Aa
Kidney failure - specifics
Hi everyone,
I am glad to have found this supportive place even though I hate becoming a member of the renal failure club. I know there are lots of threads here on renal failure and I am reading them all, but so many seem to lack specifics. I am hoping someone here can respond to my dog's info and give me some idea if a dog with these numbers has ever stabilized or if I am looking at days of quality time instead of months. I am also hoping for support here because I am am not very social and I don't have many human friends and I know I am headed for awful awful times. I am terrified.
My dog's name is Zeus. He is a big fluffy golden retriever / sheltie mix who loves everyone. Always happy. Always the sweetest dog. He is ten years old. He has two "siblings", a whoodle who is 9 years old named Gracie, and a small fierce sheltie mix named Pearl.
I did not know Zeus was sick. He was drinking and peeing more, but I thought that was normal for a 10 year old dog. Zeus had a stroke as a baby, so he has always been a little wobbly and odd, so I did not notice anything extra odd going on. He went for a dental Friday (11/15) and it apparently exacerbated an underlying kidney issue. As I said, I did not know he was sick, so I had not had blood work done before, so I do not know when this all started. But on that day, 11/15, his creatinine was 5.8 and his bun was 90.
It has been such a horrible long week.
He was eating fine until the dental. Now getting anything into him is such a challenge. He has high calcium levels so I cannot use Tums, so he started an aluminum phosphate blocker yesterday. He started Pepcid AC a week ago. And he has been on anti-biotics. Those end tomorrow. I have prescription diet stuff for him, but he will not touch it. Sometimes he will eat some hamburger and rice, sometimes some chicken and rice, sometimes some limited ingredient duck and potato treats. But never enough of anything. I tried adding tripe because I had heard good things, but he does not want that either. He seems to like eggs, so he gets egg sometimes. Overall, I would say I am getting about a third as much food into him as I should on a daily basis.
I started SubQ fluids on Friday 11/22.
All throughout this time, he has had tons of energy, goes for walks, plays with his toys, and seems like himself. Just not eating.
He threw up a few times after the dental. My vet had started him on Enalapril and I do not think he could tolerate it. I took him off it - with her approval - about a week ago and he has only thrown up once since then.
Can anyone help me get some perspective on this? Could he stabilize and live a year or two? Or is that out of the question? Can I count on him getting some appetite back and at least having his current quality of life for a few months? Or am I looking at weeks? I know there is no formula for this, but if anyone has anecdotal evidence of a dog around this age with these numbers doing okay for any length of time, I could use the inspiration.
Also, on of the things that sometimes inspires him to eat is if I call the food "treats" and give these "treats" to his "sisters". The competitiveness sometimes makes him eat. Of course, I only give the girls very small amounts while trying to get him to eat larger amounts. But I am wondering, is there anything about the canned LP diets or about the homecooked stuff that could be bad for my girls if they eat it in small amounts daily? Usually, they all eat Natural Balance limited ingredient Duck and Potato food.
Thank you for any help you can lend. I really really appreciate having somewhere to share this.
Melissa
I am glad to have found this supportive place even though I hate becoming a member of the renal failure club. I know there are lots of threads here on renal failure and I am reading them all, but so many seem to lack specifics. I am hoping someone here can respond to my dog's info and give me some idea if a dog with these numbers has ever stabilized or if I am looking at days of quality time instead of months. I am also hoping for support here because I am am not very social and I don't have many human friends and I know I am headed for awful awful times. I am terrified.
My dog's name is Zeus. He is a big fluffy golden retriever / sheltie mix who loves everyone. Always happy. Always the sweetest dog. He is ten years old. He has two "siblings", a whoodle who is 9 years old named Gracie, and a small fierce sheltie mix named Pearl.
I did not know Zeus was sick. He was drinking and peeing more, but I thought that was normal for a 10 year old dog. Zeus had a stroke as a baby, so he has always been a little wobbly and odd, so I did not notice anything extra odd going on. He went for a dental Friday (11/15) and it apparently exacerbated an underlying kidney issue. As I said, I did not know he was sick, so I had not had blood work done before, so I do not know when this all started. But on that day, 11/15, his creatinine was 5.8 and his bun was 90.
It has been such a horrible long week.
He was eating fine until the dental. Now getting anything into him is such a challenge. He has high calcium levels so I cannot use Tums, so he started an aluminum phosphate blocker yesterday. He started Pepcid AC a week ago. And he has been on anti-biotics. Those end tomorrow. I have prescription diet stuff for him, but he will not touch it. Sometimes he will eat some hamburger and rice, sometimes some chicken and rice, sometimes some limited ingredient duck and potato treats. But never enough of anything. I tried adding tripe because I had heard good things, but he does not want that either. He seems to like eggs, so he gets egg sometimes. Overall, I would say I am getting about a third as much food into him as I should on a daily basis.
