Elevated Calcium???

[MomMcpsl]

I had Reggie (pit bull mix) at the Vet this saturday for his yearly shots. The vet said that he was carrying some extra weight and based on what I feed him, how much I feed, and the amount of excercise he gets he shouldn't be overweight at all. So, he suggested doing a full blood panel to check everything including his thyroid. He had his thyroid checked in 05 by my previous Vet as well. So, to make a long story short, thyroid is fine, and everything is ok except his calcium levels were slightly elevated. The Vet told me that it was only slight, but he can't ignore it and it could mean thyroid (ruled out), bone disease, or tumors! He told me he wants to recheck the blood again in 3 months to see how the calcium is then. He seemed very calm about it. I was kind of in shock when we spoke and did some research online and called back to ask some more questions. In the meantime while I await his callback, has this happened to anyone here before? Are these the only things that elevated calcium could mean? Could it be something he is eating? I get nervous having lost a dog to Cancer already (bone cancer). Any info would be appreciated and may help to settle my stomach!

[moondog]

Everything I'm seeing for high serum calcium relates to the parathyroid glands - did the tests the vet ran include a check on this?

[MomMcpsl]

Thanks for the response. The vet checked his thyroid, is that different from what you are talking about. I hope I don't sound clueless but I guess I am when it comes to this stuff. If it is different then just checking his thyroid I will ask if that was checked. I know he did a full blood panel b/c the original concern was his thyroid.

[moondog]

You're not any more clueless than I am on this!

I don't know if the parathyroid hormone is checked as part of a thyroid test, but I wouldn't assume so - that's a good question to ask the vet. I think the test for parathyroid is called a PTH test (parathyroid hormone test).

Ask the vet if that's been checked.

[MomMcpsl]

Thanks for the info Moondog! I will ask the Vet, IF he ever calls back! I'm so impatient when it comes to things like this. I'll let you know what I find out. I appreciate your input!

[MomMcpsl]

Ok, I talked to my Vet and he said that the level was so slightly elevated that there is no need to worry, but we will retest again in 3 months to be sure everything is ok. He also apologized if he caused me to worry, he is a very nice guy!

[KimG]

I just wanted to chip in a little reassurance on the tumour front.

Tumours can take ten years to grow and not seem to cause any adverse effect on overall health. I've seen this with my own eyes in my cat. She's had a tumour growing in her gut since she was about ten years old.

At 16 she started looking a little pregnant, but it would wax and wane. At 19 years, she is still going strong (knock on wood), jumping up on the bed, doing a big flight of stairs, etc.

We did change her diet to no grain and her energy level really got a lot better and she was more sociable. I changed her diet to try and help stop feeding the tumour. I don't know if there's any truth to it but I had read up about a Husky dog owner who claimed success with the diet and subsequently, a German doctor who had come up with this diet (in the 50s?).

Anyway, the reason I mention it is because it's a good diet even if there's no tumour or the dog's not sick. It's very healthy. So, if it puts your mind at ease, you could do some internet research on tumour growth. I'm sure you'd come up with the German doc's notes... actually I'll see if I can find it now for you:

Cancer cure Dr. Budwig Diet, Flax seed oil And Cottage cheese

hth
KimG