Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How common is high creatinine in dogs at a vet hospital 2010-2014
By Babyak, J M et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2017·Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of Elevated Serum Creatinine Concentration in Dogs Presenting to a Veterinary Academic Medical Center (2010-2014).
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that 11.5% of dogs visiting a veterinary hospital had elevated levels of creatinine in their blood, which can indicate kidney problems. This was more common in older dogs, with nearly 13% of outpatient visits showing elevated levels. The findings suggest that many dogs being evaluated for other issues may also have underlying kidney injury. If your dog is older or has been showing signs of illness, it might be worth discussing kidney health with your veterinarian.
People also search for: dog kidney disease symptoms · elevated creatinine in dogs · older dog health check · signs of kidney problems in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of kidney disease is not extensively described in dogs. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To better understand the prevalence of elevated serum creatinine concentration in dogs. ANIMALS: Client-owned dogs. METHODS: A retrospective, observational cross-sectional study design was used. We made a dataset of 115,631 hospital visits of all dogs presenting from October 2010 to October 2014. We estimated the prevalence and risk of elevated serum creatinine, defined as >1.6 mg/dL, in evaluated dogs. RESULTS: Of 115,631 visits, 98,693 were outpatient visits and 16,938 were hospital admissions. Among outpatient visits, 9,983 (10.1%) had serum creatinine assessment (4,423 [44.3%] visits were first visits), whereas, among hospital admissions, 12,228 (60.0%) had at least 1 serum creatinine (7,731 [75.6%] admissions were first admissions). The prevalence of elevated serum creatinine concentration in all evaluated dogs was 11.5% (95% CI: 11.0%, 11.9%); 10.2% (95% CI: 9.6%, 10.8%) of inpatients and 12.9% (95% CI: 12.1%, 13.8%) of outpatients had elevated serum creatinine concentration. The relative risk (RR) of elevated serum creatinine concentration was significantly higher in geriatric dogs (outpatient RR 1.45 [95% CI: 1.23, 1.70], inpatient RR 1.43 [95% CI: 1.16, 1.76]) and lower in young dogs (outpatient RR 0.39 [95% CI: 0.26, 0.59], inpatient RR 0.44 [95% CI: 0.32, 0.62]) when compared to the measured population risk. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: When selected for laboratory evaluation, the proportion of dogs presenting to an academic medical center with evidence of kidney injury is high compared to previous reports and might reflect a population of sicker dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28891088/