Kidney Failure in Dog - We Let Him Go...

[Fessy_s_Mom]

Our bearded collie Belvedere was diagnosed with kidney disease two weeks ago. He hadn’t been eating very well and had lost a lot of weight over a couple of weeks before that. But he was still pretty active, following me down to the barn twice a day and barking at the horses as per usual. He was kept in the hospital for five days for IV fluids and came home with ammonium hydroxide to help bind the phosphorous so his levels would come down as well as the Purina prescription kidney diet. I don’t know what the numbers were for the other two kidney indicators in his blood test (BUN and something else), but they were high. His appetite never improved (would barely touch the scrip diet) so I supplemented with people food, figuring his skinniness wasn’t helping him recover either - he looks so pitiful.

I took him back today and his levels were much worse and the vet told me to go ahead and feed him whatever he wants, that it is only a matter of time.

Is there anything else I can do for him? His appetite is great for people food (ate some chicken in mushroom soup just now), but doesn’t eat very much. I’d be devastated if I let him go and then later found something that I could have done for him.

Thank you.

[In_The_Gate]

First, (((Hugs))). Second, if you’re looking to be sure there is nothing treatable the two big tests to run are a urine culture to look for infection and an abdominal ultrasound to look at the kidneys and urinary tract to be totally sure there is no blockage of a kidney or anything else that can be fixed. Sadly, if it is chronic kidney disease there’s little that can be done. Appetite is one of the biggest issues patients with kidney disease face. Things that may help are antacids (Pepcid or Prilosec), anti-nausea medications (Cerenia, Zofran), or appetite stimulants (mirtazapine, cyproheptadine). Daily fluids under the skin at home will help some dogs feel better even if the numbers don’t come down. Your vet can teach you how to do this at home. If he has kidney disease he should also be checked for high blood pressure as it is common in these patients.

[Fessy_s_Mom]

Thank you In The Gate. :yes: He was put on an AB for 10 days in case he had picked up Lepto, but nothing changed after taking them. As far as an ultrasound, I assume he’d need surgery if they found something? And I can’t imagine in his current state that he’d make it through. I’ll ask about the app stimulants and antacids to make him more comfortable. And I forgot to mention that she did send us home with SubQ fluids to give (200 ml/day).

She did mention the high blood pressure this morning before the lab results, but I guess they were so bad, she didn’t see the point in treating him now. :no: They also tried to get a pee sample, but were unsuccessful.

I just can’t believe how fast and far he went down hill. A month ago he was completely normal (at least to the eye). He’s a bag of bones and looks 20 years old.

[The_Shadow]

[QUOTE=Fessy’s Mom;7726728]

Is there anything else I can do for him? His appetite is great for people food (ate some chicken in mushroom soup just now), but doesn’t eat very much. I’d be devastated if I let him go and then later found something that I could have done for him.

Thank you. [/QUOTE]

The other component is creatinine.
My dog was diagnosed with kidney disease last fall. Her levels are pretty stable and she’s acting pretty normal for a 14 yo Dalmatian. I would highly recommend joining the K9Kidney yahoo group. They have lots of experience with kidney disease (and seem to know more about treating kidney disease than many vets). It seems many vets (mine included) just write them off when in fact there is a lot that can be done to at least make them feel better and possibly slow down the progression.

[Fessy_s_Mom]

You’re making me feel better Shadow! :yes: Thank you! Although I’ll admit his progression has been so fast I’m not very hopeful. But thank you.

[Riley0522]

I just lost my 5-year old dog (black terrier type mutt) to kidney disease a few days before Christmas, she initially crashed at the end of October. It was absolutely heartbreaking. She was sort of blah starting on a Sunday night, peed on me when sleeping on the couch with me on Tuesday AM. We took her in and thought she might have a UTI and her bloodwork was awful, both kidney values (BUN+creatinine) extremely high (my vet said highest they had ever seen, surprised she was standing, 240 and 13+ respectively). Up until she got sick, she here and there wouldn’t eat for a day or two probably 3-4 times a year and had an occasional accident in the house, but other than that completely healthy. Beautiful coat, high energy, great weight. Of note, she did become blind progressively through her life with no known cause.

We stabilized her after a week (IVF and antibiotics) and brought her home, started her on a BP med, did SQ fluid at home and she made a great turn around. We had ruled out everything at the vet (did a renal and abdominal US, shitloads of bloodwork, urine testing) so they thought she got into a toxin which seemed almost impossible. She was never outside unattended and I have 2 other dogs, unlikely only she would have gotten into something. She did great for a month and crashed again and we had to say goodbye.

In the end, it was likely she had an idiopathic glomerulonephritis given the blindness and the very sudden crash, her body had probably been used to functioning with little kidney function and therefore she was able to sustain for awhile. I’m sorry to hear about your pup, give him lots of lovin’.

[maybedog]

I was able to add 2 good years to a 14yr old Shiba Inus life by giving her subq fluids at home twice a week. Had to medicate her in the beginning but she quickly associated receiving fluids with feeling better. Have no regrets.

[hosspuller]

I understand. My 7 YO Doberman crashed in December. IV fluids & AB brought him back. We feed him Hill’s K/D prescription diet now. Alternately, boiled chicken & rice. His ALKP level is the only outlier in the blood work 7 months since.

[frisky]

Unfortunatly, your story sounds like my experience with kidney failure. My 14 yo dog crashed over the period of about a month. They were able to stabilizer her with fluids, but it did not last for long. I fed her everything she could have possibly dreamed of including Ben and Jerry’s. I had done everything I could for this particular dog, so with a bit of struggle on my part, I agreed to let her go.

