Protein loss in urine

[sadiesamie]

My dog is producing high amouts or protein in her urine. her last protein/creatine ration was 7.0- anything over 2.0 is HIGH. I am needing to know if anyone is experiencing this. She has had urinary tract infections back to back and is currently being treated with Baytril 1 x a day and will get rechecked 3-5 days after finishing meds.

this past w/end I tried to switch her food to Pinnacle Trout and Sweet Potato- she is suffering bad skin allergies and has breakage and redness on both sides of her rib cage. she is also hypotyroid and on soloxine.
she became severely ill Friday night after her 3rd day slowly introducing the new food. she vomited for 10 hrs and finally she is feeling better.

she is currently on hills pres diet w/d and I want her off of this. this food is making her itch still really bad. with the protein loss she is currently on benzapril 2 xs a day- for high blood pressure and protein loss.

appreciate anyones advise on what to feed. she needs something with low phosphorus and low sodium. Please help.

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by sadiesamie

My dog is producing high amouts or protein in her urine. her last protein/creatine ration was 7.0- anything over 2.0 is HIGH. I am needing to know if anyone is experiencing this. She has had urinary tract infections back to back and is currently being treated with Baytril 1 x a day and will get rechecked 3-5 days after finishing meds.

this past w/end I tried to switch her food to Pinnacle Trout and Sweet Potato- she is suffering bad skin allergies and has breakage and redness on both sides of her rib cage. she is also hypotyroid and on soloxine.
she became severely ill Friday night after her 3rd day slowly introducing the new food. she vomited for 10 hrs and finally she is feeling better. I decided to quite the Pinnacle immediately. So now she is back on Hills pres diet D/D and I want her off of this. this food is making her itch still really bad. It is garbage and I hate feeding them this food.

With the protein loss she is currently on benzapril 2 xs a day- for high blood pressure and protein loss.

Appreciate anyones advise on what they feed if they experienced protein loss as such. She needs something with low phosphorus and low sodium. Please help.

this food was prescribed becasue I told the vet that I felt that my dogs were allergic to corn. It was hard for them to digest and so she talked with a nutritionist from Hills and then told us to do the Hills pres diet D/D. I would rather try a different food instead of keep them on this food. There never had allergies until they were put on Purina NF. And that was becasue my other dog Samie was producing crystals in her urine. They both became highly allergic to that food so that was when the new vet said to do the D/D. If it's allergies they are having because of food they were fine when they were on Nutro Natural Choice. The vet HATES when I discuss food with her. I don't think she know much about nutrition at all. And i have read on other forums that Vet's do not know much when it comes to the best food.

[sadiesamie]

I keep checking for responses and I am so worried about my Sadie. Does she have something that is so rare that no one on YT has ever heard of? I am scared.

[Patti]

I'm sorry I'm not familiar with that. I looked in my dog owners vet book and didn't see anything. Is there a name for it? My Pom was on Soloxine for thyroid and then found to have Cushings' Disease. Maybe you should get a second opinion espcially if the vet won't discuss food options. I have all mine in California Natural since my vet said to use a food that had one novel( not common) protein and one carbohydrate due to her scratching. Hopefully someone will se this that is familiar with this. Sorry it's taking so long to get a reply.

[Patti]

I loked a little more and found something that said dogs with nephritis or nephrosis can develop a condition called nephrotic syndrome where damaged kidneys excrete an excessive amount of protein in to the urine. Maybe your babies levels were up due to her infections.

[SophieRose]

Your story sounds familiar and I would recommend seeing a specialist ie vet nutritionist not a Hills specialist. Please see another vet because I believe your baby is over medicated. My beloved Sophie suffered because of the vet's inability to have the knowledge to help her. Lesson learned when Charlie (rescue) needed extensive dental care, I took him to a vet dental hospital and he breezed through the surgery.

Good luck and will watch for updates. Warmly, Deborah

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Patti

I'm sorry I'm not familiar with that. I looked in my dog owners vet book and didn't see anything. Is there a name for it? My Pom was on Soloxine for thyroid and then found to have Cushings' Disease. Maybe you should get a second opinion espcially if the vet won't discuss food options. I have all mine in California Natural since my vet said to use a food that had one novel( not common) protein and one carbohydrate due to her scratching. Hopefully someone will se this that is familiar with this. Sorry it's taking so long to get a reply.

The vet thinks she has Glomerulonephritis? but she is not sure yet. ???? 4000.00 later and she is not sure? hmmm...

