Renal Failure

My redbone coonhound, Wilma, is only 4 yrs old.  After a week of vomiting and 2-3 days of not eating or drinking I decided to bring her to an emergency vet.  The blood tests showed chronic renal failure.  I then took her to my regular vet this morning after an evening of IV fluids at the emergency vet.  She is going to be there for another 48 hours of fluids and then another blood test tomorrow afternoon.  She was diagnosed and treated for lime disease about a year ago.  She is my life and I spend almost all my free time with her.  When I brought her to the vet this morning she was in good spirits, active, and rehydrated.  I am fearing for the worse and hoping for the best.  Can you offer any advice?

[Jaybay]

I'm dealing with the same problem, only my dog is much older - well over 13.  There really isn't much you can do for failing kidneys other than try to protect the remaining function for as long as possible.  The best tools you'll have are your own hands:  make homemade dog food that is as low in phosphorus as you can make it.  Calcium and aluminum hydroxide are great phosphorus binders and should be added in the form of a Tums or an Alu-Tab twice a day.  In my experience, those have been the two most important items in my doggie renal failure tool box.  :-)  You'll also need something for nausea, but if your vet prescribes reglan (metoclopromadine), be aware that reglan is metabolized in the kidneys.  If the kidney damage is too great, the reglan can't be processed and a toxic dose will result.  Symptoms are restlessness, trembling, shaking, and fast pulse and respiration.

Pepcid should also be given to deal with the high acid levels that go along with renal failure.  Another beware:  some dogs (like mine) totally lose their appetite after taking pepcid long-term.  It's just something to keep an eye out for since getting dogs with bad kidneys to eat is a huge problem.  Even if the food they eat isn't the best for them, they MUST eat something.

If necessary, your vet can show you how to inject sub-cutaneous fluids at home if your dog can't stay hydrated on its own.

Here is a link to a 40 page article written by a woman who dealt with a dog in renal failure for many years.  I have to say this article has been more helpful to me (and my dog!) than what I learned from the vet.  Don't get me wrong - my vet is just fabulous, and we need him for testing and other meds.  It's the day-to-day maintenance that this article helps with.  Lots of different recipes to try and lists of foods and their phosphorus values.

http://www.dogaware.com/kidney.html

Look through the past 3 weeks of postings on this forum and on the Ask a Vet forum.  There have been several people posting about renal failure lately and lots of good discussions for you to read through.

Are you and your vet pursuing further testing for the underlying cause of the renal failure like Addison's Disease or an infection?  I know that can get expensive, but it can obviously make a difference if the cause of the renal failure is known and treatable.