Health Matters>Testing Protocols>Adult Dogs

 

Also on this page : Lab Tests by your Vet. RD & Addison's Test Diagnosing RD, PLN, PLE & Addison's

 

 

Testing Protocols – Information for Owners:

The key Veterinary Researchers recommend owners test their Wheatens annually. This gives a ‘snap-shot’ for you and your Veterinarian on the general health of your Wheaten, but more specifically it can indicate if your Wheaten has any evidence of the hereditary diseases; Protein Losing Enteropathy (PLE), Protein Losing Nephropathy (PLN), Renal Dysplasia (RD) and Addison’s Disease which can affect the breed.

 

Quick Definitions:

• PLE & PLN are syndromes characterised by the loss of proteins from the gastrointestinal tract (PLE); or the kidneys (PLN).
   
• RD – Renal Dysplasia is the abnormal development of the kidney. This malformation can result in early renal failure.
   
• Addison’s Disease - Addison’s Disease (Hypoadrenocorticism) is the insufficient production and secretion of hormones (glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids) by the adrenal gland cortex

 

Clinical Signs:
Clinical signs of a disease are the things you can see or that your veterinarian may discover on his/her physical examination of your Wheaten.  

Testing is important:
In many conditions, clinical signs do not show up until well after tests may show signs of the disease. Also, many clinical signs of one disease can also be signs of another.

 

RD	PLE	PLN1	Addison's2
Increased water consumption Increased urination (dilute urine) "Poor doer" Decreased appetite Vomiting Possibly prone to urinary tract infection	Vomiting Diarrhoea Weight loss Ascites Edema Pleural effusion	Listlessness/ depression Decreased appetite, vomiting, weight loss Ascites, edema, pleural effusion Increased water consumption Increased urination (less common) Thromboembolic phenomena & hypertension (less common)	Listlessness/ depression Decreased appetite, vomiting, weight loss Inability to handle stress Sudden collapse Slow heart rate

¹PLE and PLN are difficult to diagnose. The initial stages of the disease may be mistaken for liver, glandular or other enteric or kidney diseases. Wheatens with PLE and/or PLN may have serious thromboembolic events (such as pulmonary embolism) before symptoms or renal failure start, even before there is increased serum creatinine or BUN.

² The clinical signs of Addison’s Disease are often non-specific and can mimic those of multiple other medical disorders.  

Laboratory Tests Run By Your Vet:

Your veterinarian can check for signs of these diseases with blood and urine tests. It is important the panels run by your Vet test for everything listed here.

Note: that not all routine blood and urine tests do, so you must make sure the ones listed here are undertaken.

Blood and urine tests cannot predict whether a dog will develop these diseases. But they can determine whether or not a dog is now clear of signs of disease and establish baseline values for future comparison. Early detection can offer more choices for treatment and can often provide longer and better quality of life.

 

WHI, along with the Animal Health Trust (AHT), have produced a specific profile for wheaten tests. This profile includes blood and urinalysis testing; DNA storage for an individual dog, and DNA storage for a litter of puppies. Please refer to Publications>AHT Testing Pack to download a copy.

However if you prefer, your Veterinarian can undertake the tests ‘in-house’, but should include:

1. Biochemical profile, including:
   • Total protein (TP)
     
   • Albumin (Alb)
     
   • Globulin
     
   • Creatinine (Cr)
     
   • Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN)
     
   • Cholesterol (Chol)
     
   • Sodium (Na)
     
   • Potassium (K+)
     
   • Phosphorus (Phos)
   
      
2. Complete Blood Count



3. Routine Urinalysis, including:
   
   • Specific gravity
     
   • Dipstick
     
   • Urinary sediment
   
        
4. Urine Protein/Creatinine Ratio
 
 
5. RECOMMENDED but OPTIONAL: (North America only)
   • ERD or MA test for microalbuminuria.
     If doing UPC, these tests are not necessary.
   
