I recently took my Dash to get his teeth cleaned. The vet did bloodwork on him. They found his creatinine to be 1.7 (on a scale of 0.8-1.6). His BUN and urine were fine and not even slightly elevated. They placed him on an NF diet for a month. We redid the bloodwork and all was the same except his creatinine this time was 1.6. They told me to keep him on the NF diet. I keep hearing from my greyhound group that if his BUN and Urine are fine, then his kidneys are fine. His is only 4 yrs old, very healthy and muscular and not overweight. He is 73lbs. We did a urinalysis on him a long time ago, because we thought he may have had a UTI, but didnt.

I need help and advice. I keep hearing horror stories of grey owners in the same situation and the vet put their grey on perscription diet and ended up dying of some other illness or problem. I am scared to take him off the diet, and i am scared to keep him on it. I am so weary of pet store and perscription diets. I am thinking of going holistic and organic and homecook my pets meals. I have a cat who was having digestive problems, having bloody stools. The vet told me it was his diet, so we changed that too. Makes me wonder so much about the food we feed our pets. My other dog is 8 and is starting to have medical issues such as eye and arthitis. Anyone have any advice about the Kidney problem. Is this a problem? I know greys have higher creatinines than other dogs. I tried to tell my vet this, but they say its still high even for a greyhound. Although they are still going on 'other' dogs' scale. I even called other vets and they tell me the same thing, that it is high. I live near Asheville. I take my Dash to asheville vet associates.

Please any advice. I am worried about my baby boy.

Here is a link to Greyhound Database posting on bloodwork. Suzanne Stack is the author. I have always read that if the BUN and urinalysis is normal then an elevated creatin on its on does not mean there is an issue.

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1.7 is not overly high for a greyhound, especially if the other values are fine. I know of several dogs who's normal creatinine level is 2.0 +, and they are healthy dogs with fine kidney function. In a greyhound, kidney disease cannot be diagnosed based solely on creatinine. Creatinine is a by-product of muscle mass, which these dogs have in spades. Of course, it will be higher. It can also run a little higher if they are sick, but it is not related to the function of the kidneys. Most likely, your dog is fine and doesn't need to be on a special diet.

There is terrific information on this website. Under the 1st FAQ, which is creatine specific, there are links to some articles on kidney disease (or the lack there of) in greyhounds.

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Ohio State Univ Vet school has is one of the primier greyhound facilities in the country. Dr Bill Feeman is nationally known for his work in greyhound kidney/urinary tract function.

Dr Feeman has a wonderful booklet, "Greyhound Medical Idiosyncracies", that all vets should read. I carry a copy of it and some of Dr. Stack's articles with me in case I ever have to use a different vet. The booklet is available online in a PDF file. I'll find it and post it later.

I lived in Asheville for many, many years (actually grew up in the area) and recently moved from there. A large portion of the vets there are not grey savvy and are close minded. I would recommend Heartsong Animal Hospital (828-253-3393) on Hendersonville Road just south of Biltmore. She takes blends standard vet medicine with a holistic approach. Plus, unless she's changed recently, she is very open to learning more. When the practice first opened, several of us took our hounds. It was amazing the effort she put into learning about the breed.

Found it! Dr Feeman's practice has a website with a library of many of his publications in PDF format (some cowritten with other top greyhound vets). In the library, "Greyhound Medical Idiosyncracies" is listed as "Greyhound Health Packet". There are several of items you might want to print and take with you. If the vet you are workign with has questions, they can contact him. Dr Feeman is delightful and very helpful.

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