Big Ben was a 10-year-old neutered male golden retriever who Mom and Dad had noticed was drinking more for the past few weeks. His family veterinarian had run some laboratory tests to try and figure out why, and found an elevated calcium level.
To normalize his drinking, we had to figure out why the calcium was elevated. Excessive thirst and urination are not the only problem that occurs when calcium is elevated. More significantly, if left high for too long, it will cause permanent kidney damage, formation of urinary bladder stones and mineralization in other areas of the body.
The body has a system in place to tightly regulate calcium levels to prevent problems. At the center of this is the parathyroid gland. These are tiny glands that sit on top of the thyroid glands in the neck. They produce parathyroid hormone (PTH) that along with vitamin D help regulate blood calcium levels. …continue reading this article on The Post and Courier
Source: The Post and Courier
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