mgepfrey asked:
Tests for Parvo and antifreeze were negative, she had dead animal bones in her belly. Her kidney levels were elevated. Her internal temperature was normal, but her feet, ears, and nose were cold. She was also dehydrated even though she was drinking water exessively. The vet has kept her on fluids through an IV which has helped tremendously, however they don’t know exactly what caused this. Any ideas?
sounds like some kind of toxin.
did they do a full blood screening?
Is she losing hair? heavy metals?
pesticides?
Check your house. List everything she could have gotten into.
Do an internet search on symptoms of ingestion and give the list to your vet.
Is it possible that she ate a rodent killed or weakened by rat poison?
Calciferol used in some poisons can cause kidney damage in dogs:
“Another potentially lethal substance is rat poison. If a dog eats rat poison containing calciferol (a form of vitamin D) the calciferol pushes up the dog’s calcium level, causing mineral deposits, inflammation, and other damage within the kidneys.”
I would guess a problem with the kidneys, Renal failure.. Or even Diabetes, bad breath suggests diabetes. Could also be inflammatory bowl disease, or
Lepto.. Has the vet run any test other than kidney?
sounds like she might have eaten something that had already been killed by poisens. a rodent or rabbit perhaps
Kidney failure is a possibility but cannot be diagnosed from a blood test result of elevated renal parameters alone- dehydration also causes these to increase, so it is necessary to look at the concentration of the urine as well. A dog that is dehydrated can concentrate its urine, a dog with kidney failure cannot. Do you know if they took a urine sample from her before they put her on the IV?
The cold feet, ears and nose are secondary to her being dehydrated and probably in a degree of shock as a result.
Really, her symptoms could potentially be due to a large number of causes, and it’s hard to point in any particular direction without more information. Did the vet give you the full results of her blood test, or just that her kidney levels were high? If they did, and you’re able to post them here, that would be helpful. I’d be interested to know what her liver enzymes were like, and her electrolyte levels if the vets were able to do them (quite a few clinics still have to send samples away for this). It could be a primary gastrointestinal issue, it could be a toxicity as other people have said, but another condition that springs to mind is hypoadrenocorticism (Addisons disease). There may well be other things the vet knows about her case that have allowed them to rule this out, but based on the information you’ve given us here, I’d be ranking it fairly high on my list of possibles.
I hope that she makes a full recovery regardless of what is causing her illness. Feel free to email if I can be of any more help.
Bad breath is a serious social problem for many people regardless of age and status in life. Brushing the teeth to remove plaque and tartar helps, as does treating canker sores that may appear on the gums and taking other steps to maintain good oral hygiene. Unless bad breath is kept under control by tooth brushing and flossing and where necessary, the use of antibacterial products at the condition will recur.