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Renal Failure

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#22 ·
Sorry you don't have the answers yet. Prayers that it is something that is curable.
 
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#23 ·
At least he is still playing. Your thread is so sad, to have to wait another 24 hours when your buddy is ailing. I can tell, you will you do whatever to make him better, but so hard not knowing. Hold him close and love him lots. What ever happens, he will trust in you. Be strong, and keep us posted.
 
#24 ·
RAB said:
I was playing with him and noticed his gums were more of an dirty yellow/tan. Another long night....
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Hi RAB,

I'm sorry to hear about your pup and esp the delay in bloodwork (I'd be pretty livid)...

I do have a question, though, and I hope this isn't offensive because I just honestly DO NOT know... But wouldn't it make sense to just rest him? I would think if he's exercising, then he's stressing his system and pushing more stuff through an already compromised liver. I have NO idea, but if you haven't cleared it with your vet or LSU, you may want to doublecheck.

I've been saying a prayer for him and I hope he gets better soon...

-K
 
Discussion starter · #25 ·
Well playing meant just loving on him more than ever. No exercise and such... We wont know exactly were he is at until the blood work comes back. Its all to premature until all the facts are laid out. I am preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
 
#26 ·
A question for those who have or have had a dog with renal failure. Was the cause of the renal failure ever determined? Also, what was the time course of the kidney problem and what were the accompanying symptoms? I have a 5 year old male that was recently diagnosed as having stage 3 of renal disease.
 
#27 ·
Jon Dunn said:
A question for those who have or have had a dog with renal failure. Was the cause of the renal failure ever determined? Also, what was the time course of the kidney problem and what were the accompanying symptoms? I have a 5 year old male that was recently diagnosed as having stage 3 of renal disease.
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The dog I had that had it was a little mutt. I would say he was 9 or 10 years old when we found out he had kidney problems. The vet did some blood work I guess. I can't remember why, he must have been acting strangely or something. I was away at college when we found out, so I'm fuzzy on why he went to the vet for testing unless it was just routine because of his age. Anyway, it was something to do with enzymes. That is all I remember about what they told me. We put him on K/D prescription canned dog food and he did fine for a good long while. Eventually when he was 14 or maybe 15 he started having heart problems. They put him on heart medicine which screwed up his normally ravenous appetite. Before long he wouldn't eat the K/D any more and we started feeding boiled chicken and rice. Then he wouldn't eat that and we had to start giving him stuff that really wasn't good for him just to get him to eat (vet told us to). I can't remember exactly, but that process took a number of months and then he wasn't acting right and we took him in and they told us we needed to put him down because he was going into kidney failure. I remember his breath was positively putrid at that point. They said it was a symptom of the kidney failure. This isn't just bad dog breath, it is in a whole different league. They said if we didn't do it then that he would suffer and we would probably be calling them in the middle of the night in a day or two begging them to stop his suffering, so we put him down. Basically it was a case of not being able to treat the heart and kidneys at the same time in a very old dog. He was 15 1/2 when we put him to sleep. He was my first dog. The rest have all been labs.

I don't know if that helps at all. I don't remember being told anything about what stage, etc. I'm sorry for you and your dog and I wish I could remember more that might be of use to you.
 
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#28 ·
Jon Dunn said:
A question for those who have or have had a dog with renal failure. Was the cause of the renal failure ever determined? Also, what was the time course of the kidney problem and what were the accompanying symptoms? I have a 5 year old male that was recently diagnosed as having stage 3 of renal disease.
Click to expand...
My dog's symptoms came on in a matter of a day or two. I didn't notice anything unusual up to then. Also, the dog did not respond to antibiotics. They were given even though bacteria were not detected. I believe that the sudden rapid progression of the condition led doctors to believe that antifreeze was involved.
 
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#29 ·
Anyone who wants more info on renal disease and failure and homemade diets, please PM me your email addresses and I will try to pass along all of my info that I have accumulated in my research and my experiences. I had a young dog dx with renal failure at 5 months (as most know) and I lost him at 13 months.

As Jim said, BUN and Creatinine are the two most important numbers on the blood panel.

As someone else said in the beginning of the thread, a homemade diet is better than prescription. In my case, my renal dog's blood calcium was elevated so he was not able to eat the Science Diet K/D due to it being a 3:1 Ca:p ratio. Calcium is a natural phosphorus binder. Phosphorus is what damages the kidneys, the nitrogenous waste from the breakdown of proteins. Thus giving people the impression that protein is bad. Rather, what you need is highly digestible proteins. ie. eggs, chicken, and beef being the top three.

