# Elevated BUN and Creatinine in 1.5 year old Golden



## sixxofdiamonds (Jul 8, 2011)

I know it's been a while since I've been on the forums but I need some advice today.

Sidd was scheduled to be neutered this morning. He had blood work to test kidney function beforehand as a normal safety precaution my vet takes. His results came back abnormal. 

His BUN level is 38 mg/dL - normal range is 7-27
His CREA level is 2.4 mg/dL - normal range is 0.5-1.8

Everything else is well within the normal ranges.

Sidd is a year and a half old Golden. He has never had any issues. He eats and drinks as usual, is energetic and happy. He potties regularly and it's always a pretty normal yellow color - never any blood, never high concentrated and never clear. His stools have been normal as well. 

His diet is a grain-free kibble, and raw meat, raw eggs, raw fish as it's available (a few times a month). My two year old daughter sometimes feeds him things but we eat a grain-free, processed food-free diet as well. 

The only changes in his life are that we recently came up to Michigan to visit (we live in North Carolina) and he eats snow and an occasional frozen horse poo (dog delicacies!).

We will be in Michigan until this is figured out. 

The vet did a mini profile bloodwork, complete blood count, K9 Heartworm/Parasite screen 4DX, Urinalysis w/sedimentation and it all came back normal with the exception of the BUN and Creatinine levels. 

A culture and sensitivity was taken and sent to our local hospital - I'll hear back on that tomorrow. 

If his urine culture returns negative, she recommends us taking him in for another kidney panel and urine sample next week when he hasn't been fasting (we put up food at 10 p.m. last night in preparation for his surgery). If it's still abnormal at that point she wants to check his electrolyte ration and possibly ultrasound his kidneys.

I was hoping that somebody had some insight or thoughts on to what this might be. It's always possible that he is starting into kidney failure at a very young age but his appetite and energy make me think otherwise.

Thanks for reading the novel. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

His workup so far and the plans for additional testing all sound great. I hope they can get to the bottom of this issue for him.


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## w00f (Nov 4, 2011)

Remember to check for Lyme disease. The lyme vax can also cause this.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I hope the abnormal labs are just a fluke and nothing serious.


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## sixxofdiamonds (Jul 8, 2011)

An update! Sidd's labs came back and he has a kidney infection. I would have never guessed seeing as he's acting as usual. 

He has been on antibiotics for a week and we have another week left. Then blood tests and re-culturing and two more weeks of antibiotics. If his levels are all okay we are good. If not it will be an ultrasound. 

We had just done a cross-country road trip so he could have easily picked up something along the way. The culture said it was an E. Coli bacteria and he very well could have drank from a contaminated puddle along the way. 

So that's what is going on with Sidd. He's still acting as usual and still has his balls. Lol! Maybe in another month we can get him neutered.


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## Aislinn (Nov 13, 2010)

Glad the problem was something that is easily fixed.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

So glad to hear it was just an infection. Hope it clears up and things go back to normal.


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## newport (Aug 8, 2011)

Wow! Glad to hear it was something you can clear up and get on with lovin life! What a great vet to check his blood work up and detect the infection! It could have gone on for a long time undetected.


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## sixxofdiamonds (Jul 8, 2011)

We went to the vet again today for follow up bloodwork. Looks like his levels are still elevated. Waiting to hear back on the urine culture. He has been on two weeks of antibiotics and will be doing another two weeks more. 

We are also switching to Prescription Diet renal health food from Wellness Core ocean recipe. 

I'm to monitor and record how much water he drinks which will be hard considering the lake is melting and he drinks down there in addition to the horse trough. I'm going to try to keep him mostly indoors for monitoring the next two weeks. Then it's back to the vet for another blood draw. 

The vet isn't certain why he has elevated levels. Sidd has been acting as usual and eating and drinking. Certainly the kidney infection didn't help and hopefully that has been cleared. If it hasn't it will be a surprise because the antibiotic is 100 mg daily of Zeniquin. 

So if in two weeks he is still elevated it could be one of many things. He could just be that way, it could be a congenital issue such as being born with one kidney or it could be something worse. Our next step is to ultrasound and x-ray his kidneys. 

But now I'm wondering when to stop. Our limits for small animals non-exotics is $1,000. I'll be nearing that limit the next vet visit. If we stick to that and it's not cured or figured out then I don't think we will do anymore testing. At least until his next vet visit. The limit doesn't include regular visits or monthly prescriptions/foods/etc but is more of an outline of how much we will spend to try to solve an issue. I know it doesn't seem like much but we have a certain amount set aside for each animal and because we also have a horse we need to keep money available for a just in case with the horse. What I'm torn about is that Sidd is my two year old daughter's dog. 

