What is Excess Calcium in the Blood?
Many canines with excess calcium in the blood become very sick, while others show no symptoms of the condition. Calcium is essential to critical bodily functions like bone growth and muscle contraction, but an overabundance may be secondary to an underlying disease and can also contribute to urolithiasis (the formation of stones in the kidneys, bladder or urinary tract). Having excess calcium in the blood can cause damage to all areas of the body and the extent of the harm will depend on the how extreme the increase is, and how long your pet has been experiencing the condition. Prompt treatment for your canine companion is necessary in order to avoid significant complications that could make him very ill.
Excess calcium in the blood is defined as hypercalcemia in veterinary terms. While calcium does play an important role in the body, excessive amounts can signify the presence of a serious underlying disease such as cancer or kidney failure.
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Symptoms of Excess Calcium in the Blood in Dogs
Although some canines may be asymptomatic when their blood contains too much calcium, others will become very sick. Hypercalcemia hinders the ability to concentrate urine and also leads to excess thirst. The symptoms will vary depending on how severe the hypercalcemia has become.
- Extreme thirst (polydipsia)
- High production of diluted urine (polyuria)
- Pain when urinating (dysuria)
- Blood in the urine (hematuria)
- Frequent urination which may come only in drops (stranguria)
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle twitching
- Listlessness
- Low appetite
- Dehydration
- Depression
- Constipation
- Low activity tolerance
- Seizures
- Collapse
Secondary illnesses may manifest additional symptoms related to the specific condition.
Types
Blood Calcium is either referred to as total blood calcium (attached to proteins), or ionized (not attached to proteins, and also known as free calcium). All cells need calcium in order to function properly.
Causes of Excess Calcium in the Blood in Dogs
The number of reasons why your pet may suffer from an excess of calcium in the blood are many, with cancer being the number one cause.
- Apocrine gland sarcoma of the anal sac
- Multiple myeloma
- Carcinomas like pancreatic
- Lymphosarcoma
- Ingestion of certain plants
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Hyperadrenocorticism (Addison’s disease)
- Ingestion of excessive Vitamin D in supplements or medicines
- Bone disease
- Fungal infection
- Dehydration
- Granulomatous disease like histoplasmosis
- Azotemia (accumulation of large amounts of nitrogenous waste products in the blood)
Diagnosis of Excess Calcium in the Blood in Dogs
The veterinary team will require a complete recent history of the events leading to the visit. Be as accurate as you can when relaying information about the symptoms you have noticed, and the approximate time frame for when you began to see changes in your pet’s demeanor and state of health.
There are many causes for excess calcium in the blood, and therefore the number of possible tests that can be ordered varies greatly also. First, a complete physical examination will be done, to begin the overall analysis of your pet’s health.
Tests that may be included in the diagnostic process are listed below.
Blood tests
- Complete blood count and serum biochemistry profile
- Calcium levels are checked within a biochemistry profile. This may include both ionised and un-ionised.
- The calcium test should be repeated after a 12 hour fast for optimum accuracy
- The veterinarian will check for Addison’s disease by assessing salt and cortisol levels
- Vitamin D levels may be analysed
- Verification of the presence of fungus is important
Assay of PTH or PTHrP
- PTH can indicate if the parathyroid glands are causing the hypercalcaemia
- PTHrP test can be used to confirm hypercalcaemia with malignancies like apocrine gland adenocarcinoma of the anal sac
Urinalysis
- This test can indicate if the kidneys are functioning normally
- The presence of blood and the concentration of urine will be studied
Imaging Tests
- An MRI scan, radiographs and/or ultrasound scans can reveal cancer or bone damage
Other diagnostic tools like cytology, biopsy, or histology could be needed as well.
Treatment of Excess Calcium in the Blood in Dogs
Treatment for the excess calcium in the blood will initially depend on the condition of your beloved pet when he arrives at the clinic. The main impact on your dog’s health in the immediate will be regaining the function of elimination of calcium from the urine, and to stop the removal of calcium from the bones.
Your dog may need intravenous or diuretic therapy if he is dehydrated, or if renal function needs to be supported. Glucocorticoids will also be administered if needed to balance the calcium function and resorption. Medication to decrease serum calcium or inhibit bone resorption could be prescribed.
In cases of a secondary illness which may be causing the excess calcium, improvement will be seen when the problem is addressed. For example, treatment for hypoadrenocorticism, if that is the cause, will resolve the hypercalcemia. In the instance of a malignancy, surgery or chemotherapy and radiation might be the required method of treatment.
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Recovery of Excess Calcium in the Blood in Dogs
Once serum calcium concentrations are normalised, your pet will be on the road to recovery. If too much supplementation of Vitamin D was the problem, for example, simply removing the additive will help to eradicate the problem. In the event of a malignancy, the treatment and recovery will be more extensive. However, it must be noted that when cancer is causing the hypercalcemia, the positive prognosis is much lower because tumors often recur and survival time is low.
