My dog ate grapes and has high creatinine. Should I be worried?

How naughty of Hector to get into some grapes! It is extremely encouraging that his kidney values (particularly the creatinine and BUN) are within a normal range. The SDMA value is thought to be of use in detecting early signs of chronic kidney disease, but is not of much value when concerns about acute kidney disease arise (as in the case of grape ingestion). Remember that there is a wide range of normal to account for individual variation and values at the higher end of this normal range do not typically indicate a problem. I can see that Hector's ALT (a liver value) is mildly elevated, but in all honesty, I do not worry about elevations in this value until they are about twice the upper limits of normal (>240, whereas Hector's value is 181). That said, it is still worth asking your vet if it is possible simply to recheck this value in another week or two. It will most likely return to normal, but if it remains high or increases further, ongoing monitoring of the ALT and further diagnostic testing (bile acid testing, abdominal ultrasound, etc.) may be indicated. I hope this helps to clear up any confusion and that Hector continues to do well after eating grapes!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This level of creatinine is still within relatively normal range (according to most diagnostic laboratories and analyzers). Such a small increase can be incidental, Mav may have had a recent meal, or have been less hydrated than he was at his previous appointment. It is unlikely that this is related to the protein content in his diet. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

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.

If your vet isn't worried about Kodiak, I would not be worried either. Slightly elevated creatinine can also be due to dehydration, so it could be that he may be dehydrated caused this elevation. A slight elevation isn't a cause for worry when other values are normal and there aren't any other concerning physical signs. To get him to drink more water, I'd consider adding canned food to his diet. It has a higher moisture content, and you can mix it in with his dry food. You would have to cut back on his dry food to a little to account for adding in the wet food, so ask his vet for the correct ratio. The other option is to add a bit of low sodium chicken broth to his dry dog food to get extra moisture into his diet. I hope this helps.

The elevated creatinine on it's own does not indicate kidney disease. Remember, this blood was taken at one second in time, he may have recently eaten or been a bit dehydrated at the time which caused the CREA to be a bit elevated. You can not determine kidney disease with just this one test. If you are concerned this should be repeated when he is fasted and a urine test should be done at the same time. If you want to give him a kidney supplement that will help to support kidney function you can use this: https://worldtails.securevetsource.com/itemView/view/198944_HomeDelivery.pml?productId=132504

I expect Crazy is very ill with these values. If this value just happened due to a toxic episode or infection aggressively treating with intravenous fluids and medications for several days may prevent permanent kidney damage. That would require hospitalization. If this is a chronic problem that has been progressing the outcome is not good. You can give fluids and a prescription kidney diet but in my experience these dogs unfortunately do not get better. I hope you can treat Crazy and that he responds. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Crazy.

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!