Prevalence of Increased Serum Urea and Creatinine Levels in Dogs

The causes of kidney dysfunction could be related to damages to the glomeruli, nephron, tubules, interstitial tissues and renal blood vessels. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of increased levels of serum urea and serum creatinine in dogs presented at the University of Nigeria Veterinary Teaching Hospital (UNVTH). A kidney function test was conducted in dogs for a six-month period (January - June) using kidney function biomarkers (creatinine and urea). A total of 45 dogs were examined. For each dog presented, two milliliters of blood were collected from the cephalic vein for serum biochemistry determinations. Data obtained from this study were analyzed using descriptive statistics. CHI square was used to calculate the strength of association between increased levels of serum urea and creatinine, and sex, age and breed. The prevalence of increased level of serum urea was 71.1% while that of increased level of serum creatinine was 8.9%. There were no significant association between increases in serum creatinine or serum urea, and sex, age and breed. The prevalence of acute kidney injury was 8.9%. There was no significant association between acute kidney injury (AKI) and sex, age and breed but the risk of having AKI in older dogs were higher if dehydrated and if there was an obstruction to urinary outflow. The results of this study have shown that a greater number of dogs presented at UNVTH suffered from mild loss of kidney function which was not the reason for their presentation at UNVTH. Therefore, routine kidney function tests should be conducted especially on severely sick dogs, as this will help in choice of the drugs.