If a pet's body had a picture window for internal health, the view would look directly at the kidneys. Did you know that the kidneys filter the entire blood volume every 30 minutes? Toxins in the blood can damage the kidneys during the filtration process, a danger recently revealed when pets consumed contaminated foods and went into renal failure.

Conventional urine tests -- measuring urine-specific gravity, BUN, creatinine -- don't detect damage until about 70 percent of kidney function is lost.

To catch kidney disease in its earliest stages before too much kidney function has been lost, there is a new urine test available to veterinarians called the E.R.D. (Early Renal Damage), from the Heska Corp.

Testing for albumin in the urine, this ultra-sensitive test takes less than five minutes to run. Available for both dogs and cats, the test is not only useful in detecting kidney damage from many common diseases, but also an excellent monitoring tool to gauge severity of disease, treatment success and progression of kidney damage.

Unlike a wound that heals, kidney damage is irreversible. That means the earlier you catch the loss of renal function, the better off your pet will be. With early detection, there are steps you can take to limit further kidney damage, minimize normal wear and tear to the kidneys, or begin treatment.

If the test is normal, you have peace of mind. If it's positive, your veterinarian has a number of treatment and management options available.

For more information, talk with your veterinarian.