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My dog has high creatinine, won't eat. Is she in pain? Options?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Pomeranian | Female | unspayed | 10 years old | 25 lbs

My pet has 116 mg/dl of BUN and 5.9 mg/dl of creatinine . We restricted her protein diet and trying to give her ice cream and potato, rice but she is not taking anything from past 1 day. Its a very tough situation for us as we read that if creatinine levels are above 5, that means 80-90% of kidneys have been destroyed. What is best way: to keep her alive/on fluids or to end its life peacefully? We love her soo much but we can't see her dying with alot of pain.Can we knw how much pain she is in?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 25th, 2017

Based on your post of Lucy's bloodwork she has both elevated liver and kidney values which could mean she has another underlying condition altogether that is affecting both her organs such as leptospirosis, Cushings disease (hyperadrenocorticism), or any number of tick diseases. Therefore she needs additional testing to determine what the primary disease process is. She needs to most likely be hospitalized, placed on fluids to flush her system and pain medication if indicated. while the vet runs the necessary tests to determine the underlying problem here so that we know how to best treat her. Like I said before these lab values cannot be differentiated unless additional testing is done. I would likely first start with finding the specific gravity of her urine to rule out kidney failure first. Just because elevated kidney enzymes are present it does not always automatically mean that the pet is in kidney failure. Also it is very unlikely that both the kidneys and liver enzymes will be elevated without having another underlying disease process causing this. I hope that your pet Lucy is able to make a full and speedy recovery. Take care and best of luck.

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    Answered By Megan, DVM, CVA

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Poor Lucy. With a BUN/Cr that high their prognosis is definitely poor for a good recovery although I have seen it. If you can afford it that I would recommend hospitalization with an IV catheter and fluids for a few days. They can also give her injections of anti-nausea medicine. If this isn't an option then I would recommend to give her subcutaneous fluids (under the skin, prescribed by your vet) daily alone with 10mg Pepcid twice a day. You can also ask your vet to see if they carry the oral medicine cerenia which is great for nausea. Finally talk to your vet about an appetite stimulant as this may help too. I find they eat best once you can get the BUN under 80. Now what is the best choice? That is a hard decision to make. Just know the kidney disease itself isn't painful but it makes them feel really crummy. If she isn't responding well to treatment after a few days or a week then I would consider euthanasia as she will likely not respond much after that. You can have your vet check her blood work again to see how she is responding. I hope this helps and I hope she starts Eating for y'all really soon!

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