What's new
Mastiff Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • Welcome back!

    We decided to spruce things up and fix some things under the hood. If you notice any issues, feel free to contact us as we're sure there are a few things here or there that we might have missed in our upgrade.

Kidneys

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Lettie, my 11 month old Corso, had her annual heartworm blood panel done on Friday. The vet called yesterday and said everything is fine, except she had “elevated kidney levels”. She is going back for more blood work on April 6th.

So of coarse I’m freaking out :(. Does anyone else have experience with this? I know there’s not much I can do except for wait and this is probably a silly post but I’m worried. Any tips for making sure her kidneys are healthy?
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
It's not a silly post. You're worried. I would be too. Do you have the actual test results showing the elevated levels and what their lab calls normal levels? At this point I don't think that there is anything for you to do. My Roy showed elevated levels on the day of his neuter. The vet explained to me that it could have been because he was a bit dehydrated and advised me to increase his fluid intake and check again at our next visit. Subsequent blood tests showed levels within range. Ella too, come to think of it. On the day of her spay her Creatinine level was 1.9mg/dl. The normal level was 0.5-1.8. They weren't concerned and I haven't had her checked again, although I probably will.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
I just emailed the vet asking for the actual numbers. She may have been dehydrated at the time now that I think about it. I don’t think she drank much before we went to the vet on Friday. Thank you for your response, I feel a little better. I’m just so paranoid about her health because I lost my previous dog very suddenly and I’m terrified it will happen again.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
Ok the vet office called and gave me the reference numbers and the numbers Lettie is at.
Creatinine 0.5-1.5 Lettie is at 1.7
SDMA 0-14 Lettie is at 21
 

7121548

Well-Known Member
More water and recheck kidney values in 6 months. At that age, he probably shouldn’t have any kidney problems, and I would guess it’s dehydration like you said. Also, milk thistle helps clean the liver and kidneys, if you’re open to holistic supplements.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
We did take Lettie back today. I had also requested them to take a urine sample because she has been having some white discharge and she has been licking herself more often. They were going to try to get a sterile urine sample by sticking a needle through her belly into her bladder. She wasn’t having that haha. They called us back to the “no human clients allowed” area to try to calm her down and get her into her back but she was just too anxious. So they settled for a urine catch. We walked her outside and they caught some urine. They examined the sample while we waited and said everything looks good. She may just be coming into her first heat soon.

They were supposed to do another blood test today to recheck the kidney levels. They decided it would be best to wait for another month. She was so stressed already and I told them we are working on muzzle training but she wasn’t ready today (advice from our trainer) so we didn’t bring the muzzle with us. Hopefully by next month we can have her muzzled in the room when they try to draw blood. They said they will keep her in the room with us and we will feed her treats and keep her attention while they draw the blood from her back leg.

This initially upset me because I have been worrying myself sick about her kidneys. But the vet was very reassuring that they wouldn’t wait if they thought it was urgent. The vet asked if there were any other symptoms (change in appetite, water intake, accidents in the house, vomiting) and she doesn’t have any of those. The vet also said she looks extremely healthy, perfect weight, and lively. She said from the urine sample they could tell that she is “concentrating urine very well”. She said that’s a really good sign of proper kidney function. She gave us some “renal health vitamins” (which contains milk thistle) just to support healthy kidneys. She said it’s possible that it could be nothing, or it could be that she was only born with one kidney (kind of weird that we just found out my sister only has one, which makes is possible that I only have one, and her husband was just put on dialysis). So I feel a little better about everything but I still can’t wait to get results from a second blood test. Thank you all for caring :)
 

Boxergirl

Well-Known Member
I think that today was all good news. It sounds like your vet is communicating with you clearly and honestly. Let the worry go for now and enjoy your weekend. Hugs and no worries mojo coming your way.
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
LETTIE IS FINE!!!!! We had our 2nd blood test yesterday. They just called us and said all of her levels are normal and they won’t be checking them again until next year. I AM SO SO HAPPY!! All that extra worry and gray hair for nothing :D:rolleyes::)
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
When Matt told me, first he said “why do you look like that”? Because I had my hands on my face, I told him “I’m just so relieved, I thought our girl was going to die and now she’s fine”! Then the second thing I said was “I have to tell Boxergirl” lol
 

Jarena

Well-Known Member
He keeps telling me “I need to ground you from the mastiff forum”. He says I spend too much time on here. He also knows a lot of you by “name”. Lol