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4th stage renal failure in my dog
I have a nine year old lab "Sandy Grace". She is in fourth stage renal failure-Of course she has seen her regular vet for fluids-ultra sound revealed she has one kidney which is failing. Creatine was 13-subs at home-now using hollistic and homepatic treatment. Recently more bad days than good. I am giving her ice chips which seem to work better for her than lapping. Pedialyte ice is also better. She throws up until she staggers and falls-I am continuously trying to hydrate her and giving her baby food-At times, she is able to keep it down, other times the vomiting is horrible. She continues to try for us, and we are fighting so hard for her-LIke others, I tuck her in at night (she sleeps on the loveseat with her "bankie" covering her). I am sleeping in the den with her so I can give her support throughout the night. Neither of us are getting much sleep. I have her spoiled now with hand feeding other than her baby food, and I hold her plate while she licks it up. I am using a recipe of egg yellow / whites, honey, and whole yogurt with a touch of dry powdered milk. This works sometimes. Sandy Grace is not ready to leave us-she continues to try-we try for her twenty-four hours a day. Is there any over the counter medication that I can give her that will help with her vomiting? We love her so much and she loves us so much-my husband and I feel like we will know when she is ready to go. We went to grocery store yesterday to buy more food supplies and liquids for her, when we got home, there she was looking out the window-barking for us to hurry and come inside-you open the door and there she is - -so excited, still wagging her tail for us. What can we do, this is our baby, she is so, so sweet-I know her days are numbered, but she is just not ready to leave. Help. Aggieone
I know just how you feel. It is so awful and sad! My Peabody passed away at home too. I felt so lonely and nothing was right, it was like having something and then it was taken away and you will never get it back again. I am still very sad after 4 months. I did give her to the LORD to take care of her before she passed away, and 10 minutes later she had passed away, I wanted her to be with the LORD. Let me tell you what happened after she passed away. We buried her in my flower garden between 2 lilac bushes. I was sitting in my front room and all of a sudden I smelled lilacs it was very strong! I had no lilacs in my house. Then I was folding clothes at my dinning room table and all of a sudden I heard these beautiful chimes and it was so loud I had to cover my ears, it just bounced off of the walls. Then I looked at the clock and it was 6:30pm, the same time my Peabody passed away. I have a tablet that I write down everything that happen in the house. These two things were the most promineint things that happened. Believe it or not if I don't hear from her for a few days I will call her by name and ask where are you I haven't heard from you for a while. We have heard little barks, felt her fur rub against our bare leg, smelled her, heard her scratching on the door, heard her snoring on her bed. Little lights on the floor.
We did get another rescue dachshund his name is Flash. He will never take Peabody's place but he sure helps. He is a sweetie. And we have already started blood tests on him, they came out perfect, of course he is only 2 years old. Let me tell you this. One day I was sitting on my bed and Flash was sitting next to me. Down on the floor by my bed was Peabody's / Flash's bed. He was staring at the bed and all of a sudden he started turning his head as if he was watching something walking off of the bed and through the room. When we go shopping Flash stays in our bedroom but he will not sleep on Peabody's bed, we have a ramp for our bed for Flash to get on our bed. When we are home he has no problem sleeping on Peabody's bed, I video taped this while we were gone, that is how I know. I hope this helps you, I am not a crazy I just love my Peabody with all my heart and I also love Flash with all my heart. God knows how much you love Rocky and miss him. I love being connected with the LORD, He gives me HOPE that I will be with my little Doxies some day. All these little things that happen make me feel good, but I am still afraid of the day coming and these little things stop. Go through this your way. I also go to other dog sites on the internet and read and sometimes donate in memory of my Peabody. I have a container that holds every thing of Peabody's from books to notes, pictures, bath soap, eardrops, little pads I used for her ears, her picture on my internet screen, a memorial I wrote and framed for her, it all helps. And once a week I buy a bouquet of flowers for her grave. The blanket she passed away on is always under my pillow and the container with her things in it is not put away, it is in my bedroom. I just do not want to loose that connection with her that's why I do all these things. And you will cry a little or a lot. I am so sorry (now I am crying) Now I am going to go cuddle Flash. Much love
