My older dog has edema and can't walk well. What's causing it?

Question

Dixie 7yr old bluetick conjoined has low deformed red blood cells, elevated white blood cwlls, lack and loss of protein levels. She has been treated for any tick born illness, in her GI tract and has been x-rayed. Her x rays were great. All of her internal organs are working properly. She has edema and doesn't walk well at all. She does eat and drink well. Pet's info: Dog | Bluetick Coonhound | Female | 7 years and 5 months old | 48 lbs

Christie Long, DVM · Accepted Answer

Protein loss typically occurs either though the GI tract or the kidneys, and will lead to edema as you are describing. The first step to figuring out where the protein is going is to do a urinalysis. If there are significant amounts of protein in the urine, this points to the kidneys as the source of the protein loss. Tick borne disease - most typically Lyme disease - will cause this, and treatment doesn't usually reverse this complication. Other causes of renal protein loss include glomerularnephritis and renal amyloidosis. These diseases must be diagnosed with a biopsy of the kidney, and typically have a poor prognosis. If there is no protein being lost in the urine, chances are good that the protein is being lost through the GI tract. These diseases can be diagnosed with a biopsy of the GI tract, but ultrasound examination of the intestines can provide a clue that this is what is going on. Typically these types of conditions respond to a diet change and sometimes treatment with steroids. I urge you to get Dixie examined by a veterinary internal medicine specialist, who can do some advanced diagnostics and figure out what can be done to help Dixie at this point.

My older dog has edema and can't walk well. What's causing it?

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