elevated kidney enzymes

[Robin Evenson]

I wanted to get other doodle owner's opinion on a situation I have with Bella. She is a three year old labradoodle who is a joy and delight! From time to time she will have a bought of diarrhea. At one point i realized that probably the bully sticks were the culprit and I stopped giving those to her. But then she'd have another bought of diarrhea. A couple of times when it was particularly bloody I took her to the vet, the fecal only showed lots of bacteria, no parasites/worms. On one of those visits the tech said "we don't have any lab work on Bella, can we draw some?" We did and her kidney enzymes were elevated, they didn't think it was related to the diarrhea though. We rechecked a couple of other times and ruled out some diseases. The vet finally came back and said that she one felt Bella was maybe not getting enough to drink (though she has free access to water at all times) and so she wanted me to add a little water to her dry kibble, the other thing she said was that another dog in her practice (older and not a doodle) had a similar situation and was Innova dog food and she suggested it could be something in that food and we should switch her. I am curious 1. if anyone else feed their dog this dog food and if you have had any issues with kidney enzymes related to the food, and 2. if you were to switch your dog to another food to potentially reduce issues with occasional diarrhea, which would it be? Thanks for you any suggestions or comments. Robin

[Vivian & Mojo]

My doodle had diarrhea off and on and I changed his food to grain free Fromm and he has not had any diarrhea for the month she has been eating Fromm. I used to have a Husky and fed her Innova and she had diarrhea issues until I switched her to another food. I hope you get Bella stabilized and wish you the best.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Eliminating the grain is often a good idea with chronic diarrhea.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't have much knowledge or experience on this, Allyson is our kidney expert and she''s temporarily MIA as she has a new baby with a health issue. I do believe that you need more information in order to make an informed choice before switching foods. Do you know which enzymes levels were affected? BUN, creatinine, etc? Do you know how far above the normal range they were?  In order to research this, you ideally should have a printout of the lab values from the bloodwork. I also wonder if she was fasting when the blood was drawn, as I think that might have affected the results, but I'm not sure. I do know that if her kidney enzymes are elevated, she does need to be getting more fluids.

I have not heard of any health problems with Innova. It's not my favorite brand because of the P & G buyout, but so far I haven't heard any adverse info about it, and I hear a lot about food. With any issue related to food, whether it's allergies or anything else, the problem is being caused by one or more ingredients, and not to the brand itself.There's really nothing in Innova (or any other food) that is exclusive to that particular brand or formula: in other words, there is nothing that is in Innova that is not in many other foods, so there's no way of knowing what to avoid if you chose another food, unless the vet can give you more specific information, such as "we have seen a problem with the calcium levels in Innova" or "such-and-such ingredient may be causing the problem." Unfortunately, very few vets have much knowledge of nutrition.

I also doubt that the kidney enzymes are related to the diarrhea. Chronic diarrhea, especially bloody diarrhea, coupled with a lot of what I'm assuming is bad bacteria (there is good GI bacteria, too) indicates a problem with the colon. Has she ever been on antibiotics? That can cause a problem with the bacterial balance in the gut. I would start addressing the diarrhea by adding some plain, unflavored, fat-free yogurt to her diet; two or three heaping tablespoons a day. You can add it to her kibble, or you might try giving it to her separately, with a few Craisins (dried cranberries) in it. Most dogs love this, and the cranberries will be good for her urinary tract, too.

It sometimes helps dogs who have issues with diarrhea to feed a grain-free diet, or a limited ingredient diet. You might consider switching to one of the Acana formulas, either one of their Singles, or one of their grain-frees.

 

 

[Robin Evenson]

Thanks for the info. I can't remember which one was elevated but on subsequent tests it was either normal or just at the higher end of normal. She is at the vet now, play date and vaccine update. They called to say they felt she was a little on the heavy side (59lb). Definitely trending upward over the year. So now I need to consider too if a change in diet could help with this too. We both can use some regular exercise!

[F, Calla & Luca]

There are no kidney enzymes per se.  What tests were abnormal?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I was wondering about that, because i never heard the terms "kidney enzymes" before.  I googled it, and what kept coming up was BUN, creatinine, uric acid, and renin.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Those indicate renal function but only renin is really an enzyme, which is rarely tested  for except in certain kinds of hypertension.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

One thing to add, I don't believe fasting - not fasting effects a renal panel to a great extent. Being dehydrated will effect a urinalysis with some results but not a serum renal panel. I may be wrong though

[F, Calla & Luca]

In general, fasting affects blood sugar and lipid levels.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks, didn't know this. I couldn't remember if I had to fast my cat when she had blood work done for kidney issues.

[Janice Hammond]

I would switch to Orijen. Our doodle has been on it since dayone and she is six now and never a problem.