Anyways. Any advice on the money limit, his issues, anything is appreciated. If you have been there with elevated levels in your pup I want to know about it and what happened.


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

I hate to say that $1000 is a pretty low ceiling for expected medical issues these days, but it is. Of course you have to do what right for your family.

If you can manage it, I would go ahead with the ultrasound just so you have a good idea if this is a problem with the structure of the kidneys. If they are malformed, you will know that this will be an issue with him for life. If they appear normal, maybe the increased levels are just him. But I would need to know so that I can get a grasp of what may happen in the future.


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## sixxofdiamonds (Jul 8, 2011)

IowaGold said:


> I hate to say that $1000 is a pretty low ceiling for expected medical issues these days, but it is. Of course you have to do what right for your family.
> 
> If you can manage it, I would go ahead with the ultrasound just so you have a good idea if this is a problem with the structure of the kidneys. If they are malformed, you will know that this will be an issue with him for life. If they appear normal, maybe the increased levels are just him. But I would need to know so that I can get a grasp of what may happen in the future.


Yes, $1,000 does seem pretty low but I have to take into consideration that I need $10,000 set aside for the horse in case something happens to him. As wrong as it may seem, the horse takes first priority as far as our animals are concerned. :/ I should state, too that the $1,000 cap is mostly for diagnostics and the like. It's not for treating. Whatever needs to be spent on monthly treatment will be calculated and budgeted for with the other monthly dog basics. 

I do plan to have an ultrasound and x-ray done. It's more of how much more do I spend in testing after that if we don't get any answers? 

Because he has been acting healthy and happy I'm leaning toward the elevated levels being a quirk of his. It's what my gut is telling me. But naturally my brain is worrying about all the things it could be. 

Something the vet did bring up was Leptospirosis. He has never been vaccinated as our vet in North Carolina never recommended it. So that may be a request I should make that we do a blood titer and see. 

Thank you for your suggestions!


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Here in Maine, we check for Lyme disease and leptospirosis. Both will affect the kidneys adversely. Hereditary renal disease in Goldens is not unheard of... Ultrasound would be useful with that. And actually if he had only one kidney and it was functioning properly, the values would not be elevated. For kidney values to be elevated, you have, in theory, lost 70% of kidney function.


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## sixxofdiamonds (Jul 8, 2011)

Sally's Mom said:


> Here in Maine, we check for Lyme disease and leptospirosis. Both will affect the kidneys adversely. Hereditary renal disease in Goldens is not unheard of... Ultrasound would be useful with that. And actually if he had only one kidney and it was functioning properly, the values would not be elevated. For kidney values to be elevated, you have, in theory, lost 70% of kidney function.


He was checked for Lyme and is clear. Hasn't been checked for Lepto yet. 

With a possibility of having one kidney, do you think with the kidney infection it would show elevated levels? The vet explained the same that for levels to be (in theory as it is possible to be outside the norm and it be normal for that individual) elevated then 66% of kidney function was lost.


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## hvgoldens4 (Nov 25, 2009)

Years ago, we did have a female golden much like your male. I actually co-owned her with her breeder. Anyway, she presented with a UTI that was a little difficult to get rid of so we did blood work and a urine culture. Blood work came back with elevated CRE and BUN. She was put on more A/B. Nothing changed after 3 weeks. We did an xray, ultrasound and those were both normal. The breeder(she was living with her at the time) had her water tested, changed foods-basically everything anyone could think of was done. Nothing changed. 

She came here to me at that point so I could take her to a specialist in our area. Nothing new-what he decided was that those levels were normal for her. She was about 6 mos old at the time. We did have one other occassion to need to do blood work for her and her levels were in normal ranges then(at 9 yo).

She lived a normal life with no complications and no limitations. She passed away at a little over 11 yo.

Even with this history, I would still do an U/S and xray to rule out any congenital issues. As Sally's mom said, congenital renal failure is not unheard of in goldens and usually those dogs have one kidney and the other is not working at capacity.

I wish you all the best with your boy and hope you are able to get some answers. Please keep us posted!!


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## HolDaisy (Jan 10, 2012)

Hi there,
We lost our golden aged 3, 2 months ago to congenital renal failure so understand the worry that you're having at the moment. 

I would definitely go for the xray and ultrasound with your boy, just to see what's going on and to see if maybe he does only have one kidney. It was too late with our girl because when she did show very subtle signs and we discovered she was in renal failure, she had already lost the majority of her kidney function. 