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Excess Calcium in the Blood Questions and Advice from Veterinary Professionals
Beagle
Clyde
10 Years
0 found this helpful
0 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Increased Urination
Our 10-year old neutered male beagle had some follow-up for two anomalous results on blood work: Elevated liver enzymes (possible Cushings) and elevated calcium. I have a question about the elevated calcium, as it seems to be the bigger unknown right now. An ionized calcium test was performed and he came in slightly high at 1.43 (reference high is 1.4). He had an abdominal ultrasound and no tumors were found or anomalies to any organs except the liver, which is uniformly inflamed. Adrenal glands were normal, making the question over Cushings a bigger unknown. We plan to repeat the ionized calcium test in a couple months (along with the liver tests after we start him on some supplements), but do you have any additional advice regarding the calcium? Is 1.43 a cause to worry right now? He has no symptoms other than mildly increased thirst and urination (gets up once per night to urinate). Thank you.
May 15, 2018
0 Recommendations
The ionized calcium is elevated slightly, some reference ranges go up to 1.45mmol/L (depending on equipment); whether or not we determine that is serious depends on whether a repeat reading comes out elevated and whether any symptoms correlate to the increased ionized calcium. This would be a wait and see situation for now and monitor for any changes between now and the repeat of the blood tests. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM
May 16, 2018
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Jap chin
Popi
13 Years
1 found this helpful
1 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
Sleeps
XSleeps
My 13 year old has blood calcium of 13.4. What number would be life threatening. I just had major dental for for $600 and I'd like to wait a few weeks to do more testing. Pls advise
May 4, 2018
1 Recommendations
Calcium levels of 13.4mg/dL are concerning and should be looked into further but the life threatening levels are 18mg/dL and above; however it doesn’t mean that you can easily relax here, it is still important to determine the underlying cause and manage appropriately. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM
www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?id=3846169&pid=11147
May 4, 2018
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Boxer Mix
Harlow
8 Years
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1 found this helpful
Harlow my 8 year old pit bull/boxer mix was diagnosed with secondary IMHA in Sept of 2017. At this time she also had elevated calcium levels of 13.9. Ultrasound was performed and was found that she has a nodule on her parathyroid. In the mean time, we had to get the IMHA under control. We don’t know the cause, but she was started on 60mg a day of prednisone. November of 2017 she was started on mycophenolate with the prednisone. Fast forward to now. She has now been weaned off the prednisone for about 5 weeks but still on mycophenolate 475mg a day. This was a slow and steady wean as she had been on this for awhile. Her last dose was on a Tuesday, by Friday she started this excessive drooling. It didn’t stop for a good 48 hours. Blood work came back normal except for the calcium which we knew would be high because of the nodule. It usually ranges from 12.6 to 13.9. Her teeth were evaluated and they were fine. The drooling we noticed seems to be triggered after she drinks water. We know after she drinks water to get the towels out because it will last between 12-24 hours non stop. She eats canned Royal Canin gastrointestinal because she has chronic pancreatitis. We were giving her dry foos with canned but whenever she ate the dry, she would start choking, so now it’s canned only. It’s been an on and off battle with no appetite for 6 months. She has good days and bad days with drooling but finally eating very well but no dry food. We’ve gone the longest as of 2 days without drooling. Her bark has also changed since about October of 2017. But, why is she drooling? Does Hypercalcemia cause drooling? No one knows. Her surgery is scheduled for the parathyroidectomy in 3 weeks. Ps...my dog was very healthy and active before all of this started. Her last pancreatitis flair up was when she was 1 and now she had one in December. Thank you for your time!
April 18, 2018
1 Recommendations
Hypercalcemia doesn’t typically cause drooling, but I have founds some references to it when I had a quick search; drooling may occur for a variety of reasons and may not be related, drooling may be linked to gastrointestinal upset which may be related to the last flair up of pancreatitis but seems unlikely. However you should see what occurs after the parathyroidectomy to see if there is any improvement in drooling and any other symptoms. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM
April 18, 2018
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Labrador Husky
Diego
8 Years
1 found this helpful
1 found this helpful
My pet has the following symptoms:
High Calcium
So our dog is a mystery mix breen and we are currently told to stop him from eating anything with Calcium. We are now stressed as nearly everything has some. What is a good lowto free calcium diet we can put our dog on?
Feb. 21, 2018
Answered by Dr. Michele K. DVM
1 Recommendations
Thank you for your email. Without knowing more about Diego's labwork, i can't comment on what might be the best diet for him. There are many reasons for a high serum calcium, and dietary calcium in normal dog food is rarely one of them. It would be best to follow up with your veterinarian to find out what to feed him, as I do not know enough about his specific situation. I hope that he does well.
Feb. 21, 2018
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