I started SubQ fluids on Friday 11/22.
All throughout this time, he has had tons of energy, goes for walks, plays with his toys, and seems like himself. Just not eating.
He threw up a few times after the dental. My vet had started him on Enalapril and I do not think he could tolerate it. I took him off it - with her approval - about a week ago and he has only thrown up once since then.
Can anyone help me get some perspective on this? Could he stabilize and live a year or two? Or is that out of the question? Can I count on him getting some appetite back and at least having his current quality of life for a few months? Or am I looking at weeks? I know there is no formula for this, but if anyone has anecdotal evidence of a dog around this age with these numbers doing okay for any length of time, I could use the inspiration.
Also, on of the things that sometimes inspires him to eat is if I call the food "treats" and give these "treats" to his "sisters". The competitiveness sometimes makes him eat. Of course, I only give the girls very small amounts while trying to get him to eat larger amounts. But I am wondering, is there anything about the canned LP diets or about the homecooked stuff that could be bad for my girls if they eat it in small amounts daily? Usually, they all eat Natural Balance limited ingredient Duck and Potato food.
Thank you for any help you can lend. I really really appreciate having somewhere to share this.
Melissa
I know what you mean. I thought when I was putting the tree up, hell, it only seems like yesterday I was taking it down. Ha. It's been a busy year for me, mainly working on our house - which is a massive DIY project and much needs doing - and I'm starting to feel my age. Two steps forward, one back, kind of thing - and a bit of a rest is needed between the steps.
The new addition - Sally the Greyhound - is settling in well, though incredibly mischievous and very cheeky. I think she learned a few skills in her kenneled racing days, like how to steal food, because you need eyes in the back of your head with her. But she's a real character, all the same, and a great chum for Giro who's as submissive as ever.
Glad you approve of the dog food article. I've done a few recently, partly to prevent myself repeating things on the forum - it's easier just to ask people to 'read this' than go through the same information from scratch each time. I keep wanting to do something on kidney disease, but it's so enormous a task, I keep backtracking it.
Sorry to hear about your twin sister ... but happy all worked out well in the end. See you in the threads ... Love, Tony x
The new addition - Sally the Greyhound - is settling in well, though incredibly mischievous and very cheeky. I think she learned a few skills in her kenneled racing days, like how to steal food, because you need eyes in the back of your head with her. But she's a real character, all the same, and a great chum for Giro who's as submissive as ever.
Glad you approve of the dog food article. I've done a few recently, partly to prevent myself repeating things on the forum - it's easier just to ask people to 'read this' than go through the same information from scratch each time. I keep wanting to do something on kidney disease, but it's so enormous a task, I keep backtracking it.
Sorry to hear about your twin sister ... but happy all worked out well in the end. See you in the threads ... Love, Tony x
Hey Tony...Maybe I'm reviewing the "wrong one"! I personally don't see a threatening one, but was trying to narrow it down. :) No, Your comment was excellent as usual!
Thank you, Our Christmas was delayed for 2 days.....The gathering is at my twin sister's house & she woke up deathly ill Christmas morning....We had to put all our food on hold which was a little different.....We celebrated Friday evening and all went well....
Happy New Year Tony, to you and your crew! Hard to believe another one is gone, huh????? Love, Karla
P.S. I LOVED your article on dog foods.....You knew I would agree didn't you? :)
Thank you, Our Christmas was delayed for 2 days.....The gathering is at my twin sister's house & she woke up deathly ill Christmas morning....We had to put all our food on hold which was a little different.....We celebrated Friday evening and all went well....
Happy New Year Tony, to you and your crew! Hard to believe another one is gone, huh????? Love, Karla
P.S. I LOVED your article on dog foods.....You knew I would agree didn't you? :)
Hi Karla. Okay, maybe someone pressed the wrong button because the message I was referring to says from tashainpeterborough To: MelissaLovesDogs. That said, I still don't get it. Have you written something I can't see? If not, I think my comments still stand as I can't see why anyone would think any message here is an attack on anyone else ... perhaps some folk just got out the wrong side of the bed this morning. Hope you and yours have had a lovely Christmas. Tony x
For the record: MelissaLovesDogs comments (In question) were to "ME", NOT to Jane........
Hello Jane. The trouble with texts, emails and many other forms of non-person-to-person communication is ... we often misread or misinterpret things. When you can't see people's expressions, the tone of their voice or the body behavior, and then read a message sent perhaps too quickly without letting what has been written sit there for a while, while it is thought about and absorbed ... it can lead to the wrong conclusion.
