My dog has albumin in urine and slightly high BUN. Is this normal?

If her SDMA is normal and her creatinine is wnl then her kidneys are likely normal. BUN can be increased from dehydration, a stomach ulcer, a high protein diet or a very muscular physique. You would normally see vomiting or black stool if she had a bleeding ulcer so I doubt this is the cause of the high BUN. To ensure her kidneys are okay, I would talk to your vet about checking a urinalysis on her. Your vet will assess her protein levels and specific gravity to see how her kidneys are functioning. If the protein levels look high on the dipstick and there isn't an infection, I would talk to your vet about doing a urinary protein creatinine ratio. If it is elevated it could be challenging the kidneys and can cause future problems. There is a medicine to help called benazepril. You can also switch her to a prescription kidney diet just because they have a much lower protein content than the food over the counter. Some dogs just naturally have a higher BUN and as long as it isn't progressively getting worse, I would just continue to monitor it. I hope this helps!

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.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Whether or not I would be worried would depend on how the urine sample was collected. Did the vet use a needle and go directly into the bladder to get the sample (cystocentesis) or was it done as a "free catch" sample where you or a member of the vet team walked Kiwi and caught the urine in a container. If you are unsure of how the sample was obtained then you should call your vet to ask. It really does not sound to me like anything to be concerned about at this time but I do not have access to all her records and I have not examined her myself so I cannot really say for sure. If you can get more information as to how the sample was collected you are welcome to post again or ask for a private consultation with me or one of the other veterinarians. Hope this helps. Best wishes!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. With an elevated kidney value (creatinine) and fluid in the abdomen, I would be worried about protein loss (albumin) through the kidneys, resulting in decreased oncotic pressure within the vessels of the body. This is called a protein-losing nephropathy (PLN). This can result in fluid leakage out of the vessels and into the abdomen. But, without knowing what the type of fluid is in the belly, it is difficult to know what the true cause is. The best option would be to have a sample of this fluid analyzed, and an ultrasound of his abdomen to be performed, and a urinalysis + urine protein:creatinine ratio performed. A creatinine of 4.1 is quite high, so Ludo likely has a component of acute kidney injury. He would benefit from further workup by a veterinarian to best understand his underlying disease process, and therefore what his prognosis is. I hope this is helpful - best of luck with Ludo!

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.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately I would ask for a blood test that checks the albumin level as if that is low it can cause edema in the legs. He also should have his urine tested and be tested for tick borne disease. He has a mild increase in a liver enzyme that is likely from the phenobarbital. I’m not worried about anything else. But they have not found out WHY he has a swollen leg. I’d request the above. I wish you the best

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The BUN and CREA are the most worrying symptoms indeed. It means that Pushka's kidneys are not working very well. A urine test should be the next step of investigation to rule in/out kidney infection and intoxication. Also, ultrasound scan of the kidneys may help to make the final diagnosis. Other blood parameters that are abnormal could be related to the kidney problems or not. High RBC, HCT, HCT could be due to dehydration, but it may be caused, for example by kidney problems. I don't think the abnormalities are due to stress. I hope it will help but if you have any further questions, please let us know.