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1916673 tn?1420233270

Could calcitriol extend the life of a dog with CKF?

I have recently been reading a piece about calcitriol, which is a form of vitamin D that promotes the level of calcium in a canine body. This is not a new initiative in the treatment of kidney failure in dogs - and certainly should not be introduced without precautions - but it does have some promising effects. The problem with most veterinary approaches is they are often given in a very basic and often all-too-hasty format, such as starting a specialised KD diet, without necessarily looking at the deeper repercussions of abnormal blood panel results. In the case of calcium levels, there can be a knock-on domino effect when a dog's calcium levels fall or rise. I intend going into this more thoroughly in the coming weeks, but for now, it may be worth members talking to their vet about potentially starting calcitriol therapy. NOTE: to begin this kind of intricate therapy, the serum phosphorus concentration in the blood must be 6 mg/dl or less.
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1916673 tn?1420233270
My pleasure. Let me have any feedback relating to Calcitriol ... I can absorb useful information into the article and it will then serve to better inform others. Tony
Helpful - 0
10627852 tn?1411542154
Awesome news, Tony. I'm so glad this has been published.

I'm working with two vets. One out of state, Dr. Carol Osborne: http://www.drcarol.com/about-dr-carol/. Per her website, she is the first U.S. veterinarian certified as a Diplomat of the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. She's amazing. Last week she mentioned Calcitriol to me for Mandy.

My local vet is good, too, but not as informed or progressive as Dr. Carol Osborne. I'll share your article with my local vet. Great work!
Helpful - 0
1916673 tn?1420233270
I am pleased to say my piece on Calcitriol Therapy is now finished. You can have a read of it at:

http://www.infobarrel.com/Calcitriol_Therapy_For_Dogs_With_Kidney_Disease

I would be very interested to hear what members think ... and whether anyone progresses to try this form of treatment. I'm also interested to hear what your vet thinks about it.

Tony
Helpful - 0
10627852 tn?1411542154
Tony, I would love to have an advance word doc copy. Thanks! If you need my email, it's ***@****

Thanks for all the sharing you do!
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1916673 tn?1420233270
My article on Calcitriol is almost finished. It needs some tidying up and then processing for publication (my blogsite only accepts articles that are grammatically virtually perfect, which can be a pain). Once it's on the site I will inform everyone. In the meantime, if you want an advance Word Doc copy, please let me know. Tony
Helpful - 0
1916673 tn?1420233270
Hi. It certainly isn't a new therapy ... from memory I think it was first used around 2005 ... but it does seem to have some benefits. The trouble is its quite complex, as you probably have already discovered from any reading you've done. I'm still trying to get my head around the science and biology of it - but think I may have to farm out a few questions to some people I know, just to clarify a few things. Its good your vet mentioned it ... it means he's keeping abreast of CKD and potential treatments. Tony
Helpful - 0
10627852 tn?1411542154
Thanks for the link.
Last week my vet mentioned this therapy as a possibility for Mandy if we can get her BUN & Creatinine down to more normal levels. I had never heard of it before then, and then voila, I saw it mentioned in your post.
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1916673 tn?1420233270
Hi. I am still looking into calcitriol therapy and have not yet had any feedback from the original author, Dr Polzin, despite trying to locate him and sending various emails a few times. I don't really want to push this as a viable course of action without first researching it properly, but you can read a little more about it here:

http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/11-guidelines-conservatively-treating-chronic-kidney-disease?id=&sk=&date=&pageID=6

Tony
Helpful - 0
10627852 tn?1411542154
I'd like to know more about calcitriol. Besides phosphorous at 6 or less, what are the necessary ranges for BUN and creatinite?
Helpful - 0
1916673 tn?1420233270
I meant to add ... the evidence seems to be that cacitriol therapy is likely to add a significant period of time to the average mortality rate of CKF dogs. In double-blind studies, those on placebos survived 250 days, while those on calcitriol survived 360 days. There is more to this story, and I will produce an in-depth article on it as soon as I can. I am currently waiting for the author, Dr David Polzin, of the first paper written about calcitriol treatment to reply to my enquiries about trends since this was first trialled and recognized in 2005.
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