We did get another rescue dachshund his name is Flash. He will never take Peabody's place but he sure helps. He is a sweetie. And we have already started blood tests on him, they came out perfect, of course he is only 2 years old. Let me tell you this. One day I was sitting on my bed and Flash was sitting next to me. Down on the floor by my bed was Peabody's / Flash's bed. He was staring at the bed and all of a sudden he started turning his head as if he was watching something walking off of the bed and through the room. When we go shopping Flash stays in our bedroom but he will not sleep on Peabody's bed, we have a ramp for our bed for Flash to get on our bed. When we are home he has no problem sleeping on Peabody's bed, I video taped this while we were gone, that is how I know. I hope this helps you, I am not a crazy I just love my Peabody with all my heart and I also love Flash with all my heart. God knows how much you love Rocky and miss him. I love being connected with the LORD, He gives me HOPE that I will be with my little Doxies some day. All these little things that happen make me feel good, but I am still afraid of the day coming and these little things stop. Go through this your way. I also go to other dog sites on the internet and read and sometimes donate in memory of my Peabody. I have a container that holds every thing of Peabody's from books to notes, pictures, bath soap, eardrops, little pads I used for her ears, her picture on my internet screen, a memorial I wrote and framed for her, it all helps. And once a week I buy a bouquet of flowers for her grave. The blanket she passed away on is always under my pillow and the container with her things in it is not put away, it is in my bedroom. I just do not want to loose that connection with her that's why I do all these things. And you will cry a little or a lot. I am so sorry (now I am crying) Now I am going to go cuddle Flash. Much love
Hi. I am so sorry to hear about Rocky. I have to say, I think you did everything you could do, for all the right reasons and in the right way. Rocky was not a young man, and actually quite old for a dog, as you know. None of our dogs live as long as we would like, it's just the way things are. In the end, I think you should be reassured that you gave Rocky a great life, full of love, care and attention. If he could, Rocky would say a huge thank you to you. He was lucky to have you as his mom - and you were lucky to have shared his life with him.
It sounds like you've had a really tough time (and still are), so do take some time out for yourself, if you can.
Run free Rocky.
Kindest regards
Tony
It sounds like you've had a really tough time (and still are), so do take some time out for yourself, if you can.
Run free Rocky.
Kindest regards
Tony
Hi,
Rocky my little old man of 14 years passed away yesterday morning. I dreaded the thought of having to make the decision to put him down. He made the decision for me yesterday morning.
It was about 2 am when he walked into my bathroom (where he waits for me when I leave the house). It was late and was making a bed for myself and Rocky on the couch, my other two chihuahua mix dogs stayed with us until his last attack, I went looking for him and saw him having what appeared to be a heart attack. He collapsed, fell, went into what looked like a seizure and took his last breaths while I stoked his head and body softly and told him I loved him and it was ok for him to go. He lasted twenty more minutes in total. I silently prayed my other dogs which had passed on we're there to greet him in the afterlife.
This has been one of the most difficult things for me to do, while I have nursed a mother who died of ovarian cancer, a father who died of bone cancer and a husband who now has an ocular melanoma, nursed my dog Capone who had an inoperable brain tumor and died from seizures at the age of three. Nursing Rocky I must say really tore at my heartstrings, I saw him grow from a tiny rat terrier barely weighing a single pound to watching my little Rocky deteriorate before my eyes and finally die while I stoked his head and told him I loved him. This is so FREAKING hard to endure, tears still come to me out of no where. Going into my bathroom is kind of heart wrenching now.
There was not a whimper, no cries, just utter silence and the sound of rockys breath going from raspy and quick to barely there and then silent.