Do NOT feed white rice. Go to a store (Wegmans is local to me that carries this) or go online and get Hakubai (I'll double check the spelling) rice. It's similar to an Asian sticky rice and it's super low in phosphorus. I can give you instructions on how to cook as well since it's different than regular rice.

A good, and cheap, phosphorus binder is Alternagel. Go to drugstore.com and find it for like $8 a bottle. My vet didn't carry it. It's a liquid.

There's a ton of supplements you can give as well. Join the Yahoo group, K9KidneyDiet I think. They have tons of info on there and people who have been through it.

That's a start, again, anyone wanting info PM me and I can get you more. Best of luck and as far as the OP is concerned, I hope this is not what you are dealing with. Note that the pale or gray colored gums is a sign of anemia which is caused by kidney disease amongst other things. Something to do with the red blood cell production. You'll need to test the PVC to find out if it's regenerative anemia meaning he can recover. With renal failure anemia it's not due to iron deficiency but again the RBC production and most times the PVC bloodwork doesn't improve that much.
 
#30 ·
Thanks for the information. I'm having difficultly finding good explanations for renal disease. Obviously, if the kidneys start failing something is the cause. I have my dog on antibiotics and that seems to have helped some but has not brought him back to his pre-disease memory and focus abilities.
 
#31 ·
The only way to tell what caused the renal failure is to do a biopsy. This is often not recommended because a biopsy takes a section of the kidney and they need all that they have left to fight the disease. On top of that, from personal experience, I didn't get the answer I was looking for. They make it sound like they can give you almost exactly what caused it but all I got was that it was caused by "an insult to the kidneys." This could be from ingesting something harmful, an infection that went undetected and thus untreated, or many other causes.
 
#32 · (Edited)
sorry to hear of your situation it is tough. i lost my titled female last november
i went in for routine teeth cleaning and before a blood test. the vet called me
within the half hour said i had a problem. her kidneys were failing k/d food
is what was perscribed for me. they gave me 60days at most it was tough to
swallow just the day before the blood test she was as active as always.
((hyperr)) within a week she could hardly walk and quit eating anything. i tried.
from chicken to rice to ribeyes. i had to put hear down 7 days later i'm still
in shock. 8 years old at the time i feel your pain. now her compainion a male
of mine is sick also blood in urine. we can get it down to a 1 but it shoots right
back up....enjoy all your moments you can no matter what they always love us
to the end.

keith l
________
Vaporizer Manufacturers
 
Discussion starter · #34 ·
OK inital blood results are in and he is going to be OK!!!!!!!! He seems to believe that his common bio/bial/bowel ducts were clogged and swollen and something portal system. He stated that he was so sorry for the initial therory. I still sent bloodwork results to LSU vet for second opinion. He is on a lowfat, high fiber diet with veggies. I am not guuna be completely at ease until i get my second results.
 
#35 ·
Awesome news!!!!:) Give him a big ol hug for me!
 
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#36 ·
RAB said:
OK inital blood results are in and he is going to be OK!!!!!!!! He seems to believe that his common bio/bial/bowel ducts were clogged and swollen and something portal system. He stated that he was so sorry for the initial therory. I still sent bloodwork results to LSU vet for second opinion. He is on a lowfat, high fiber diet with veggies. I am not guuna be completely at ease until i get my second results.
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Great news.

thats the common bile duct, that runs from the liver to the small bowel, transporting bile. When clogged, the bile shows up in the urine. Question is, what clogged it? GAll stones are number one, but he's pretty young for that.

Good luck, keep us posted!
 
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#37 ·
How wonderful to hear some encouraging news! I'm sure the second opinion will validate the first. Good luck!
 
Discussion starter · #39 ·
From what i understood too much fat.. I cant recall much once he said he is going to be ok.... Low fat diet to flush the crude out of the common bile duct.. Top of the world again!!!!!!!!!!!! I switched to Sams member mark high performance and i think the food was spoiled or something. This food is the culpret, i just haven't fiqured it out yet..
 
Discussion starter · #40 ·
For some of you that may know what these numbers mean... Here are the highs and lows.

Superchem High-Globulin,AST,ALT,Alkaline Phosphatase,GGTP,Total Bilirubin

Superchem Low-Glucose,Amylase,Lipase


Complete blood count High-MCV

Complete blood count Low- MCHC
 
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mhitesman
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