Hi
My amazing 11 year old Alaskan Malamute Mishka passed away on Thursday night with a final diagnosis of CKD from a large kidney tumour and changes to the cells in her bladder.
My problem is that I didn't know she was ill-or so ill. She had problems with excessive drinking and urination back in the summer. Lots of tests were done including an abdominal ultrasound to test for cushings which came back with enlarged adrenal glands but kidneys were fine. Other tests were negative for cushings. She then developed Pyo so had an emergency Spey which largely resolved the drinking and urination.
By September she started vomiting for a few weeks almost daily which largely resolved after some Zantac. She was still vomiting once or twice a week but usually after deliberately eating grass. She was still having difficulty lasting all night without urinating about once or twice a week. All blood work in sept was clear except mildly raised liver enzymes.
Unfortunately on Wednesday she became suddenly unwell. She had met my partner at the door with her usual enthusiasm and we had gone for a walk. Half way through she started to slow down and got gradually slower as we headed home. She then went out into the garden and wouldn't come in. She refused a treat, drank some water but was then sick and refused to come in at bed time. We now believe she knew it was her time.
The next morning she couldn't/wouldn't get up so we carried her to the car and off to the vet. They put her on IV fluids with a little improvement the. She went downhill fast. She had a seizure and never recovered from it or the rectal diazepam. Bloods showed a creatinine of 5.5 and an ultrasound late in the day showed the kidney damage. With no chance of her surviving
Has anyone else gone through this and not known? She appeared fine all week and only during and after her last walk did we have any suspicion she was not right. No weight loss, no loss of appetite, no noticeable lethargy, no change in her drinking/urination over the last few months. Yet within 24hrs of any suspicion she was gone.
Sorry for the long post. I'm just trying to get my head around all of this and am devastated at the loss of my best friend and wondering how I could not have known.