I now see how important it is is to watch their blood work, his bun and creative levels were elevated. It is important to brush tiny dogs teeth weekly, twice a week or more. Rocky bit me many times, I think it must keep bacteria from entering the blood stream, also he had broke teeth and had regular cleaning except for last two years as the vet did not think he could successfully put him under without severe consequences. I had him on salmon oil and exclusively on rice bran, low sodium chicken broth, and a little fage plain yogurt, mixed with his science diet kidney canned food. He did enjoy his carrot sticks and a teaspoon or two of frosty paws at the end as he started refusing food the last day but loved the crunch of the carrots and the creaminess of the cool treat and a little honey and drops of water at the end.
I had to watch him constantly as he was easily confused by the ravages of this disease. I would go get him the yard quite often. He wore a belly band as he urinated in place where ever he was, accidents were frequent. He needed to urinate at night three sometimes four times.
Last night he was barely able to walk without assistance, I wound up carrying him everywhere. He was hallucinating at the end -- I think he was seeing things.
The new vet confirmed my thoughts, he is being cremated and will be brought home. I wanted quality of life for him, while I hated the thought of him getting stuck by needles every two months two years ago, I now see that the lack of blood tests and change of vets left me in the dark and him in a precarious situation. I learned a lot from you all, thank you for your support.
I will keep up with you all, just know, these last few weeks have been difficult as Rocky took a dive downward, had a few mild ten or fifteen second tremors and fell twice and before the end. Enilapril did not really seem to help.
Now to catch up with my life and some much needed sleep.
Rocky my little old man of 14 years passed away yesterday morning. I dreaded the thought of having to make the decision to put him down. He made the decision for me yesterday morning.
It was about 2 am when he walked into my bathroom (where he waits for me when I leave the house). It was late and was making a bed for myself and Rocky on the couch, my other two chihuahua mix dogs stayed with us until his last attack, I went looking for him and saw him having what appeared to be a heart attack. He collapsed, fell, went into what looked like a seizure and took his last breaths while I stoked his head and body softly and told him I loved him and it was ok for him to go. He lasted twenty more minutes in total. I silently prayed my other dogs which had passed on we're there to greet him in the afterlife.
This has been one of the most difficult things for me to do, while I have nursed a mother who died of ovarian cancer, a father who died of bone cancer and a husband who now has an ocular melanoma, nursed my dog Capone who had an inoperable brain tumor and died from seizures at the age of three. Nursing Rocky I must say really tore at my heartstrings, I saw him grow from a tiny rat terrier barely weighing a single pound to watching my little Rocky deteriorate before my eyes and finally die while I stoked his head and told him I loved him. This is so FREAKING hard to endure, tears still come to me out of no where. Going into my bathroom is kind of heart wrenching now.
There was not a whimper, no cries, just utter silence and the sound of rockys breath going from raspy and quick to barely there and then silent.
I now see how important it is is to watch their blood work, his bun and creative levels were elevated. It is important to brush tiny dogs teeth weekly, twice a week or more. Rocky bit me many times, I think it must keep bacteria from entering the blood stream, also he had broke teeth and had regular cleaning except for last two years as the vet did not think he could successfully put him under without severe consequences. I had him on salmon oil and exclusively on rice bran, low sodium chicken broth, and a little fage plain yogurt, mixed with his science diet kidney canned food. He did enjoy his carrot sticks and a teaspoon or two of frosty paws at the end as he started refusing food the last day but loved the crunch of the carrots and the creaminess of the cool treat and a little honey and drops of water at the end.
I had to watch him constantly as he was easily confused by the ravages of this disease. I would go get him the yard quite often. He wore a belly band as he urinated in place where ever he was, accidents were frequent. He needed to urinate at night three sometimes four times.
Last night he was barely able to walk without assistance, I wound up carrying him everywhere. He was hallucinating at the end -- I think he was seeing things.