I don't believe MelissaLovesDogs has written anything to you that should or could be interpreted as being an attack. In fact, quite the opposite, I think she is saying exactly what I believe is right, that rescue dogs are by far a better option than going to a breeder. And it isn't necessarily the kind of dog, it's behavior, it's health or any other aspect of the dog itself that is at issue (all dogs are different, some are healthier than others and some are prone to bad health juts because it's the genetics of the breed or its parentage) ... but there is a certain difference .... rescue centers only want to find a loving home for those in their care, whereas almost all breeders want to dispose of their pups so they can bank your payment.
Saying this is not an attack on you. It's just a fact that buyers of new puppies should and need to be made aware of. While lots of people still buy from breeders, even when reminded about rescue shelters, is something I can never quite understand - but that's their decision, and that's fine. As I said before, maybe it's because they want a particular breed, or a young puppy, or .... whatever. But while we line the pockets of breeders, we encourage more dogs to be born - and ultimately, more dogs to become abandoned and end up in shelters.
It's a hotly debated issue on this forum - and certainly no reason for falling out with anyone. So, please either join the debate and enjoy crossing swords (but without getting angry or irritated about it), or just move on to another subject if you feel that one has been exhausted or is going no where.
I'm sure MelissaLovesDogs will respond in her own way and in her own words - but I would be shocked and surprised if she thought she was attacking you in any way over what you decided about buying from a breeder. We all have different opinions (thank heavens), and we are all just trying to help and be supportive in any way we can.
Tony x
I don't believe MelissaLovesDogs has written anything to you that should or could be interpreted as being an attack. In fact, quite the opposite, I think she is saying exactly what I believe is right, that rescue dogs are by far a better option than going to a breeder. And it isn't necessarily the kind of dog, it's behavior, it's health or any other aspect of the dog itself that is at issue (all dogs are different, some are healthier than others and some are prone to bad health juts because it's the genetics of the breed or its parentage) ... but there is a certain difference .... rescue centers only want to find a loving home for those in their care, whereas almost all breeders want to dispose of their pups so they can bank your payment.
Saying this is not an attack on you. It's just a fact that buyers of new puppies should and need to be made aware of. While lots of people still buy from breeders, even when reminded about rescue shelters, is something I can never quite understand - but that's their decision, and that's fine. As I said before, maybe it's because they want a particular breed, or a young puppy, or .... whatever. But while we line the pockets of breeders, we encourage more dogs to be born - and ultimately, more dogs to become abandoned and end up in shelters.
It's a hotly debated issue on this forum - and certainly no reason for falling out with anyone. So, please either join the debate and enjoy crossing swords (but without getting angry or irritated about it), or just move on to another subject if you feel that one has been exhausted or is going no where.
I'm sure MelissaLovesDogs will respond in her own way and in her own words - but I would be shocked and surprised if she thought she was attacking you in any way over what you decided about buying from a breeder. We all have different opinions (thank heavens), and we are all just trying to help and be supportive in any way we can.
Tony x
Hi Melissa,
You don't seem to give any credit for the 4 rescues I do have.
When I adopted bailey, I first asked if I could bring him home first to see how he got along with my cats. They said no.
I could not surrender him back to the humane society. It was not a nice place. I tried re-homing him through foster home based rescues. No one would take him. The foster homes were all full. The one who considered taking him if I could get his teeth done, would have tried, but as you read in my previous comments, he had cancer and was euthanized.
Before I adopted Bailey, I did go into foster home based rescue sites, and the dogs I did like were already on hold, or had a long list of possible adoptees, or very old and had lots of health issues ($$), or behaviour issues.
I tire of your attacks on me. I am ending my posts to you here and now.
jane.
You don't seem to give any credit for the 4 rescues I do have.
When I adopted bailey, I first asked if I could bring him home first to see how he got along with my cats. They said no.
I could not surrender him back to the humane society. It was not a nice place. I tried re-homing him through foster home based rescues. No one would take him. The foster homes were all full. The one who considered taking him if I could get his teeth done, would have tried, but as you read in my previous comments, he had cancer and was euthanized.
Before I adopted Bailey, I did go into foster home based rescue sites, and the dogs I did like were already on hold, or had a long list of possible adoptees, or very old and had lots of health issues ($$), or behaviour issues.
I tire of your attacks on me. I am ending my posts to you here and now.
jane.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Dogs Community
Members of our Pet Communities share their Halloween pet photos.
Like to travel but hate to leave your pooch at home? Dr. Carol Osborne talks tips on how (and where!) to take a trip with your pampered pet
Ooh and aah your way through these too-cute photos of MedHelp members' best friends
A list of national and international resources and hotlines to help connect you to needed health and medical services.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
