My cat's creatinine dropped but BUN is high. Is it still CRF?

Every lab has different reference ranges, so according to the lab that your cats blood was run in, the BUN and CREA are considered to be mildly elevated. However, unless your cat has a low specific gravity (concentrating ability of the kidneys), we have to assume that the BUN and CREA levels are not indicating any kind of kidney failure. In other words, if the kidneys are concentrating normally, and the pet is asymptomatic, then the BUN and CREA levels should simply be rechecked at a later date or another more sensitive test called the SDMA test should be done to clarify what is really going on with your pets kidneys. So based on the information you have provided we cannot say if Frodo has true kidney disease, but if his urine test was negative for bacteria then no infection is present. Ask your vet about Frodo's specific gravity and if that was normal or not. If it was normal, then go forward with the SDMA test to confirm that the kidneys are ok. If you need further help regarding your pet Frodo's case, since this can be a bit complicated to explain on the forum, please feel free to request a private consultation with either myself or another expert here and we will be more than happy to assist you further. I hope that this helps and best wishes with your pet Frodo moving forward! Take care: )

Poor guy. I see elevate liver enzymes (ALT,AST) and kidney values on the paperwork you have attached here. Low hgb means that the red blood cells are not oxygenating well, but if the RBC count is also low (anemic) then that is a sign of chronic kidney failure. Cats can recover from kidney disease depending on the underlying cause. An abdominal ultrasound is needed to determine the cause of the kidney failure exactly, or a positive response to bloodwork is used as a means of determining a positive outcome. In most situations we treat the pet with fluid therapy to help idurese (flush out) the harmful toxins (BUN, CREA), get the pet started on a prescription kidney diet (ie. Hill's K/D, Royal Canin Renal) and also a supplement (Azodyl- which helps to remove toxins from the gut) can be given as well. The most concerning values for me on this bloodwork are the liver values (AST, ALT). It is not common for a cat to be in both kidney failure and to have abnormal liver values concurrently. THis raises suspicions for infectious diseases such as any number of tick diseases. I would recommend discussing with your vet about possibly doing a tick panel, if the history indicates tick exposure is probable. Also a FeLV/FIV test may also be indicated, depending on the complete CBC results, which you didn't post here. At the very least a liver protectant medication should be started, which is typically a medicine called Denamarin. Additional treatment may be needed depending on the underlying cause for the liver abnormalities. If you would like to discuss Toby's case further, then please feel free to request a consultatoin with either myself or another expert here. Toby's case is definitely a more complicated case where it is best to have a complete dialogue back and forth to get all the information you need to make the best decision moving forward with his care. I wish you all the best moving forward with Toby's care and I hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery. Take care.

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to hear about Toby. Dehydration shouldn't affect creatinine. It affects BUN. Not sure what caused the slight rise in creatinine but that usually means there may be some kidney dysfunction. It's not that elevated and could be laboratory error also since the BUN is normal. Liver enzymes can become raised for many reasons. Liver inflammation, infection, pancreatitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, toxin exposure, among many other things. I don't think feeding a wet food is a bad idea, it forces the cat to take more fluids in since canned food has a high water content. I would also recommend a liver supplement to address the rise in the liver enzymes. I would advise checking out this website and the following products- https://vet.vrshealth.com/product/1157 Hepato TruBenefits and Cat and Small Dog Omega Benefits (fish oil) **Use Promo code “petcoach20” for a discount on your order. These two supplements can help the liver and the entire body repair. I would advise trying these and then have the bloodwork redone in 30-60 days to see if the values are better. Good luck

Hello. It is possible that the new food is helping the creatinine levels, but regardless of the reason, this is good news. Remember, blood work is a snapshot of what is happening at the moment the blood was drawn. Twilight may have been a little more dehydrated at the last blood draw, & creatinine is a very sensitive marker of kidney function, more so than the BUN. So, be happy that the number is better today. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. BUN and Creatinine typically have an intimate relationship on blood work, meaning that when one is elevated, the other is typically elevated as well. There are relatively few conditions that would have an elevated Creatinine without the BUN being elevated. These are typically due to muscle breakdown which would release more creatinine in the blood. Exercise could produce such an increase. Pathologic muscle breakdown would produce sharp levels but such conditions would likely be accompanied by symptoms such as weakness and lethargy in particular. The value of 6.1 is high, which could indicate any of the above or this could potentially be a lab error. I would consider having the blood retested to check and make sure this value is correct. It may be wise to have it sent to a laboratory as well to ensure the values are correct. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

I don’t think this shows renal disease. His creatine is normal with a slightly elevated BUN. To me this is more an indication of mild dehydration than kidney disease. He is slightly anemic also which is not uncommon in senior animals but may indicate a chronic medical problem. The eosinophils are slightly elevated which can be due to allergies or intestinal parasites. Basically for a thirteen year old cat there is nothing here that is overly concerning. Bloodwork is just a moment in time though so if you’re concerned I would repeat it again in a month or two so you can see if there is a trend indicating progression of a medical problem or kidney disease. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Beau.

BUN and creatinine are elevated which may mean that there is a kidney failure going on (Urine specific gravity should be tested ideally to check if the kidneys are able to concentrate the urine). Amylase is moderately elevated as well and could suggest an inflammation of the pancreas. Please repost your question and give us more details about the clinical signs Xixa is showing so we can give you more specific answers.