[dcapper]

Toby was losing his protein but it was going into his system. To prevent it, my vet prescribed Toby to 1/2 Prednisone a day as well as a cap full of mct oil in his food. Really inexpensive fix.

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by Patti

I'm sorry I'm not familiar with that. I looked in my dog owners vet book and didn't see anything. Is there a name for it? My Pom was on Soloxine for thyroid and then found to have Cushings' Disease. Maybe you should get a second opinion espcially if the vet won't discuss food options. I have all mine in California Natural since my vet said to use a food that had one novel( not common) protein and one carbohydrate due to her scratching. Hopefully someone will se this that is familiar with this. Sorry it's taking so long to get a reply.

the vet "thinks" it could be Glomerulonephritis? she has high blood pressure and very high amounts of protein in her urine. I went and bought the protein test sticks and tested her urine this morning. She is at the highest the protein can be on the dipstick. 2000+++. i am so scared this is something very serious. she is itching really bad and on Claritin 2x's a day but it just helps. it does not stop her from itching completely and both of her sides are so red. Lots of hair breakage. I feel so bad for her. she is currently being treated for a "dousy" urinary tract infection. the vet called it. just finished 2 wks of being on Baytril. will have follow up urinalysis this coming Tues to see if the infection is gone. so worried...

[jeanief]

It's called PLE or PLN

http://users.adelphia.net/~lechaun/kidneys.html

She is on predisone every other day and Hills ZD from the vet. She is doing good but has to pee alot from the meds, and her hair is getting thinner with the meds too. The dog is 8-9 yrs old. For treats she gives gentle snackers from the vet also. good luck.

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by jeanief

It's called PLE or PLN

http://users.adelphia.net/~lechaun/kidneys.html

She is on predisone every other day and Hills ZD from the vet. She is doing good but has to pee alot from the meds, and her hair is getting thinner with the meds too. The dog is 8-9 yrs old. For treats she gives gentle snackers from the vet also. good luck.

So even if our dogs are not a "Wheaten Terrier" they can still get this disease? I read the article and it makes sense to me. I want to ask the vet about it but I don't understand why they just mention Wheaten Terrier in the article.

[jeanief]

Yep, the dog I know that has and she is a Yorkie. That article was just something I found. ( must be common in Weatons). I don't know for sure if it's what your dog has but it sounded like the same thing. Mabey copy the articles on the two issues and see what the vet says. I think the Yorkie owners vet knew right away after 1-2 tests. Her food is now ZD (hills). Hope you find out whats up and your baby is feeling better soon. It's so expensive test after test and still no answers.

[jeanief]

http://www.compusmart.ab.ca/dperry/PLE&PLN.HTM Here is another article, again on a weaton but it talks about the tests to do to find out if the dog has it. 1 vet didn't like prednisone for treatment but suggested other meds.

[sadiesamie]

Originally Posted by jeanief

Yep, the dog I know that has and she is a Yorkie. That article was just something I found. ( must be common in Weatons). I don't know for sure if it's what your dog has but it sounded like the same thing. Mabey copy the articles on the two issues and see what the vet says. I think the Yorkie owners vet knew right away after 1-2 tests. Her food is now ZD (hills). Hope you find out whats up and your baby is feeling better soon. It's so expensive test after test and still no answers.

Well we started with a teeth cleaning in June and my other yorkie had been producing crystals in her urine. I decided to have a senior blood work up on Sadie AND a urinalysis and this was when the problems started. She had a urinary tract infection and then resisted the first round of antibiotics. It finally cleared up after 2 wks on the Baytril antibiotic. Her blood pressure started creeping so we introduced the Amlodipine. Since she fainted/possible seizure- we have discontiued and so far so good. I am going to ask the vet tomorrow about PLE or PLN and see what she says. So a 600.00 teeth cleaning is where we started. After urinalysis, cultures, meds, blood work 2 times now....plus my other Yorkie (Samie) with her crystals and urinalysis, meds and so forth... we have reached to spending 6200.00 this year so far on Vet bills. It has been a constant worry for me ever since. I am currently looking for a job closer to home because I just can't take leaving them all day long anymore. 11 hrs is a long time. They are not caged. I do gate them off though with access to the kitchen and front room. In the front room they can see out the windows and I put steps in front of the couch every morning. (Oh and I also leave the radio on for them) :-) But still, I want to come home for lunch every day at least. I have a great job and I am having no choice but to leave that behind and find something closer to home just so that I can come home to check on the girls. :-) I will keep you posted on tomorrow's visit as soon as we get results back. Thanks for all of your prayers and kind words. Very much appreciated.

