Dental Disease causing high BUN and CREA?

Hello,

I have a 17 year old spayed female named Sassy who has been in my life since she was a kitten. She has never had any health issues until recently. On April 23 of this year she had what appeared to be a seizure while eating breakfast. She started backing away while falling over then stumbled around the house. It was very short and she returned completely to normal after. She had been perfectly healthy until then, other than a little bit of weight loss which I figured was just due to old age. Still, I rushed her to the vet.

Money was tight so I was only able to afford the basic blood tests and fluids. Everything came back normal, except for a few things. Her PLT was low at 126 K. Her BUN and CREA were high at 43 mg and 3.1 mg. My vet diagnosed her with Kidney failure and said she had a year to live at best. She said her seizure was likely a symptom of the Kidney disease. She has yet to have another.

Now I'm beginning to question this diagnosis though. Sassy has started to cough a lot lately. Some discharge in one eye, but clear. I also noticed her drooling a bit one day. I realized those were signs of possible dental disease so I tried my best to look in her mouth. She got her name for a reason! I noticed the fang on the right side of her mouth is pretty much completely black. The other side looks a bit better, but there is a lot of brown on the tooth. Obviously she has pretty bad dental problems.

Now I'm wondering if her weight loss and the high BUN along with CREA is from advanced dental disease. I read online that it can cause those levels to become abnormal if left untreated for too long. Another reason I'm beginning to think this way is because she has been acting pretty much normal. Not like she has advanced Kidney failure. Running around seeming happy, drinking and eating normally (though she eats less probably because her mouth hurts), and peeing normally. Now she is sneezing which is a concern but I think it's related to the teeth problems.

I'm taking her to a different vet I trust a lot to get this sorted out. Was just hoping to get some other opinions/advice as well.

Thanks!

i don't have any other opinion or advice. but i do have experience with a CKD (chronic kidney disease) cat who has dental issues.

in my snick's case, she could use to have two teeth extracted. our vet has told me the risk is too great for snick to be anesthetized, given her age and her CKD. the anesthesia would be very hard on snick, and could cause her to start on a downward spiral with her kidney disease that she may not be able to pull up and out of. so we treat with an antibiotic that's safe for her kidneys as needed -- snick sees the vet every two months usually, but more often as needed.

i think you're smart to see another vet (that you trust a lot), for a second opinion.

Thank you. Hopefully she doesn't have CKD along with dental issues, otherwise it will make treatment that much harder. Especially since I'm pretty much positive her right fang needs to be pulled ASAP.