The new vet confirmed my thoughts, he is being cremated and will be brought home. I wanted quality of life for him, while I hated the thought of him getting stuck by needles every two months two years ago, I now see that the lack of blood tests and change of vets left me in the dark and him in a precarious situation. I learned a lot from you all, thank you for your support.
I will keep up with you all, just know, these last few weeks have been difficult as Rocky took a dive downward, had a few mild ten or fifteen second tremors and fell twice and before the end. Enilapril did not really seem to help.
Now to catch up with my life and some much needed sleep.
Hi Fiona. I am so sorry you have received this diagnosis for your best friend. It sounds like there are so many symptoms of different conditions, you must be feeling extremely overwhelmed by it all. Many of the symptoms are associated with kidney disease. But the Lung worm diagnoses is obviously a separate issue and that one needs treating with priority. I see treatment has begun ... how long before this treatment finishes? The reason for asking is, basically the treatment involves a spot-on and sachets of what I assume to be a controlled poison, which will have some adverse impact on the kidney disease. There is no easy way around this, because the lung worm must be eradicated.
Other questions I need to ask are ... has the vet put him on any anti-nausea medication? If not, you need to get this today. It's urgent, and with it your dog may start eating again. Your dog will not want to eat due to the toxin build-up caused by the kidney failure. Just like humans, if they feel sickly, they won't want to eat.
Next, has the vet done any IV Fluids? If not, this should be pursued. Fluids are essential initially, to increase efficient urination and get the toxins flushed out. A course would ordinarily last 3 days and then you could continue undertaking Sub-Q fluid therapy at home. If your vet is reluctant (for whatever reason) then change your vet.
Has the vet given you your dog's blood test levels? If yes, please post them, so I can assess what stage kidney disease this is and how much work there may be to do to get the levels back down to normal. This isn't always possible, but worth trying if the disease has not progressed too far.
Has the vet taken your dog's blood-pressure? If not, this needs doing urgently, otherwise heart conditions can be triggered, sometimes with fatal results. Many dogs with kidney failure also have high blood pressure. High blood pressure causes a rapid deterioration in the kidney disease, so it needs to be treated as a priority.
Has the vet advised you to start a kidney specific diet for your dog? If not, start this today. You can buy tinned (not dry) kidney diets for dogs with kidney disease. You might eventually move to a homemade diet, but tinned is fine for now, just to start the process. Introduce the diet change gradually, otherwise there will be some upset digestion.
And finally, join our special group ... the Chronic Kidney Failure in Dogs User Group ... here on MedHelp. Just search for it in the search bar at the top of the page.
Also, have a read about diet and canine kidney disease in my article, which you can access here:
http://www.infobarrel.com/How_Diet_Affects_Dogs_with_Chronic_Kidney_Disease
You will also find various additional articles written by me about canine kidney disease at my website ... www.tonyboothwriter.com
Okay, that's probably enough for now. None of these interventions may work ... but if you want to try, then we can try. In the end, you know your dog better than anyone else. The time to "call it a day" is when you and your dog say "enough is enough". I hope that point has not been reached yet and I hope these and other measures we can talk about later will help keep your dog with you for as long as possible. Kidney disease is not curable, but management of it can prolong life and help vastly improve quality of life.
Regards
Tony
Other questions I need to ask are ... has the vet put him on any anti-nausea medication? If not, you need to get this today. It's urgent, and with it your dog may start eating again. Your dog will not want to eat due to the toxin build-up caused by the kidney failure. Just like humans, if they feel sickly, they won't want to eat.
Next, has the vet done any IV Fluids? If not, this should be pursued. Fluids are essential initially, to increase efficient urination and get the toxins flushed out. A course would ordinarily last 3 days and then you could continue undertaking Sub-Q fluid therapy at home. If your vet is reluctant (for whatever reason) then change your vet.
Has the vet given you your dog's blood test levels? If yes, please post them, so I can assess what stage kidney disease this is and how much work there may be to do to get the levels back down to normal. This isn't always possible, but worth trying if the disease has not progressed too far.
