in the kidney. This would include aspirin, carprofen (Rimadyl Rx), etodolac (Etogesic Rx), phenylbutazone (Butazolidin Rx) and others. I don't think that any of these medications are highly likely to cause a problem in any individual patient, with the possible exception of the aminoglycosides, which must be used very carefully whenever they are used. However, when kidney failure signs occur and any of these medications are being used it is prudent to evaluate the necessity of the use and to consider adjusting the dosage or changing medications, if possible. There are other medications that are linked to kidney damage to some degree. These include thiatarsamide (old heartworm treatment medication), chemotherapy agents such as cisplatin, amphotercin- B (antifungal agent), enalapril (Enacard, Rx; used for heart failure and sometimes to treat kidney disease because of beneficial effects it has in most patients), methoxyflurane (anesthetic) and iodinated contrast dyes used to help improve the ability to see problems on X- rays. Both of these values tend to rise when the kidneys are not functioning efficiently. The urea nitrogen level is less specific to kidney damage than the creatinine level. Rises in BUN can occur after a high protein meal, in response to muscle damage, when corticosteroids are being used and when dehydration or urinary obstruction is present when there is no kidney damage. Usually these rises are not severe, though. It can rise when dogs are fed diets high in cooked meat but these rises tend to be small. It can rise when there is dehydration or a urinary obstruction even though the kidneys are not damaged yet. However, for the most part rises in creatinine do indicate damage to the kidneys. Over time, the rise in creatinine levels is a little better indicator for how glomerular damage is progressing than the BUN. A chronic slow rise in the creatinine is an indication of ongoing damage. For both creatinine and BUN, it is important to look at other indicators of how the body is doing to be sure that there isn't a problem like dehydration or urinary blockage leading to the rises in the BUN and creatinine, instead of kidney damage. If the urine is concentrated, kidney damage is less likely. If the patient is normally hydrated but has protein in large quantities in the urine, then glomerular disease might be present even if the BUN and creatinine are not very high. So the BUN and creatinine are important indicators of kidney function but they have to be considered based on the patient's overall condition and the potential for diseases other than kidney disease to be present. Natural ACE Inhibitors. Most importantly, notice what the study did NOT say: it did not say that erectile strength was improved? Decrease Inflammation. One study found that one of the ACE Inhibitors. TNF alpha and CRP). Persistent Cough. Erectile Dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction, although not nearly as. Gynocomastia. ACE inhibitors lower blood pressure by preventing the breakdown of bradykinin, a molecule that causes blood vessels to widen. There are not ACE Inhibitors with necessarily the same. That said, it is curious that the medical. NOTE: Do not take these if you are on medications without first consulting.
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