My dog's blood work shows minor changes. Is it dehydration or kidneys?

Question

My dogs CBC shows high HGB, HCT, MCH and low platelet count (claims due to clumping). ALSO a "wellness chem screen" showing high BUN, Chloride & ALT and low Lipase & Total protein. I have no faith in the vet that took the blood sample and am interested in knowing what these levels would indicate, without knowing anything else about the dog. Pet's info: Dog | Irish Wolfhound | Male | neutered | 4 years and 7 months old | 130 lbs

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

Hi there! After looking at the lab results, I see that all of these are extremely minor changes - they usually don't mean anything at all, in a dog that's clinically healthy and acting normal. The one possible exception would be the elevated BUN, as this can sometimes be a sign of early kidney disease - but it can also be caused by mild dehydration (common in anxious dogs who are panting at the vet's office!), a high-protein diet, or other things that don't have any clinical significance. If you wanted to be sure that his kidneys are fine, your veterinarian could do a urinalysis to make sure that his urine is appropriately concentrated and doesn't contain protein or any other abnormalities. The other values will often be slightly variable from one patient to another, and should not be any cause for concern.

My dog's blood work shows minor changes. Is it dehydration or kidneys?

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