Meet Louise 

Louise is a 52lb, 3 1/2 year old, spayed female Boxer.  We at CAWC first met Louise before she was born when Dr. Newnham performed an ultrasound on her mother around 36 days into her pregnancy.  It was a thrill for all to see the little beating hearts of Louise and all her littermates.

 
  Louise or a littermate in the uterus.


Louise was born in February 2004.  In general, she was a happy, healthy puppy except for the occasional urinary tract infection (UTI).  Louise had her first UTI when she was 2 1/2 months old and seemed to take a little longer than average to housetrain.  It can be normal for a puppy to get a UTI as their immune system is not fully developed and so is not an immediate cause of concern.  She was treated with antibiotics and the infection cleared.

Louise had another UTI at 4 months old and continued to struggle with housebreaking.  At that time, in addition to treating the UTI, her owners elected to run a blood panel to make sure that her organs were properly functioning.   Louise's blood values were all within normal limits, so she was again treated with antibiotics until the infection cleared up.

Louise was spayed at 5 1/2 months.  Her pre-op screen showed that her blood values were within normal limits.  For the next year and a half we only saw her for annual exams and the routine "puppy trouble" (like bee stings) that a growing, inquisitive, active girl encounters.  About a week after her third birthday, her owners noticed that she started wetting their bed during the night.  At the same time, she seemed to have a cold.  She was lethargic, had a runny nose and stopped eating as much.  Her family attributed the bed-wetting to the cold.  When the cold resolved after a few days, the bed wetting continued so Louise was brought in to Dr. Lisa. 

Louise always drank a lot of water, but lately she had begun a new habit of drinking out of the toilets.  The urinalysis Dr. Lisa recommended showed lots of white blood cells and bacteria.  She had another UTI.  Her urine sample was dilute, indicating that she could not concentrate her urine properly.  A blood panel to check her kidney function was recommended.  This time her blood values showed that Louise significant kidney disease.  It is unknown whether Louise was born with compromised kidneys (congenital renal dysplasia) or whether the UTI's caused damage her kidneys (pyelopephritis).  This was difficult news for her family to hear, but they were so thankful that the disease had been caught early and that there were some things that could be done to slow the progression down.

First, a diet change.  Food that is high in protien is hard for the kidneys to process.  Louise’s diet was changed to a prescription diet that is low in protein and phosphorus to decrease the kidney’s workload.  Dr. Newnham added an Omega-3 fatty acid to her diet to help support the kidneys.  It was also important to determine how far Louise's disease progressed.   Louise's blood pressure was checked as the kidneys play an important role in blood pressure regulation.  A test was run to determine if she was also leaking protien into her urine.  Both of these tests were normal which was great news for Louise. 

Louise's lifestyle has been minimally impacted by her health issue.  She can no longer eat dinner with Tater, her boxer buddy, but she enjoys her new food and oil capsules.  She continues to wear a diaper at night as she still occasionally will have an "accident".  Ideally, she'll should be monitored with more frequent vet visits and tests every 3 months.  Her family is worried about how this illness will affect her quality and length of life, but they are positive and hoping for the best.

This month Louise had her first check up since being diagnosed.  She is doing very well at home.  Her labwork showed no sign of a  UTI and her blood values had improved significantly.  The diet change and Omega-3's were helping slow the progression of her kidney disease!  Louise will need to continue on the special diet and Omega-3's throughout her life.  Early detection of the disease has been key to being able to intervene and slow down the damage to the kidneys.

For additional information on the conditions discussed in this article read these articles in the pet info library.
Pyelonephritis
Renal Disease