It sounds as if your boy is in extremely good hands with your vet though and luckily you've been able to pick up on his elevated levels while he's young which is good.

Good luck with everything and let us know how he gets on.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

If the ultrasound doesnt show anything then I wouldnt pursue any further testing. 

Dont feel bad, mine have a $1000 limit a year on diagnostics/surgeries, thats more then what some have


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## w00f (Nov 4, 2011)

We've seen dogs test negative on the Snap for Lyme, and negative on the C6, and are test positive on Cornell's new multiplex. 

Ehrlichia, not well known for causing kidney disease, but there are some references to it.

Might consider adding some doxycycline to the regimen? That would also cover lepto.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I personally wouldnt add any medication unless you have a positive test or your vet suggests to.


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## w00f (Nov 4, 2011)

And you also don't/wouldn't run a lot of necessary diagnostics 

OP, I hope you can find the cause of this.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

w00f said:


> And you also don't/wouldn't run a lot of necessary diagnostics
> 
> OP, I hope you can find the cause of this.


No I would run the needed tests to test tick borne disease. I dont use my dog as a guinea pig to try medications on "just because" he *might* have a tick borne disease. Dogs can develop a resistance/immunity to antibiotics especially if they are used for treating something you arent even sure they have. Its like treating yourself for cancer because you think you have it even though the tests show up negative. 

Nothing is positive in this world. Tons of tests can throw false negatives and false positives. I just dont worry over a simple misreading of a blood test thats only a snap window of the time you took the blood. If I did that, I would be out thousands of dollars. If hes healthy otherwise, acting normal, eating, drinking and playing and the tests you choose to perform show nothing...then it likely is just a glitch in him. 

Sorry, my beliefs go as far as to make sure the dog isnt suffering, has the basics and a little extras in life such as the odd needed test that costs a couple hundred. I just do not go overboard because one I dont have the money and two I have different views . While you would go bankrupt and sell your house for your dog...I wouldnt. I went bankrupt once and that was it. I have to look out for ME...then my dog

Also, any test would be considered necessary according to a vet. I dont think every test is. My dog is on medications for his eyes and allergies, they are helping so therefore I wont pursue any further testing because IMO its not needed. You can go ahead an wink all you want


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Just for the record, dogs can and will test negative on the Idexx snap test when in fact they are truly positive. The Idexx reply to this is "early in the course of disease, some dogs will test negative." My Samantha is a perfect example. She had a fever of 104.9. Snap negative. Send a CBC and a chemistry to Idexx... Idexx saw the rickettsial organisms(anaplasma) in her neutrophils(white blood cells). I had enough index of suspicion that even though the snap was negative, and I had to wait a day for the results, I started her on doxycycline. She was better the next day before I got the results....


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Sally's Mom said:


> Just for the record, dogs can and will test negative on the Idexx snap test when in fact they are truly positive. The Idexx reply to this is "early in the course of disease, some dogs will test negative." My Samantha is a perfect example. She had a fever of 104.9. Snap negative. Send a CBC and a chemistry to Idexx... Idexx saw the rickettsial organisms(anaplasma) in her neutrophils(white blood cells). I had enough index of suspicion that even though the snap was negative, and I had to wait a day for the results, I started her on doxycycline. She was better the next day before I got the results....


Just want to throw out our vet started Barkley on a course of antibiotics while the lepto test results were not back and that probably saved his life. He was on a triple antibiotic cocktail at that time and we never regretted putting him on the doxy in advance of actual results. 

OP, I feel a moral obligation to continue testing if it is possible the dog might suffer from pain if left undiagnosed/treated--and it's my understanding that some kidney issues can cause pain for the dog. JMO, but I'd definitely proceed with an U/S if recommended by your vet.


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## A1Malinois (Oct 28, 2011)

I am not against her doing an ultra sound. But if the ultra sound shows nothing where does one draw the line? If the dog was in pain I am sure some signs would be noted. Mine yelps when he steps on one of those prickly plants outside and I dont think thats nearly as painful as kidney disease

Also, which test for tick disease is the one that is the most accurate at any stage? I test every year and the test is done at the lab. My vet uses Idexx.


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## nonstop99 (Sep 1, 2015)

Just curious to how your dog is doing today?





sixxofdiamonds said:


> I know it's been a while since I've been on the forums but I need some advice today.
> 
> Sidd was scheduled to be neutered this morning. He had blood work to test kidney function beforehand as a normal safety precaution my vet takes. His results came back abnormal.
> 
> ...


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