When our pets manifest a change in their habits related to the way they urinate, for example, they urinate more times than usual and in very little quantities or they are not producing enough urine, they show weakness, they have no appetite, they have diarrhea or vomiting. We must pay close attention because they could be presenting kidney problems in their first phase, and it is necessary to go to the veterinarian immediately to carry out the necessary tests for diagnosis.
What is kidney failure?
Kidney failure is an abnormality in which the pet's kidney begins to reduce basic functions, where the kidney begins a process of accumulating waste products that begins to intoxicate it. It occurs when there is an imbalance in the water content and electrolytes of the animal.
Why are pet kidneys damaged?
The causes of kidney disease in pets are among others: Hereditary factors; age; Cancer; parasites; leptospirosis; urinary problems (obstruction of the ureters); some medications; lymphomas; virus or bacterial infections, diabetes mellitus. Glomerulonephritis; Amyloidosis (abnormal deposits in the kidney of certain proteins).
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The causes for which our pets are affected by kidney failure are varied. Among?alterations?that are produced and that the veterinarian evaluates are the hematocrit levels; blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine and?Symmetric dimethylarginine?(SDMA) . Factors that provide information to the doctor to obtain a diagnosis, which are obtained by performing some laboratory tests.
hematocrit
The hematocrit test is?used to know the volume of red blood cells or red blood cells. In a complete blood count , or complete blood test, we can check the levels of the enzyme.?Red blood cells are responsible for providing oxygen to the blood system. When these values are very high, it is an indication that the pet is dehydrated and in most cases it is related to the quality of the pet's diet, and the amount of water they contain.
Ureic nitrogen.
The blood urea nitrogen (NUS) test is used to measure the levels or amount of urea nitrogen contained in the blood, which is one of the waste products contained in the blood, which the kidneys?filtered and eliminated through the urine. When the result of these NUS values is high, it is an indication that the kidneys are not performing their function efficiently.
creatinine.
pets with? elevated creatinine values,? kidney problems, this is caused by the inability of the kidney to metabolize muscle creatinine,? which is a breakdown product of muscle metabolism. The creatinine test is a very important value to define the dimension of the kidney damage that the pet presents.
The SDMA exam.
The dimethylarginine test (SDMA) is a test that is performed on serum or plasma, it shows a much more sensitive biomarker than creatinine for the determination of kidney disease, it allows the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) before the appearance of clinical symptoms and manifestations of significant kidney damage, usually irreversible.
