Assessment and comparison of urinary protein: creatinine ratios of healthy domestic dogs and working dogs in kennels division in Sri Lanka police for early detection of renal disease

Healthy dogs usually excrete small amounts of protein in urine. Persistently high proteinuria is usually a marker of kidney disease. The urinary protein: creatinine ratio (UPC) is used in quantifying urine protein excretio ney diseases, guiding recommendations for monitoring and treatment of kidney diseases and evaluation of prognosis. However, use of UPC ratio has not been well established/ used to diagnose renal diseases in dogs in Sri Lanka. Therefore, for the first time in Sri Lanka, we used this method to detect UPC ratio of healthy dogs (n=51). Once we established the UPC ratios of healthy dogs, UPC ratios were measured in working dogs (n=45) in Kennels Division of Sri Lanka Police, since renal diseases are a common cause of mortality in these dogs. In control group, the mean UPC ratio was 0.06±0.05. This was similar to the UPC ratio of tracking group among working dogs. Two out of 22 dogs used for explosive duties had UPC ratio within the borderline proteinuric stage (0.2-0.5) according to the staging system implemented by the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS). In the narcotic group 2 out of 12 dogs were borderline proteinuric and one dog was proteinuric. In this study, we have successfully established the measurement of UPC ratio to detect proteinuria in Sri Lankan dogs and have identified dogs that are susceptible to renal diseases.