Problem = possible decreased kidney function.
Holistic Action! = monitor for early warning signs and kidney function at home while promoting healing by your pet’s body.
Meet Henry
Henry is a 6 year old Golden. His mom has been watching him drink much more than usual. Everything else about him is normal.
Nothing has changed with his BEAM (Behavior, Energy, Appetite, Mood) or other symptoms and his blood tests are all normal.
What can his concerned guardian do?
Wait and watch and reactively treat when problems arise? Or proactively prevent a problem before it starts?
Diane is holistically-minded and has heard about how dis-ease progresses. She knows that internal imbalance moves from the functional “nothing is wrong” except an external symptom level to the structural level where the kidney tests are abnormal.
She chose to be proactive so is watching Henry like a hawk and closely monitoring for any changes. She wants to know right away if something is wrong and nip any problems in the bud.
The Four Methods
There are four simple things Diane can do at home that reflect directly on kidney function.
These same four methods can be used to monitor any stage of kidney failure. Whether your pet seems fine, or has a named dis-ease like “Lyme nephritis” or “CKD” (chronic kidney disease).
- Measure the amount of water he is drinking.
- Keep a close eye on quantity of urination for Henry and size of urine clumps in cats.
- Use a sensitive dipstick test at home to keep track of protein loss in the urine.
- Monitor the concentration of the first morning urine with an inexpensive and easy to use device called a refractometer.
Along with these simple home tests, your veterinarian can pickup early kidney dis-eases at home by comparing any bloodwork that has recently been run to previous results.
Even when tests are “normal”, trends of the results can be very important.
For example, creatinine is one blood test that is run on most screening panels. There is a phenomenon called “creatinine creep” which can be a great internal symptom early warning sign that kidney function is decreasing.
Using these simple holistic methods of monitoring internal and external symptoms, you can help your pets live happier and healthier lives.
Join us at Holistic Actions! Academy to have our faculty help you to help your pets.
Stay well.
Dr. Jeff
What’s Your Pet’s BEAM?
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