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My dog's blood test showed high protein. Do I need to change her diet?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Female | 3 years and 6 months old | 70 lbs

My dog was taken to the vet (I wasn't there otherwise I would've asked this then and there). They said the vet took her blood and said she was getting too much protein. She doesn't have any visible problems, nor is she overweight. The vet didn't have any other concerns. If she just increases her exercise, can I keep the same diet and get her high protein levels to go down to a normal level?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Makenzie Kurth, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 9th, 2018

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. So a bit of clarification-

Having a somewhat increased protein level on bloodwork is uncommonly a problem and usually ignored - it usually just indicates mild dehydration. So maybe they were just mentioning that change?

Severe protein increases on bloodwork could signal an infection or even certain types of cancer but I would expect her to be SICK if that were the case (fever, limping, weight loss, etc.)

Regardless, dietary protein actually has little to do with blood protein so I wouldn't necessarily recommend changing her diet at all.

The only times I really care about dietary protein are if the protein level is too low or for special cases like kidney failure. Now there are things on bloodwork like high triglycerides or cholesterol that ARE more responsive to diet change, so maybe there was a misunderstanding/miscommunication about what was actually too high.

In closing - I can't be sure without seeing the bloodwork myself, but in general, I don't change diets for healthy young dogs because of protein elevations.

Hope this helps and best of luck to you and Nikke!

2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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