My dog ate salty sardines for years. Are her kidneys or liver okay?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would not be concerned at all by this. As long as your dog is acting normally and not showing any signs of gastrointestinal upset (vomiting/diarrhea), I would not be worried. I hope this is helpful!

Hi and thanks for using PetCoach! Sorry to hear about Mary and her liver/kidney problems. Essential Fatty Acids are always a good idea in my opinion since they are part of every living cell of the body and they are anti inflammatory. I don't know of any diseases where fish oil is not recommended. One thing you want to be careful of is the quality of the oil and whether contaminants (mercury, etc) are present. Supplements are not regulated (in the United States) so the quality varies significantly. I would choose my source of fish oil carefully and follow the directions based on body weight. Please visit this website to evaluate a very good source of fish oil for dogs. http://www.vrshealth.com/canine-products/?petcoach=1977951 Check out the Canine Omega Benefits Good luck with Mary. I hope she does well for you.

You may see some stomach upset (vomiting or diarrhea) in the next few hours. As long as Miska is behaving normally, you can try withholding food for 24 hours. Allow small amounts of water or unflavored PediaLyte. Resume feeding a bland diet in small, frequent amounts until symptoms resolve. Transition slowly to the regular diet afterwards. Monitor for lethargy, loss of appetite, persistent vomiting or diarrhea and abdominal pain. These are symptoms that should be addressed by your veterinarian.

No she/he should be fine if it was just salt. It takes a lot of salt ingestion to cause any immediate concerns in pets (salt intoxication). So if it was only a small amount you don't have anything to worry about. Just make sure to offer her/him some water and access to water at all times, so if she/he needs to they can rebalance their body by diluting out the salt. Also I would refrain from giving him/her any people foods that are high in salt for the next 24 hrs, only regular dog food. If by chance your pet did ingest a large amount of salt then watch out for signs of trouble which include ataxia (drunken walk), panting, mental dullness, and vomiting. If seen then it is best to take him/her to your vet immediately for treatment.

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Yes, that product should be pretty safe. However, I don't recommend giving supplements such as this without being directed by a vet. The most important way to support Bruno's organ function is with a good high quality food, and good preventative care (disease prevention through vaccination, parasite control, etc). Milk thistle is a great liver support, but the other ingredients have limited data in dogs and, while probably safe, I would not recommend them.

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!

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I would not be worried about this at all. It is not enough salt to cause her any harm. She may be a bit more thirsty but that would be it. Hope this helps. Best wishes.