Dear Doctor: Thank you so much in advance for your help with my questions about feline kidney issues: 1. Will azotemia cause permanent injuries to kidneys and weaken their overall functions even if the BUN level goes back to the normal range after 4 days? 2. What defines pre-renal and renal when referring to kidney issues? How are they different? 3. What kind of azotemia is pre-renal azotemia and what is renal azotemia? How do we determine if the azotemia is renal
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Hello and thank you for your post! In regards to BUN, this is a nitrogenous waste compound normally excreted by the kidneys into the urine. When kidneys are diseased, BUN is one value of several that will typucally accumulates. It depends on the cause of the renal disease and how long it has been going on (acute vs. Chronic). BUN is not going to damage kidneys further per as, but can cause the animal to become more sick with rising levels.
Pre renal azotemia is going to be anything that reduces blood flow to the kidneys (hemorrhage, high blood pressure, etc). It is not the kidneys that are diseases but rather a condition causing the kidneys to malfunction with how toxins are being excreted from the blood.
Renal azotemia is when the kidneys are the primary cause. Either congenital, cancer, age related, etc.
In order to determine the type of azotemia, blood pressure should be checked. Along with a blood pressure check, a urine sample should be assessed and an SDMA test (more specific than creatinine) should be run.
I hope this helps you understand a bit better. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.
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