protein levels in cats urine

buffy2011

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My cat Bella had hyperthroidysm last year. She has had all her blood work all along the way to make sure things were still looking good. This Oct would be her one year for her blood work, but I decided to take her sooner because she seemed like she was loosing some weight. But she has had some hard times with food, all her life until I finally think I found something she can handle without throwing up or diahrrea. I finally found food she is tolerating well, but once in a while if she gets a hold of the other cats food, then we have a problem. So this is what I thought had happened. And when she vomit or has diahrrea this will take from your body, so this is why I thougth she had lost some weight. So to be on the safe side I took her early for her blood work. Her blood work came back today and it was excellent. The only problem was her urine, has a +2 protein. Is this a number to be alarmed about? Should the protein levels be 0? The vet suggested some tests, but putting her threw all this is going to stress her out, and this to me creates problems. The vet is not concerned about the weight she is at, but if she would lose more then this would be a problem. I had gotten some kitten food to try to get the weight back on her. She eats good. I was trying to read up on this protein issue but can't seen to come up with much. Could it be something so minor that happend when she got sick? Does high protein come from the food you feed? The same as a human, the doctors are always suggesting test, just trying to find something wrong with you. And doing this seems like the animal or human goes down hill fast by testing and testing. So I am thinking because of the excellent blood work, she is ok. I would think if something is wrong somewhere on the blood work the levels would show something. Has anyone had a cat with high proteins that can shed some light on this issue. I would appreciate any thoughts. Thank you
 

Mamanyt1953

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Haven't dealt with this, myself, but from what I've been reading, some foods can cause high protein levels in urine. So can dehydration, so make sure she is drinking plenty of water. Hopefully, someone with some real knowledge will be along soon.
 

FeebysOwner

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Given that you say there was nothing else amiss in her urinalysis or her blood work, the only thing that comes to my mind is possible hypertension - which can often accompany hyperthyroidism. You might ask the vet about that and see what they think - and whether or not they checked Bella's blood pressure. If they didn't check it but they have a small animal blood pressure cuff, it might be possible for you to take Bella in for a quick check with no appt. required.

But, I tend to think it could be Bella's food and protein count - ask your vet about that aspect too.
 
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buffy2011

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Depends. Was there blood/RBCs noted on the urinalysis?

There was RBC on the blood work, if thats what you mean, and it was 8.0 down from the last blood work. Does this mean something to you.
 
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buffy2011

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Given that you say there was nothing else amiss in her urinalysis or her blood work, the only thing that comes to my mind is possible hypertension - which can often accompany hyperthyroidism. You might ask the vet about that and see what they think - and whether or not they checked Bella's blood pressure. If they didn't check it but they have a small animal blood pressure cuff, it might be possible for you to take Bella in for a quick check with no appt. required.

But, I tend to think it could be Bella's food and protein count - ask your vet about that aspect too.
Do you know of any food with lower protein in it, that I can check out. I have heard of Royal Caine, I think someone said that is lower. As soon as I get a few names I can go do some searching online and then to the store to research.
 

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A certain kidney disease can cause protein to show up in urine. It's called renal amyloidosis and almost always affects Abyssinian cats. It could possibly occur in other breeds as well, even domestic mixed breed cats. You may want to ask your vet about this.
 

FeebysOwner

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There was RBC on the blood work, if thats what you mean, and it was 8.0 down from the last blood work. Does this mean something to you.
RBC is another marker in the urinalysis - different from the CBC blood work. As well as a marker in the urinalysis for blood.
Do you know of any food with lower protein in it, that I can check out. I have heard of Royal Caine, I think someone said that is lower. As soon as I get a few names I can go do some searching online and then to the store to research.
I don't think it is that simple, tbh. You are making an assumption that the protein in her food is the culprit, which may or may not be accurate. Have you asked the vet what they suspect might be behind the high protein level in her urine, and what tests they are suggesting? You really need to understand what they are thinking and do research on their response to you., You also need to look at all the numbers in her blood work and urinalysis.

Just in case you want to look at protein levels in food - look at the extensive chart that is in the Nutrition section to compare protein in what your are feeding vs. other products. Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients | TheCatSite
 
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buffy2011

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RBC is another marker in the urinalysis - different from the CBC blood work. As well as a marker in the urinalysis for blood.

I don't think it is that simple, tbh. You are making an assumption that the protein in her food is the culprit, which may or may not be accurate. Have you asked the vet what they suspect might be behind the high protein level in her urine, and what tests they are suggesting? You really need to understand what they are thinking and do research on their response to you., You also need to look at all the numbers in her blood work and urinalysis.

Just in case you want to look at protein levels in food - look at the extensive chart that is in the Nutrition section to compare protein in what your are feeding vs. other products. Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients | TheCatSite
Below is the comment from the vet, after she read the blood work.

Her blood work looks excellent, her thyroid level is normal, her complete blood cell count, and liver and kidney enzymes look fantastic. There are no changes on her blood panel that would explain her recent weight loss. There was a change on this urinalysis that we could look into as a potential cause for weight loss.
Her urinalysis results revealed 2+ protein in her urine sample. With this test alone, we cannot be sure if this is a worrisome change. We could consider running a urine protein creatinine ratio with the urine sample already at the lab. This test is run to help us understand the significance of the protein in the urine . It wouldn't be a bad idea to see Bella for a technician appointment to obtain blood pressure measurements to screen for hypertension , as we can sometimes see weight loss and protein in the urine. If interested, there is also another blood test, an SDMA, that we can run at the clinic to screen for early kidney disease (which would be otherwise undetectable on our current and previous lab work.
But like I said if Bella gets a hold of food that does not agree with her she will vomit and this will cause weight loss, but the issue of the protein is my concern now. I do want to have the blood pressure taken for sure because i had a cat that had high blood pressure, and with Bella already having the hyperthyroidism this could of lead to the high blood pressure. Bella had the radioiodine shot, for the hyperthyroidism.
 

FeebysOwner

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We could consider running a urine protein creatinine ratio with the urine sample already at the lab. This test is run to help us understand the significance of the protein in the urine . It wouldn't be a bad idea to see Bella for a technician appointment to obtain blood pressure measurements to screen for hypertension , as we can sometimes see weight loss and protein in the urine.
This, to me, seems on target, from what (little) I know! If they have a sample of Bella's urine to run the ratio test, I would most certainly do that. As, well as the blood pressure reading.
Bella had the radioiodine shot, for the hyperthyroidism
Are you saying Bella has been through the radio-iodine treatment? If so, I would have thought that would have corrected any high blood pressure issue, unless it is being caused by something other condition. But maybe not, and I am not a vet, so this is certainly new news to me!
 
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