Cooper Hypercalcemia Update

Cooper

Cooper was in for a blood and urine recheck on Sept. 8.  His urine for whatever reason shows a Ph of 8 with crystals in the urine.  I'm not sure how that can happen as we give him water by mouth, water in his food, and he drinks from a bowl.  His albumin was high which indicates dehydration, which in turns explains a high Ph and crystals in the urine. But why is he dehydrated if he's getting a lot of water? No one's sure. His BUN and creatinine-two blood chemistry values that indicate kidney function-are normal.  There's no indication of kidney disease or a lack of normal functioning.   For now, he's receiving more water by mouth, in his food and Methigel to bring down the Ph level.  He will have his blood and urine rechecked at the beginning of October.

The good news is that his weight is steady at 11.7 and his calcium is down from 12.8 to 12.3.  His phosphorous is steady at 3.4

Next month we will test for PTH, the parathyroid hormone which is currently not registering in the blood work. It should be at a normal level, neither zero nor high. His has been at zero because the calcium level is high and body, due to the high calcium, is telling the parathyroid that it's not needed at the moment.  When it does begin to be active, the calcium should be normal. If not, the activity of the parathyroid could indicate a disease with the parathyroid, something that tests rule out so far.  So far, his hypercalcemia is idiopathic-no real cause can be found.   For now, we are managing to decrease the calcium with food, fiber, and water.