    
6. RECOMMENDED but OPTIONAL: (North America only)
   • Fecal API test
     
   

If you or your veterinarian suspects RD or Addison’s, the following tests can be undertaken:

Renal Dysplasia (RD)

 

Addison ’s disease

• ACTH stimulation test

Optional Tests ( North America only):
The two optional tests below may be early indicators of PLE and PLN. You can arrange for these through your veterinarian at the same time you do your annual screening. Alternatively, you can take the samples at home and ship them for testing in a kit SCWTCA has developed. For information on these, please click on the links below:

• PLE: Fecal API (FAPI) Test
  
• PLN: Microalbuminuria (MA) test. Alternatively, you can ask your vet to run an ERD test in his/her office.

Diagnosing: RD; PLN & PLE & Addison’s Disease
These diseases can be difficult to diagnose and can be confused with each other. Here are some of the similarities and differences.

 

	RD	PLN	PLE	Addison's
Age of Onset	<1-3 yrs	Mean ~ 6 yrs	Mean ~ 4.5 yrs	Young (in general)
Sex Predilection	None noted	Female: male=1.6	Female: male=1.7	Female (in general)
Polyuria/ Polydipsia	Yes	Only 25% had PU/PD	No, unless on steroids	Yes
Vomiting/Diarrhoea	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ascites / Edema	No	Possibly	Possibly	No
Azotaemia	Yes	Eventually	No	Possibly (pre-renal)
Kidney Size	Small	May be normal	Normal	Normal
Hypoalbuminaemia	No	Yes	Yes	Possibly (melaena)
Hypoglobulinemia	No	No	Yes	Possibly (melaena)
Hypercholesterolaemia	No	Yes	Hypocholesterolaemia	No
Low Na/K ratio	Not noted	Rarely (~10%)	Rarely (~10%)	Yes
Urine Specific Gravity	Isosthenuria	Mean 1.023	Mean 1.033	Low (medullary washout)
Proteinuria	None or mild	Yes	No	No
Histopathology    K = kidney    I = intestine	Fetal glomeruli, Fetal mesenchyme (K)	Glomerulonephritis, glomerulosclerosis (K)	IBD, lymphangiectasia, lymphangitis (I)

Source: 1999 ACVIM PROCEEDINGS: Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier PLE-PLN;
Meryl P. Littman VMD DACVIM, Philadelphia PA

Other important lab findings:

RD	PLE	PLN	Addison's
Elevated creatinine Elevated BUN	Eosinophilia Lymphopenia Low total protein	Elevated serum creatinine Elevated BUN Elevated Urine Protein Creatinine Ratio** **Very important!	Elevated serum creatinine Elevated BUN

Remember: diagnosis of PLE/PLN, RD, or Addison’s is dependent on evaluating everything – test results, clinical signs and symptoms – so do not assume one “bad” item means your dog has these diseases.

What to do next?

• Make sure you test every year and have your veterinarian compare results
• Keep a copy of the results in a file at home so you can always refer back to them or provide them to a new veterinarian if you move
• Some people keep a spreadsheet on their computer with all the test results. The Watchdog Health Tracker is available in the UK , via WHI and is available in the USA through the SCWT Endowment Fund.

SCWTCA and WHI neither recommend nor endorse this tool but provide this information for your assistance.

If these results show any abnormalities, you and your vet need to take immediate action.

• You - Contact your breeder immediately, he/she will want to know in order to help you and to take action on other dogs in their breeding program.
  
• Your veterinarian – Please contact one of the key researchers for further advice on diagnosis and treatment.

Note: Any contact with the key researchers should solely be through your veterinarian on a professional consultation basis. The Key Researchers contact information is provided for your Vet in ‘Testing Protocols – Information for Veterinarians’ available on this web site.

WHI would like to thank: Dr Allenspach, Dr Littman and Dr Vaden and the ©Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier Club of America (SCWTCA – visit www.scwtca.org) for their kind permission to reproduce this information.