[sadiesamie]

Ok- its been a while since I have posted- so I will list this out by chain of events since so much has happened in the past few months- I don't even know where to start. This has been quite a whirlwind.

These updates are on “SADIE” beginning where we left off in November 2007-

11/23/08 – I speak to the vet. We end up getting in a slight argument because at some point I ask her about all of these tests that we have been doing. I told her that it’s really starting to add up and we have no answers??
I have to add ALL of this all so you get the whole situation. I apologize it will be a bit lengthy. Here goes:

I tell her how bad Sadie is itching. She says “well, we can do allergy testing…
I tell her I think it’s the food. With allergy testing being so costly I would rather investigate the protein loss since that was more serious. (She just HATES to discuss food with me!!!)
We had run the following tests:
Blood pressure test, Urinalysis with Cult & Sens , ACTH Stim, Tick Disease, Lyme Disease, Addisons disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Heartworm disease,PLN, Pancreatitis. I am sure I am leaving some out… SO….many tests- it was insane!
Her Blood Pressure was VERY HIGH- 285 at the highest!
She also tested positive for Pancreatitis –her level being “783”. Vet said anything over 400 was positive for Pancreatitis. We ran this test because Sadie had vomited and had diarrhea. This was our first attempt to change her food since I HATED the Hills Pres D/D that she was currently eating. (In case you are wondering- I had started her (slowly) on Pinnacle trout & sweet potato) The Hills pres was for “allergies” ---yet I felt- she was allergic to it. Sadie was losing her hair and her she was itching out of control. The Vet said it was probably from her thyroid. Sadie was on Soloxine- bc the vet said she was Hypothyroid. Also, Claritin for the itching.

In fact- might as well list this here: these are the list of meds she was taking:
Benazeperil- for the protein loss
Claritin- for the itching
Baytril- antibiotic for the UTI infection (after 2 wks, still had infection- then started her on Clavomox)
Amlodipine- for the high blood pressure
Soloxine- thyroid med

She, at some point- says to me that if it was up to her- Sadie would be on Hills Pres Diet K/D but because of the fact that this food contains “corn” she knew I would not agree to feeding that. (This was the first time she ever mentioned the K/D food to me????) I continue to ask her more kidney questions and she says “basically Sadies kidneys are not filtering properly. Her urine is nearly clear. She says “she is going to die someday from a kidney related issue”. “Her kidneys will fail”-ok- so I’m thinking- I’m glad we cleared the air on that. She was always so… overdramatic when she explained things to me and so quick!

I tell her about things that I have researched online. I ask her about the PLN and Nephrosis….I told her that I have been in touch with members on YT. Her response was “yeah you can’t trust the internet and believe everything you read”- I told her that I researched Gloumelur Disease. (She says “Yes she does have PNL” her losing protein is exactly what is going on here. I asked her what we should do about Sadie’s high bp (she originally prescribed amlodopine to get it lowered) I had a lot of questions… she spent 15 minutes on the phone with me. I say to her “This has all been just so overwhelming” We had run more blood work, urinalysis… she had a bad UTI and was put on 2 rounds of antibiotics. She says “yea well it could be worse- my husband is in the hosp on iv’s and my son just had tubes put in his ears” Of course, I apologized for what she was going through at the moment.

So then I start questioning the tests and the cost we’ve wracked up too and she says “well we cannot do these tests for free”…. I tell her “ya know what- I don’t expect that at all and please don’t talk to me like that” She started getting a “tone” with me. I told her that I didn’t appreciate the way she was talking to me. We have spent close to $3,500.00! I was just wondering why we don’t know what is going on yet?
We get on the food topic again and I tell her I am going to switch food and find something comparable to the Hills K/D--- since that was what she thought would be best for Sadie. She says FINE. She says to me -“If you want to see a specialist I can refer you, but it’s going to cost you $150.00 just to walk in the door and just to view her records” I said well then lets try changing the food, retest in 2 wks for UTI and then recheck blood pressure and UPC (urine protein creatinine ratio) the word “specialist to me sounded even more expensive” I asked her if we were planning on increasing the benazeperil and she said “OH NOoooooo…. She is already maxed out on the dosage (which was 1.5 mg 2 x’s day) So we ended the call, I was not nasty to her. I listened to what she had to say. I told her that I would let her know what I found out about the food. She then adds “it really doesn’t even matter what your feed…” The “medication” is what’s more important. Again I tell her that I hope things are better with her husband and son.

