Anyone with advice/experience for my 2-year-old dog with acute kidney failure?

[marlesbarkli]

When I returned home last week from a vacation, I found that my 2-year-old Australian Shepherd, Lucy, was extremely ill. She was lethargic, vomiting, not eating, had clearly lost weight, the works. After rushing to the vet, we found that she was in severe renal failure. She was admitted and started on IVF immediately. The cause was initially determined to be a positive for leptospirosis (very common in the area we have just moved to, but not at all present where we lived before). A few days later, they also had a positive test result for Lyme disease. The internist suspects that the leptospirosis was the main cause of the kidney dysfunction, which would have a better prognosis than if the Lyme disease had caused it.

Lucy is incredibly important to us. We have raised her from puppyhood, and she is our only pet. She is incredibly young (just barely had her 2nd birthday), vivacious, and full of personality. We have poured a lot of money into this treatment in hopes that she can fight through and regain some function, but I want to get as much information as I can so that we can make informed decisions about her care.  

Lucy has been in 24-hour care on fluids and antibiotics for a week now. They added a course of steroids two days ago to attempt to reduce the swelling in the kidneys. Her kidney levels have been decreasing, but more slowly than the vet had hoped. Here is a breakdown of her labs so far:

Admit day (1/11):
ALB = 2.7 g/dL
ALKP = 96 U/L
ALT = 20 U/L
BUN/UREA = 161 mg/dL
Ca = 10.8 mg/dL
Chloride = 109 mmol/L
CHOL = 230 mg/dL
CREA = 20.3 mg/dL
GGT = 4 U/L
GLU = 90 mg/dL
PHOS = 16.0 mg/dL
Potassium = 4.7 mmol/L
TBIL = 0.6 mg/dL
TP = 8.2 g/dL
Sodium = 149 mmol/L
GLOB = 5.6 g/dL
ALB/GLOB = 0.5
BUN/CREA = 8
Na/K = 32
I have hematology results from that day that I can provide as well, if that would help.

By the second day (1/12), her BUN/UREA went to 159 mg/dL and CREA to 17.6 mg/dL. Over the weekend, they stayed near this level. She was still lethargic, sick, not eating, etc.

After starting steroids and being able to eat, her BUN was 152 and CREA to 15.6. Today, CREA had dropped to 14. Now she is becoming more energetic, eating fine, and responsive, whereas before, she seemed too exhausted to be happy.

I'm wondering if anyone here has had any experience with a dog who had initially high values that eventually dropped into a manageable range. Is there hope or are we pouring resources into a lost cause :( ? Any suggestions for how we should pursue treatment?

[metaylor]

I have had a dog whose values went down almost to normal. We did subcutaneous fluids and Azodyl. I have never tried Petwellbeing, but the reviews look promising.
I am new here.

[tonyb286]

Hello. I am sorry for being so late getting back to you about your questions. Personal circumstances and ill-health have caused me to be away from MedHelp for a while. Can you please update me with any changes since your original post along with any other questions you may have. I will get back to you within a day or so of you posting. Thank you. Tony