My 7 month old pug has high levels of phosphorus and calcium in his blood. What's up?

[louielouie]

My 7 month old, 22 lb. pug was recently neutered about 10 days ago. Also right before the procedure we began switching him from Merrick Puppy Plate to TOTW Pacific Stream. He has skin allergies and wanted to switch him from a poultry-based food to fish based and grain free to try and eliminate his allergies. At the time of procedure (Dec. 6), he was almost fully switched over to TOTW. Now he is fully switched. Before his procedure, we had bloodwork done to ensure everything was okay to proceed. Everything checked out. About a week after his procedure, we began noticing a little incontinence around the house. He would leave really small trails of urine around, which never happened before the procedure, and as soon as we notice we would take him outside and he would have a full pee. We took him back to the vet and had a urinalysis done, thinking it could be a complication from the procedure, infection, UTI etc. We took a sterile urine sample right when he woke up yesterday morning (the best time for a sample because it will be the most concentrated), and the the vet found that his urine was quite diluted, which raised their concern. They found small red blood cell deposits in the urine which pointed them toward kidney issues. So we had another blood test done. The initial blood work screening showed that his kidneys were totally fine, however he had higher than normal levels of phosphorus and calcium in his blood, which could result in kidney issues if the levels stayed high. The vet mentioned they wanted to test for Addison's. We are currently waiting on another blood test to confirm this. They also mentioned it could be his lack of testosterone to control his sphincter and that explains his incontinence.

After researching a bit into Addison's, our pug displays none of the associated symptoms of Addison's. I know he's young, and this could be the very beginning of Addison's or something, but something just doesn't seem right. He was totally fine before the procedure, and now he has issues after the procedure. I am in no way assuming there is a complication from surgery, I just think it's strange. He is a very happy, healthy, active dog who has shown no signs of lethargy or general disinterest whatsoever. He still acts like the same pug we have known since we got him no doubt. That's why it's hard for me to believe that with no kidney issues, no infections and no UTI, that it could be something simpler. So here are my questions.

Could his new food be causing his high levels of calcium/phosphorus? TOTW Pacific Stream has 1.9% Calcium as fed, and 1.1% Phosphorus as fed. Numerous sources online recommend a non-reproducing adult (such as our pug) to have anywhere between 0.5%-0.9% Calcium as fed and 0.4%-0.8% Phosphorus as fed. I understand that the ratio of calcium and phosphorus is crucial, but could this food be the source of his elevated levels of calcium/phosphorus? Could the fact that he has been strictly only on TOTW for two weeks given his body time to build up to these elevated levels? Also could that explain his incontinence?

Any other insight would be definitely helpful. It's tough trying to find sources with similar issues in such a young dog. He is part of our family and just like our child. We want to do everything we can to figure this out. Please contact me with anything you have found, possibilities, suggestions, anything! Thank you so much!

[Pugpillow]

A few things come to mind:

1. ten days since the neuter is not enough time to deplete the testosterone in his system. It takes 4-6 weeks. Seems strange your vet wouldn't know this and I doubt that it would explain his incontinence. To me, I would suspect something done during the neuter, but it's hard to determine.
2. Feeding raw will alter bloodwork results and dogs on raw will have different "normal" ranges than dogs on kibble or canned. I doubt that a grain-free kibble would alter alter results dramatically though. TOTW is a fairly decent kibble.
3. The change in food should have no causality with the incontinence.
4. The post-surgery bloodwork results may be false positives. This happens more than we'd like to think. How long did the urine sit between catching it and testing it?

I commend you for doing everything right - from dealing with his allergies by switching proteins and away from grains to having another urine test done. If you'd like to email me the 3 sets of bloodwork results (which I recommend you get a copy of from the vet for your own knowledge base), I'll have a look at them and give you my opinion. If you want to do this, PM me and I'll send you my email address.