I just want to tell everyone here that the folks in this group, and in the forum thread started by aggieone so many years ago, have really helped me through this experience although I didn't know you existed until 5 days ago.
In June 2015, Shadow, my then-12 year old Border Collie/Chow/Something Else (adopted from a rescue org and they weren't sure) was diagnosed with early stage renal failure. Some history -- back in 2011 he had been diagnosed with Lymphoma and survived after 6 rounds of chemo; he has also had his right hind leg operated on twice. So when I got this diagnosis, given his age and history I determined that he'd been through enough and we were going to let the disease run its course with no trauma-inducing heroic measures. (However if I had found this forum back then, I could and would have taken some of the non-heroic measures I see in these posts.)
Well, about a week ago I noticed him going downhill -- barely eating, some weakness. Blood work confirmed that he was in stage 4. This is when I started looking online for information -- what to expect, how to deal with it.
What the experience of people in these groups and forums did was help me determine when I would help Shadow leave this earth. Your posts about the progression of this disease made me realize that I wanted to do this in time to limit, if not completely avoid, his suffering. This past weekend, in spite of gobbling down small portions of meat, he declined further. Within an hour or so after eating he would start yelping every 5 minutes; I figured this was the acid being produced to digest his meat so I gave him TUMS (a hint from this group). He had the bad toxin breath so many here described and he became weaker. Although he never threw up, I knew that this was just the beginning and it would only get worse. I promised him I would end his suffering.
We took Shadow to the vet this morning and had him put to sleep. He seemed to rally this morning and was able to walk the 2-3 blocks, eating treats all the way. My son and I were with him, and while it's devastating I know it was the right decision.
Thank you all for your support and caring.
CLM