Elevated SDMA in a young dog

M

Merry

Forums Regular
Hello everyone!

My lil darling boy has been suffering from gerd symptoms, and I took him in for a check. The vet did all sorts of blood work, including those regarding to kidneys, and the results got me worried. While his bun and creatine were compeltely normal, not even in the high end of the scale, her SDMA level was 16 (normal is between 1 and 14). I've red about this test since and what I've learned is that it cathces kidney failure earlier than crea and bun by average of 9 months. So now I'm scared that even though my dog isn't showing any signs of kidney disease, we might a year away from chronic kidney failure. And he's only 2years and 3months old :( What I've understood, the prognosis for a dog that age with kidney failure isn't that good.

Has anyone here had any experience with this test? My dog was somewhat dehydrated when they took his blood, he hadn't drank anything in 13 hours, but apparently that shouldn't affect this test. Has anyone seen elevated results, and what have they ment?

I'm obviously going to ask for more tests, and tomorrow I'm taking a sample of his urine in. I'm not sure what they're testing from it, but it's something. I'm thinkin I also want and ultrasound to see if there's any abnormalaties to be seen.

One thing is, last summer he might have been bitten by a viper. We're not sure - his face became swollen and the doctors suspected it was either a snake bite, a bug bite, or him eating some kind of a plant (he eats grass when we go for a walk) that he shouldn't have had. After the bite they checked his bun and creatine to make sure his kidneys hadn't suffered, and then the bun was just a little bit elevated. But they weren't worried, since he was on a meaty diet, and apparently that's normal when your dog eats a lot of meat. In this test the bun was normal. But I wonder, if he really was bitten by a snake, did the venomcause some kind of damage to his kidneys and now the SDMA is picking that up? If there's vets or other professionals here, do you know if this kind of damage usually gets worse over time or will it stay at the level that it is?

This was a long post. And I'm sure there will be more in the future, when we try to figure this out.

Oh, and tomorrow I'm getting the result for his pancreas test. One of the things they wanted to check was wether he has chronic pancreatitis. I've been waiting to get the result for five days - frist there was a holiday and then the weekend - and while I'm so glad I'll finally get it tomorrow, I'm also so scared. I'm really not ready to lose him :(
 
Just got the results from the test. No pancreatitis! Wohoo!:happy:

But apparently I shouldn't test the SDMA again in two weeks like I wanted, that's too soon. They said the value isn't going to go this way or that in such a short period of time. But I'm still planning on getting that ultrasound, and if I take him there, they might as well take the bloodsample and see what's going on. Maybe the value won't change - maybe it will. I'm still hoping it's the dehydration that affected it, and I'm sure that would show sooner.
 
Merry said:
Just got the results from the test. No pancreatitis! Wohoo!:happy:

But apparently I shouldn't test the SDMA again in two weeks like I wanted, that's too soon. They said the value isn't going to go this way or that in such a short period of time. But I'm still planning on getting that ultrasound, and if I take him there, they might as well take the bloodsample and see what's going on. Maybe the value won't change - maybe it will. I'm still hoping it's the dehydration that affected it, and I'm sure that would show sooner.
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Thank goodness it's not pancreatitis! That's great news!
 
We are in a similar situation. When Enzo was a puppy he got into some Rimadyl. While we reacted quickly, it still got to his kidneys.

I was like you and wanted to test and re-test as frequently as possible. The vet felt that we would see improvement. At first I believe BUN was affected (high end of normal) but as time went on, it is now within the normal range.

We have also seen the SDMA go from high to the high end of normal over the course of a year or two (Enzo is almost 3).

We have been testing every 6 months or so. The vet feels no course of action is necessary at this point (like diet change etc) since we are seeing kidneys improve.
 
Can I ask you, corbinam, what were your SDAM readings exactly? And how does the vet feel about your prognosis in the tearms of will this affect his kidneys in the long run? I had no idea kidneys could recover at all!

I'm taking in a urine sample today. Hope I'll get the results soon.
 
My dog is 7 now and has always had weird urinary issues. Nothing that has prevented her from living a normal life. She does pee frequently when I'm home, but does not have accidents in the house and can hold it for hourse when we're not home. She just had her SDMA tested and it was 14 (16 was the highest normal.) Every time she has had this test done, it has been high-normal. Her Creatine, BUN, Liver values, etc are all normal.
 
Merry said:
Can I ask you, corbinam, what were your SDAM readings exactly? And how does the vet feel about your prognosis in the tearms of will this affect his kidneys in the long run? I had no idea kidneys could recover at all!

I'm taking in a urine sample today. Hope I'll get the results soon.
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Let me get back to you on that--we are moving and it seems I've misplaced all his stats. I'll call the vet tomorrow and get back to you :)
 
Back from the ultrasound! Nothing found, everything normal. But it's not all good news: they took an urine sample straight from the bladder with a needle, and apparently they found protein in the urine. I'm not sure if our vet was talking about the protein/creatine ratio, but anyway, the number should be under 0,5 so it's normal and over 1 if it's abnormal, and my boy's number was somewhere between that 0,5 and 1. No white blood cells found, no blood, but they are checking for bacteria and I'll get those results tomorrow. (The first sample that I took myself was negative for protein, but apparently this test they did today is more accurate.)

Apparently there could be a whole number of reasons for this, some of them serious and some of them not. It could be that the possible snake bite has left some damage that's now showing but won't get worse. It's possible that it gets better. It's possible that this is nothing but daily variaton.

And since the acid reflux symptoms still give him trouble we have to start a hypoallergenic food, Hill's z/d. We tried the Royal Canin one but I thought it just made the symptoms worse. I'd really like to feed him home cooked but we have to do that elimination diet thing and it's darn hard with home-cooked when he's had pretty much every meat possible, and the diet should be done with foods he's never had.

Did you guys have urine tests done? Have they ever shown protein?
 
Here are Enzo's results:
2/16: SDMA 18
5/16: SDMA 18
11/16: SDMA 14

His BUN is slightly elevated (high end of normal), but his creatinine has remained normal throughout.

Our vet felt that likely this will be something he will deal with as he gets older, but it was really positive that his number improved. He felt that for now, we should let the kidneys do their thing (they have limited regeneration depending on how damaged they are). I even wanted to change Enzo's diet, but the vet didn't feel that would be necessary right now. It's something we will continue to test for every year, in hopes that we continue to see positive improvement.

I think we just have to be careful not to label them as dogs with kidney failure, but dogs with kidney disease. It's something that we'll have to monitor their entire lives, and as they get older may need to intervene.
 
Than you corbinam! Great to see your results have gotten better. Have they ever tested his urine? We're going for a second test in three weeks (4 weeks from the blood test) to see if anything's changed.
 
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