Written by Amber Crowe, RVT

I just wanted to share my story and raise awareness of the importance of preventative bloodwork. I always get bloodwork done on my dogs at their yearly check up. I never expect anything to be wrong. Yet there I sat with my almost 2 1 /2 year old shepherd/husky mix, Gabby Roo, bouncing around me acting crazy just like a puppy should act and Dr. Bates saying he needs to talk to me. Dr. Bates tells me Gabby’s kidney values are high which means her kidneys where not functioning like they should. I could not believe what I was hearing! I knew I was going to do everything in my power the give her the longest, healthiest life possible. Dr. Bates recommended starting her on Hills Prescription Diet K/D and rechecking her bloodwork in one month to see if her kidneys would respond to the food. After what seemed to be the longest month of my life freaking myself out over every weird sound and/or movement Gabby made, it was finally time to recheck her kidney values. There I sat again, playing over every possible scenario in my head, when I got the best news of my life. Gabby’s kidney values where back down to normal! The Prescription Diet K/D was taking the stress off of her kidneys and they were functioning normally!!! I don’t think I have ever hugged her as much as I did that day! The moral of my story is, because of early detection and Prescription Diet K/D I get to keep my sweet Gabby Roo around for a long time!!!

This is Gabby’s bloodwork.

In October of 2015 she was in the normal range. You can see over the next two years the results were increasing. In February of 2017, the SDMA, which detects early changes in the kidneys, was elevated above the normal range. This is when Dr. Bates had Gabby switch dog foods to the Hills Prescription Diet K/D. He had her bloodwork rechecked 30 days later and it was in the normal range again. In June, Gabby had an ultrasound and her kidneys looked good so Gabby was switched back to an adult dog food. We rechecked Gabby’s bloodwork 3 months later and her levels began to elevate again. The decision was made to have Gabby transition back on the Hill’s K/D dog food and remain on this food for the rest of her life.

The moral of this story is: early detection is critical for a long healthy life for pets and for us!!!