Blood tests in kidney disease – looking beyond: One of our biggest tools in evaluating the unwell patient is to run blood tests. Traditionally we look at urea and creatinine on our biochemistry panel to tell us if the patient has kidney disease. These parameters can tell us if a dog or cat is azotaemic or not, but how do we then decide if the azotaemia is pre-renal, renal or post renal? And which parameters can we use to help decide if the patient has acute kidney injury or CKD? Does a really high serum creatinine concentration always equal a poor prognosis? This lecture provides a quick, easy to follow overview of how to make the most of your blood tests when evaluating kidney function, and discusses how to make the most of your routine biochemistry panel, how haematology findings can help, and how to interpret SDMA concentrations.

Urine tests in kidney disease – beyond dipstick and USG: Renal disease is something we tackle every day in practice but how much do we know about the tests we have available? Urinalysis can tell us a lot about a patient’s renal function and it goes far beyond specific gravity and dipstick! Learn about the different tests we can utilise, how useful they are and what they can tell us about our patient. Urinalysis is a useful tool which complements bloodwork and together they can provide a well-rounded diagnosis.