15 minutes go by~ and I get a phone call from the off mgr and she proceeded to tell me that she did not appreciate what I had done to her Vet!!! And that they spend many yrs in school and for me to doubt her by researching things on line… Also that I was going to be charged a phone consult charge. (she (the office mgr) told me a couple mos ago that all phone calls needed to go through her not the Vet. I said well then she should have called me when it was more convenient for her. She made me so upset. talked to my husband and he said THAT’S IT!!! We are going to see the specialist. We are done with that place! He also didn’t care for the way the vet explained things when he talked to him. She was so quick and did not explain things so we could understand. I told the office mgr that maybe it was time to take our business elsewhere and she said yeah you got a lot to think about here. She was so rude! She also said that we would be charged for the phone call with the vet since we spoke for 15 min and I kept her away from seeing patients. (nice to know I paid for that call to listen to the vet tell me about her husband and sick child) !!!!I was in tears when I got off the phone with and shaking she made me so upset! At one point I told the off mgr that she needed to have this talk with my husband and she had the nerve to tell told me OH….NO! This is our conversation!! Needless to say things were ugly and we are done with the place. My husband called the vet the next day and asked to refer us to the specialist.

11-28-07- We visit with the specialist- he says to FIRST OF ALL= DISCONTINUE THE CLARITIN. Recheck in 2 wks. He believed this was the cause of the HIGH BP (it was 285!) also INC THE BENAZEPERIL to 2.5 mg 2 x's a day. Sadie was not on a high enough dosage.

12-10-07 –Recheck BP- WELL SURE ENOUGH!!! By discontinuing the Claritin, Sadie’s bp had dropped right back to normal -135

12/13/07 -We rechecked the UPC at the original vet since we were having them check to see if the infection had cleared and it had. No more UTI I faxed over the labs to the specialist so that they knew for sure the increase in the Benazeperil had worked. It went from 7.1 to 1.9
THIS WAS A HUGE IMPROVEMENT!!! (all we did was increase the Benezeperil!!)

1/2/08 -return to the specialist he also says to disc ALL MED'S except Benazeperil.

3-20-08 –Recheck UPC- it was 7.3 ~Unfortunately it has gone back up again. BUT, we were told to recheck in 3 mos again. ??? I told the specialists assistant that we went from 1.9 to 7.3 that tells me that the Benezeperil is no longer working?!?!?! She says she will check with the Dr and then she called me back to tell me that he was not aware that her UPC was 1.9 3 mos ago? (this makes me so upset, but…. Granted things get missed- but I was so glad I questioned it!! So now she says not to recheck in 3 mos. He wants to recheck in 30 days. I don’t understand. It’s obvious because her UPC has gone up again. Why are waiting another 30 days to check? I am wondering if there is a diff med she could be on and I asked the assistant that and she said no we have to continue with the Benazeperil and recheck in 30 days. I guess they want to see if it will go higher than 7.3 but I am so uncomfortable with going another 30 days. In a short time I noticed Sadie losing a lot of muscle. Her face and body became very thin. I of course noticed incredibly more when I was giving her a bath. She was so tiny when she was wet.

So now I am worried. I had recently chg her food to the Wellness super 5 senior mix bc it has lowered sodium and phos. I had read that this was important for kidney issues so I switched her to that. Sadie also has SUPER HIGH AMYLASE AND LIPASE LEVELS so the specialist said that it was very important for her to be on a LOW FAT (5-6%) and HIGH FIBER diet. The Wellness Wgt Mgt fiber is 8% and 6 % fat. I am currently putting her back onto that – ½ and ½. (1/2 Wgt mgt and 1/2 of the Super 5 mix/senior)

Her Amylase was: 1346 (normal range is 290-1125 and Lipase was 1236 (normal range 77-695)

The only thing I was more liberal on was the canned Wellness. She only had maybe 3 TBL per day of the canned duck & swt potato. I also just stopped that and switched to the wellness canned Venison/Sweet Potato. I think the Duck had way too much fat. It even looks different in the can than the venison looks. this is only to give her med in though now. So a pea size 2x's a day. Also Sadie is NOT hypothyroid so she never even needed to be on Soloxine!!! URGHHH!!!

I will list other values of her Labs since this is already too long and I had to already shorten. :-)