what to expect?

[linzee118]

I never posted before. I have a 8 yr. old beagle named Cocoa. He was diagnosed with CKF in January when I took a urine sample to vet because he was leaking a little urine. His UPC was 5.28. After putting him on enalapril  the vet increased it slowly till he is on maximum dose. His UPC went down to 4.1. We will go tomorrow to get it checked again. I also after reading about acid in dogs with CKF asked the vet to prescript priosec. We gave it to him for about 5 days but I really didn't think it was helping. Perhaps I should have left him on longer. He was the image of healthy till two weeks ago. He has been burping ever since he was diagnosed. No one told me this was related to CKF  till I read some of the things posted here. Vet is not to helpful but he's the only one in our area. Also Cocoa  is getting picky with eating. This dog would eat anything that looked liked food. I did buy a can of Kd canned dog food. no dice. We don't have a lot of money because my DH retired. I can't afford IV therapy, blood work or anything like that but I want to get him what will make him comfortable. We get his urine checked. My heart is breaking to a million pieces. now that he is starting to fail. I am crying writing this. I found this group by accident. I didn't know they had groups like this.  I tried reading about CKD & it was so complicated I gave up. I don't even know what stage Cocoa is in is in. Also do dogs suffer with pain with this disease? How do you know they are in pain? Can anyone please help me. Please. Linzee

[tonyb286]

Hello. Unfortunately, without blood test results, it is very difficult for me to offer too many suggestions. Blood tests tell us what is needed in terms of medication, diet changes and other management. Without results, everyone is working blindly and may be causing more harm than good.

I understand it is difficult when finance is not available.

All I can really do is offer you some reading (these are my own articles, so if there's anything in them you aren't sure about, feel free to ask questions). They should offer you and Cocoa some help. One of the things I would do is try to restrict phosphorus in the diet as much as possible and start feeding a half teaspoon of finely crushed eggshells every other day. This will help offset the problems associated with phosphorus.

I would also add a half desertspoon of boiled cooked and chopped green cabbage to Cocoa's meals, as this will help guard against stomach ulcers forming (very common in canine kidney disease). It's very important to feed the best quality food (low quality dog food and all dry foods are laced with chemicals and these will make the kidney disease much worse). Human grade meats and poultry contain high quality protein and are much better - but protein may or may not need restricting, depending on the blood levels - so advising in this case is nigh impossible.

These are the articles I suggest you have a read of:

http://www.infobarrel.com/My_10-Point_Plan_for_Dogs_with_Kidney_Failure

http://www.infobarrel.com/How_Diet_Affects_Dogs_with_Chronic_Kidney_Disease

http://www.infobarrel.com/Changing_Diet_During_Canine_Kidney_Disease

Tony