urine colour and apetaite

[sarbajit]

my 10 months old GSD almost stopped eating. 7 days back, i noticed his urine colour is dark golden yellow and
when it dries-up, it forms a flakes-like layer which is brittle and it becomes dust if, rubbed by fingers.
This is mainly happening with his early morning urine. In the day time, it is slightly lighter yellow
but not much different than the early-morning urine.

He drinks water properly. He has no fever. he is not vomiting and his stool is perfect. his weight is 32kgs.
He has no sign of illness or behavioural problem. He is enjoying his daily walk with me, chewing bones,
playing,  chasing, fetching and is always playfull with my other dog(8 months old Lhasa Apso) and my son.
He is limping a bit with his left hind leg.

His daily diet chart is as follows:

Early morning: 6 chapati (made of wheat flour) with yoghurt(200gm).
Afternoon : Rice, Carrot, beans, Chicked-liver, small amount of fat; all boiled
Dinner: Rice, Carrot, beans, Chicked-liver, small amount of fat; all boiled

weekly, chicken-liver is replaced by mutton for a day.

this diet is followed by him for last 6 months and he eats it happily. Except for last 7 days, he lost his apetaite, totally.

He also takes the following medicines as nutrition suppliment on daily basis.

1. Nutricoat: 5ml twice daily (composition: 5g contains; Linolenic+Linoleic+Oleic Acid 3000mg, Lecithin 50mg,
Vit B6 400mcg, Zinc 4.5mg, Vit A 1000 I.U., Vit E 10 I.U., Vit D3 100 I.U., Selenium 0.2 mcg,
Biotin (Vit H) 45 mcg)

2. Nutrical-CA: 1 tab twice daily. (Composition: Each tablet contains: Elemental Calcium 672 mg,
Elemental Phosphorous 520 mg, Elemental Magnesium 0.64 mg, Vit D3 IU)

3. Megaflex: 8 gm daily (Composition: crude ash 3.5%, Crude fat 2.1%, Crude protein 9.9%,
crude fibre < 0.4%, Vit E and Vegetable oil.).

I also feel my other dog Lhasa Apso(8 months old) is also showing the same symtoms but he did'nt lost
his apetaite.

I am consulting the Vets.

I live in India, where the availaibility, quality, and attitude of veterinary consultants and services are very
primitive. Please help.

Please suggest if any pathological test is required. I can do it locally and provide you the results.

Thanks

[sarbajit]

Thanks.

http://www.dogaware.com/kidney.html is god's help to me. I dont know how much I'll be able to use it, but, at least I can think.

[Jaybay]

Not terribly good news, but not terribly bad either.  The lab results are very, very early indicators of kidney failure so it's good to have a diagnosis this soon.  I lost a dog to kidney failure last year and she wasn't diagnosed until it was far too late.

There is no cure for this problem.  Kidney cells don't regenerate like liver cells do, so the objective is to retain function for as long as possible.  Phosphorus is deadly to troubled kidneys, so it's important to maintain a low-phosphorus diet.  Calcium supplements help a great deal because calcium binds to phosphorus and sweeps it out of the body.  You can give one plain Tums per day right now to help your dog's kidney function.  Getting rid of the phosphorus can also help with the associated nausea and lack of appetite.  If you do nothing else, do this much - the calcium is the best tool you have.  Make sure you use plain Tums with no additional ingredients, so read labels carefully.

I've never been wild about the prescription diets for dogs in kidney failure.  The prevailing "wisdom" says that because protein is metabolized in the kidneys that a low-protein diet is called for.  Unfortunately, dogs must have protein or they will be malnourished.  More recent studies show that low-protein diets make no difference, whereas focusing on calcium as a phosphorus reduce does help.

I found it easier (and cheaper) to make my own dog food.  Dark meat chicken is a great alternative to prescription food along with rice and white bread.  Your vet should be able to provide you with recipes to try out.

Be certain to add a vitamin supplement to your dog's diet while he's on a homemade or prescription diet.  This is extremely important as these diets aren't designed with long-term survival in mind and the dog misses out on some needed nutrients. I found a senior vitamin pill with no phosphorus at all, but had to read a whole lot of labels first.  It's Nutri-Vet Senior Vitality and I found it at PetSmart.

If the calcium doesn't help with appetite, you'll need to try a medication from your vet.  Reglan (metoclopromadine) is the usual first choice because it's very cheap.  It worked well for my dog until the last month.  Reglan is metabolized in the kidneys so she build up an overdose with symptoms of shaking and severe restlessness.  Our vet couldn't figure it out, but I found an obscure study that described the symptoms exactly.  Because we couldn't afford the more expensive anti-emetics, we went to reglan injections.  Bypassing the GI tract altogether worked great.  I also learned that dogs can take phenergan, which is another very cheap anti nausea medication.  It's mostly prescribed for humans, but works wonders in my dogs.

If you aren't an experienced "piller" it's time to learn how.  There will come a time when your dog won't eat a pill no matter how well you disguise it.  Let us know if you need help with poking the pill down your dog's throat.  It's actually better to administer pills that way because (1) it doesn't hurt the dog if done quickly and properly, and (2) you know for certain he got the full dose.

Got to the following web site and print out all 50-some-odd pages and read it thoroughly.  This information became my kidney failure bible.  It describes it in detail and provides many different low-phosphorus foods and ways of dealing with the symptoms.

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

Again, your dog is not in imminent danger because you were vigilant in reporting symptoms early.  That's great!  Keep educating yourself and never be afraid to ask your vet questions.  I drove my own vet crazy, but managed to educate him along the way as well.  Thank goodness he still likes me.  LOL!  :-)

[sarbajit]

i got his urine tested by pathologist.
Urea 39
Creatinine 1.3

My vet suggests his kidney is not working properly. He suggested a special diet and a medicine. I also planned to give him Royan Canin Renal as his main diet.
Now I need some answer, desperately. Is this Acute kidney problem or Cronic kidney problem? How can I understand or diagnosys the magnitude of damage? Can the damage be quantified? Is this a reversable process? What is the standard treatment methodology and approach for kidney failure? I want to save him. Help.

[Jaybay]

Dark urine is not a good sign, and usually means a high bilirubin count, which indicates a problem with the liver and/or pancreas.  Your dog definitely needs a trip to the vet to figure out what is going on inside.  Please post back and let us know your vet discovers.  This is something that really should not be put off.