[theblondejumper]

OP, I’m so sorry to hear that your guy isn’t doing so hot.

I’m glad I found this thread, my 12 yr rat terrier that I adopted about two months ago has some mild kidney failure (in addition to arthritis). To be honest, I don’t know much about it and as I look around the internet I’m wondering if the two vets we’ve seen for check ups (at the same practice) were being thorough enough with her.

Do y’all recommend finding a new vet if we feel like we aren’t getting enough guidance for helping her? Her accidents are at a minimum (hardly ever), though she does shake every couple of days (full body tremor) and licks her lips a lot (things I’ve read are side effects?). I’m also wondering if I’m feeding her too much protein (20% Taste of the Wild)?

I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread…thanks y’all. I guess I’m just scared that things could go from okay to not okay so quickly.

She’s pretty chipper day to day aside from some muscle pain, we’re considering Adequan…

[Fessy_s_Mom]

Riley - I’m so sorry you went through that with your baby. Thank you for sharing your experience.

maybedog - I’m hoping for the same thing with Belly with the subq fluids. Thanks for sharing your success. :yes:

hosspuller - your story gives me hope. Thank you!

frisky - I’m so sorry. It’s so hard. I just hope I know when the right time is.

theblondejumper - best of luck with your little guy. :yes:

[In_The_Gate]

Fessy’s mom - if you haven’t already, you should ask your vet how high the kidney numbers are. Normal BUN is up to 30; normal creatinine up to around 1.8. In my experience, most animals with a creatinine under 2.5-3 can still feel pretty well with support, a creatinine of 3-5 are variable in how symptomatic they are with dogs at the higher end more likely to be symptomatic; and a creatinine of > 5 is typically associated with poor quality of life though there is the occasional animal that will still feel ok.

[Fessy_s_Mom]

I will. I didn’t ask at the appointment because I just wanted to get out of there once I knew the news wasn’t good. Thanks for the info. :yes:

[frisky]

[QUOTE=theblondejumper;7726924]
OP, I’m so sorry to hear that your guy isn’t doing so hot.

I’m glad I found this thread, my 12 yr rat terrier that I adopted about two months ago has some mild kidney failure (in addition to arthritis). To be honest, I don’t know much about it and as I look around the internet I’m wondering if the two vets we’ve seen for check ups (at the same practice) were being thorough enough with her.

Do y’all recommend finding a new vet if we feel like we aren’t getting enough guidance for helping her? Her accidents are at a minimum (hardly ever), though she does shake every couple of days (full body tremor) and licks her lips a lot (things I’ve read are side effects?). I’m also wondering if I’m feeding her too much protein (20% Taste of the Wild)?

I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread…thanks y’all. I guess I’m just scared that things could go from okay to not okay so quickly.

She’s pretty chipper day to day aside from some muscle pain, we’re considering Adequan…[/QUOTE]

I actually had another dog with mild kidney disease and cushings. She lived with me for the last year of her life because she peed in the house. She was on great meds and was really happy (and she rarely peed!), so I decided to change her dog food to a higher quality and higher protein dog food (something like TOTW). Suddenly, she started peeing ALL THE TIME. I took her to the vet and they said that her kidney problems were worse and that I should feed her the science diet kidney stuff. I decided against it, but changed her back to the middle-of-the-road dog food. The peeing subsided and she lived another happy year. Just my anecdotal experience, but I would change the food. She also died from something totally unconnected to the cushings or kidney problems.

[The_Shadow]

[QUOTE=Fessy’s Mom;7726728]
His appetite never improved (would barely touch the scrip diet) so I supplemented with people food,[/QUOTE]

Seems like a lot of dogs won’t eat the prescription kidney foods (or not for long). My girl ate them for a few meals and then would barely sniff them even mixed with other stuff.

[pony_baloney]

Tons of info here. I think it may be related to the K9 kindey Yahoo group:
http://dogaware.com/health/kidney.html

[ThisTooShallPass]

Hugs

[theblondejumper]

[QUOTE=frisky;7727045]
I actually had another dog with mild kidney disease and cushings. She lived with me for the last year of her life because she peed in the house. She was on great meds and was really happy (and she rarely peed!), so I decided to change her dog food to a higher quality and higher protein dog food (something like TOTW). Suddenly, she started peeing ALL THE TIME. I took her to the vet and they said that her kidney problems were worse and that I should feed her the science diet kidney stuff. I decided against it, but changed her back to the middle-of-the-road dog food. The peeing subsided and she lived another happy year. Just my anecdotal experience, but I would change the food. She also died from something totally unconnected to the cushings or kidney problems.[/QUOTE]

Thank you! I appreciate the advice and that is what I plan on doing. I knew that older dogs didn’t need as much protein as younger dogs (thanks to a thread here on COTH) but I wasn’t aware of the lower protein content being best for the kidneys until about a few days ago. Neither vet we saw made any comments on my choice of food either.

We have an appointment in a week and a half with well reviewed/respected mobile vet in our area. The appointments are a hour minimum so I think my girl will get a calm examination and we’ll get some clarity on keeping her happy!

[jetsmom]

Sending thoughts and prayers to you and belvedere.

[xQHDQ]

I’m really sorry. My cat has kidney disease. The key is LOW protein (this is debatable). I would try different kidney diets: Purina has one, Science Diet has a different one. The key is no chicken or meat. If even after trying different kidney diets he still won’t eat, try nonprotein people food - pasta, veggies, bread.
There is hope. My cat has been “sick” for more than 3 years now. Good luck.