high calcium in blood

bruno

hello everyone my bully had blood work done and is shows his kidney value is1.7 and has a high calium in blood they are checking his parathyroid, he is only 4, going crazy waiting for the results, all help will be much appreciated
thank you

BulliesofNC

@bruno - I'm not seeing the relationship with kidney disease tests and skin allergies. I understand that his creatinine level is at 1.7mg but normal is 1.6. Dogs with early stages of kidney disease are usually diagnosed at 2.0mg and above. At 1.7mg you're in no need for worry in regard to renal failure. If your Vet found his calcium level to be high he may have noted his serum calcium levels to be at a higher level than normal. However, if the levels were up around 11.5 he would have began treatment for hypercalcemia. Sounds to me that he may be conducting other tests based on findings in the recent blood test evaluation. The levels you mentioned didn't seem to be high enough for too much concern but I'm no doctor. I guess I'm just a little confused how all this correlates to his skin problem that you brought him in for.
Please keep us updated with the results of his tests.

bruno

Hi sorry about the confusion , if started with yeast infections on a regular basis, so my dermatologist vet decided to do blood work and found the values to be a little high in the kidneys, so went to my regular vet and she dug deeper with more involved blood and found the calcium levels to be high he seems a little sluggish , and the new test is to check his parathyroid, waiting for the results as always it happens on a long weekend that is now longer
thanks  

BulliesofNC

Well I wish him all the best with his test results. Please keep us posted.

philsergeant

Yeast infections are normally associated with too much protein or poor protein digestion and can be treated topically and quickly... not that it doesn't mean you shouldn't watch the protein intake and digestion... no vegetables, potatoes particularly (or kibbles that have them), no sugar, (I know I've been seen to give mine a frozen strawberry or two, bad boy).

bruno

ok got it thank you , I have been watching his diet and it seems to be working his coat is getting shiny

Djammy

@Bruno

I don't really know where to begin.

Maybe you have already found the solution. Right now it sounds like things are improving.
Also you have already heard a lot of helpful information here.

Still, although the problems of your dog partly seem to be different from the ones our dog Fancy had, there could be some similarities at second look.

So, I am just writing this story down, for you to know in case it turns out that you and your little buddy are not "there yet". Maybe at some point in your search it can be some help for you.

I just did a quick&dirty research on hyperparathtyroidism and could not find much evidence to support any relation to skin diseases and allergies.


However, I found some indications that as I understood there are relations as follows:

a) Secondary Hyperparathyroidism CAN go along with chronic renal problems

b) Chronic renal problems CAN also have elevated Calcium levels as a symptom

Here are some links I found referring to Chronic Kidney Failure, Hyperparathyroidism and Skin Disease

http://endocrinesurgery.ucla.edu/patient_education_High_Calcium.html

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/urinary/c_multi_renal_failure_chronic#.UiOFlX_rR8E

I am stressing that, because I am convinced that there is a high possibility of a connection between "internal" problems (especially when blood purification organs such as the kidneys are involved) and allergies. And - again - THIS all CAN fall back on malnutrition.

I am not sure, IF in any way the results of the blood test indicated renal problems and if that was discussed with your vet.

The value that pointed in that direction (kidneys) when WE had our dog's blood tested was the Phosphate value, not Calcium.

But I understand that Calcium and Phosphate are a connected balance system in the body and BOTH can point at the kidneys. As I am not a doctor, I only have the knowledge we acquired over the years by experience, research and vet visits.

So please do not take my information as "expert advice", all I can do is give you some insight in the life of our former dog and her problems, as well as the solutions WE had discovered.

She had to deal with quite some issues during her life. A broken toe was the least of it.

More severe was the poisoning with ergot over her skin while playing in a grainfield (at least that was what our vet suspected it to be). That caused a painful skin infection, where her skin would crack at the slightest touch or movement - really painful for the dog.

Then there was the uterus infection that almost killed her. Another issue where her allergies & skin conditions (this went on and off for years). A little later in life kidney problems surfaced, then vestibular syndrome (that is a weird condition showing really weird symptoms) and epilepsy (w. seizures) occurred.

This all kept us quite busy and lead to a lot of vet consultations and research.

Looking back at everything, I cannot shake off the feeling, that at least some of her conditions could be related.

When we came to the conclusion that her nutrition must be the key, we first switched to an allergy targeting nutrition (Hill's for allergies). This already improved her condition but unfortunately did not help with her seizures.

At that time they had to be controlled with phenobarbital, but still her condition did not seem to improve completely over time.

We suspected the seizures to be strongly related to her kidney problems.

So we decided at that time that her skin problems were secondary to the seizures and switched her nutrition to an adjusted renal diet (again Hill's, but the renal type).

And there it was: This step finally brought the best results for our dog. ALL of her symptoms - including the spots and skin issues - eventually improved (along with the other steps we took, such as washing and shoes. I had already mentioned that in my last post in your "rash"-thread).

Is any of that going to be the cure for your dog?

Again, I don't know.

BUT, maybe this story is able to tell you that the most obvious symptoms may not be the problem to be discovered and targeted, but rather the underlying conditions. Allergies - even in humans - are sometimes only the surface of another problem. And by targeting this problem chances to improve the skin issues as well are pretty good.

Maybe our story can give you some clues, where else to look and maybe what else to consider and to try.

It is also important that you do not try to change too many different things at a time, because that makes it really hard for you to figure out what really works and what doesn't.

So you need to be patient, which probably is the hardest of all things to do after all you and your dog already have been through.

The difference between most medicines (such as steroids for example) and altered nutrition is that the nutrition change takes some time to fully produce noticeable results, even IF it works!

It sure is a jigsaw game to find a cure and - again - unfortunately a lot of trial and error.

You seem to be on a good path with the nutrition right now, however, there is a possibility that other - more modified steps - may be necessary to bring the desired relief for your dog.

The testing your vet does, is definitely not a waste of money and even excluding things can be helpful.

Btw, there is special food on the market for thyroid related problems, as well as renal disease and allergies.

Unfortunately when it comes to nutrition and your dog already IS suffering from more than one chronic condition, you need to make a choice, which condition you want to target with the food. Because unfortunately there is NO food combination available that treats everything at once. At least as far as I know.

Just in case you want gather some more information about the specialized nutrition. I think, there may be other brands also, but about the one we used you will find information here:

http://www.hillspet.com/products/prescription-diet.html

We still keep our fingers crossed for you and your doggie and finding remedy soon.

If we can answer any questions we will be glad to help.

bruno

wow thank you so much  for your time telling your story I am sorry for all the heartache, right now the update is his parathyroid gland is fine, so the vet said she wants to x ray his anal sack, abdomen, and chest area, for a potential tumor , in those areas, which sometimes is a signal of high calcium in the blood ( she says) that will be on Thursday, right now he is fine back to normal all because of a diet change , no human snacks, and i changes his diet to Orijen adult food ( breeder recommends) so we will see
Thank you for your interest and great information
Frank    ,