Has the vet taken your dog's blood-pressure? If not, this needs doing urgently, otherwise heart conditions can be triggered, sometimes with fatal results. Many dogs with kidney failure also have high blood pressure. High blood pressure causes a rapid deterioration in the kidney disease, so it needs to be treated as a priority.
Has the vet advised you to start a kidney specific diet for your dog? If not, start this today. You can buy tinned (not dry) kidney diets for dogs with kidney disease. You might eventually move to a homemade diet, but tinned is fine for now, just to start the process. Introduce the diet change gradually, otherwise there will be some upset digestion.
And finally, join our special group ... the Chronic Kidney Failure in Dogs User Group ... here on MedHelp. Just search for it in the search bar at the top of the page.
Also, have a read about diet and canine kidney disease in my article, which you can access here:
http://www.infobarrel.com/How_Diet_Affects_Dogs_with_Chronic_Kidney_Disease
You will also find various additional articles written by me about canine kidney disease at my website ... www.tonyboothwriter.com
Okay, that's probably enough for now. None of these interventions may work ... but if you want to try, then we can try. In the end, you know your dog better than anyone else. The time to "call it a day" is when you and your dog say "enough is enough". I hope that point has not been reached yet and I hope these and other measures we can talk about later will help keep your dog with you for as long as possible. Kidney disease is not curable, but management of it can prolong life and help vastly improve quality of life.
Regards
Tony
Hi Fiona, I know exactly how you feel. I lost my mini dachshund march 20 of this year, she had kidney failure and was 15 years old. She stopped eating a week before she passed away, and quit walking 2 days before she passed away. I was able for a few days to spoon feed her some chicken broth, then she would not eat anymore. I could not euthanize her, it is against GOD. So all we could do was make her comfortable with fluids from the vet and cerina for vomiting everyday. My vet said she was not in pain but I don't know if that was true, other wise I would have given her some pain medicine. Vets make me mad because they don't tell you everything that is going on with your pet and how to help them. If she did have mouth alcers she told me to get some Pepcid which only helps the symptoms. So I researched and got some sucraflate which also helps heal them. I knew she was passing away, she was laying on my bed when she passed. I would just make him as comfortable as you could and hold him. See if you could get him fluids every day and something for vomiting if he is doing that. The fluids are placed under the skin by your vet, and a shot of cerina. I know it is very bad, I still cry. Maybe you could try some chicken broth. They do need a lot of fluids when they have kidney diease. All I have told you was from my experience. I hope I helped you a little. sorrymom (because I did not get my doxie blood tests every year to catch kidney disease )
Dear Tony
i am writing in utter desperation i live in the uk and a week ago me dog was
diagnosed with Kidney failure within one week he has gone completely down hill barely eating lost 1.5 kilo in weight he sleeps all the time and wants to be with me constantly he started bleeding form his mouth three days ago the vet diagnosed Lung worm and they have treated him on the back of the neck and oral sachets every day. He had grey gums and they were bleeding and full of puss. He is a 15 year old Jack Russsel who until a week ago was still walking and happy and eating the vet has suggested euthanazing him but he is still so alert he is still trying to follow me and wont take his eyes of me I can't stop crying and dont want him to suffer please help. He can't eat because his mouth is so sore he is anaemic thanks so much. Fiona
i am writing in utter desperation i live in the uk and a week ago me dog was
diagnosed with Kidney failure within one week he has gone completely down hill barely eating lost 1.5 kilo in weight he sleeps all the time and wants to be with me constantly he started bleeding form his mouth three days ago the vet diagnosed Lung worm and they have treated him on the back of the neck and oral sachets every day. He had grey gums and they were bleeding and full of puss. He is a 15 year old Jack Russsel who until a week ago was still walking and happy and eating the vet has suggested euthanazing him but he is still so alert he is still trying to follow me and wont take his eyes of me I can't stop crying and dont want him to suffer please help. He can't eat because his mouth is so sore he is anaemic thanks so much. Fiona
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