Howdy,
Not sure if this is the right forum or not, but trying:

I have a ~10yr old border collie/Lab mix, Jeetu. Her appetite had been steadily decreasing the last couple months, and last week she just stopped eating for multiple days. I took her to the vet on friday, and they did blood work. The results show that her CRE was 10.8+, BUN: 118+, Phos: 14.5. The vet says her kidneys are less than 10% functional. She is on 125ml/hour IV since friday and also other meds. The vet performed blood work again yesterday, and her numbers had gone down but very slightly - CRE: 9.6, BUN: 87. But now the HCT and HGB are low (i forget the numbers), so she is getting anemic. She also had very watery diarrhea yesterday (no blood). Since she doesnt seem to show much improvement it has made the vets be less optimistic.

When I go to meet her at the vet, Jeetu seems to perk up, tail wagging, wanting to go home. But I know that this is close to the end. The vet did say that they would be okay with her going home if her CRE gets down to 5, but it doesnt look likely at this stage even after aggressive IVs. Even if she goes home, she will need subQ every day for atleast a few weeks. She has become lethargic, and had throwing up yellow/green fluids at home almost every day or two prior to going to vet.

I am torn in my choices - on one hand i see some positive signs in her like her wagging tail etc, but on the other i also feel that this is going to be very short term. I do not want to be poking her everyday and forcing fluids into her. She is going to absolutely hate it and fight it. I feel that if IV has not done much, how much can i expect the subQ to do any more.

The vet will be doing a round of blood work tomorrow. I am thinking about taking her home tomorrow after that, spending the day with her and the making the call of letting her go.

Sorry for rambling on, but I was wanting to see if the aggie vets had any advice on whether there is any hope in this matter or am i being too hasty in letting her sleep forever.

Thank you.

Sorry to hear that, OP. I hope your pup gets better.

You might get more responses on the Outdoors Board since there are some DVMs who post there.

Thanks HB. Will do.

We just lost a beloved cat to kidney failure a few months ago. All I can tell you is what we did.

We caught it early, as she had lost weight. We ultimately decided to let her live her life with as much love as possible until we decided her quality of life declined. We gave her an appetite stimulant for a while but no other drugs, as it stressed her out. She felt fine. We gave her wet food to keep get interest in eating up.

One day she didn't want to eat and just sat in the closet or in the window. We made the appointment for the afternoon. We spent the morning with her and she had a nice day, then we took her in and said goodbye.

I'm near tears just thinking about it, but we're confident we did the right thing. We were very afraid of hanging on too long, but ultimately she let us know when it was time.

So sorry you're having to go through this.

Miss you, Spider-Man.

I dealt with something similar in July. Take a little time to just be there with her and make her happy but then have her put to sleep. Don't make it a selfish decision. I know how difficult it is but think of her first. You do not want her to suffer at all.

Thanks Alias and Junkhead.

I do want to make a decision that is not selfish. At the same time, just seeing the perkiness in her is making me doubt my decision process. I would rather have her go a little early than a little late.

spaceguru said:

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Thanks Alias and Junkhead.

I do want to make a decision that is not selfish. At the same time, just seeing the perkiness in her is making me doubt my decision process. I would rather have her go a little early than a little late.

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Fwiw, a sudden improvement in demeanor isn't uncommon in kidney failure. You just make the decision based on all of the data you have.

Not to make you overly optimistic but my wife's 18 year old cat stopped eating drinking a few months back and nearly died from renal failure, but the vets treated and put him on an IV for a few days and several months later he is just fine. That being said he had no serious underlying condition sustaining the illness.

Thanks Alias and Mouth. The vet called, and wants us to be on the IV for a couple of more days since her numbers have gotten better.

Not a vet but wife is. If there isn't significant improvement after 48-72 hours, there isn't likely to be. Beyond that, it has stopped being fair to the pet.

Just put down one of the best a month ago. Had very similar numbers and symptoms as yours. Did not want to put her through the IV's. She was obviously miserable but kept showing signs like yours of trying to please me. I am still grieving the loss but I feel I made the right decision. She was only going to get worse.

Dogs get sick and die. It sucks but it's part of owning a dog. We are about to put our 10 year old Great Dane down due to an enlarged heart. Not trying to be insensitive here but don't let that dog suffer for selfish reasons....

Had a dog with Kidney trouble and he lived comfortably for a number of years. Use your best judgment and your vets advice. End of the day you will know what needs to be done.

The vet had us do a number of things. First was diet change. Went on a low protein, low phosphorus and low sodium diet that contained as much water we could mix in with the food. Also make sure the food has a Fermentable Fiber in it like beet pulp. Blood test need to be done to monitor that blood protein levels don't drop to low. If they do you can use Ketoacids. Fluid retention orally or by IV is very important.

Here are some supplements the Vet suggested we use.

Also took ACE inhibitors called Benazepril. It slows podocytes loss of the kidney and aid in kidney repair.

Also took Sevelamer which are phosphate binders that can block the absorption of phosphorus and treat Hyperphosphatemia for servere kidney disease.

The next is calcitriol which is a form of Vitamin D. It's generally given when blood calcium/phosphorus levels and ratios become abnormal.

Tumil K is givien when the dog's blood potassium level drops too low. This also helps combat the listlessness and weakness that accompanies advanced kidney failure.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids they help slow kidney disease.

Last is AST-120 which is a Oral Toxin Adsorbent. When you can no longer control your dog's BUN and creatinine levels, AST-120 will prevent the absorption of toxic bacterial products produced by your pet's intestinal bacteria.

Thank you all for your advice and kind words.

Burnet - thank you for all the details on the meds, I will make sure we have some of those (or its variants) depending on what happens tomorrow.

Gig'em

I nursed a greyhound through kidney failure for about 9 months. She suffered a bad reaction to Deramaxx after she broke her foot. Anyway, I started her off on a prescription dog food for kidney disease and after a couple of months went to a home-cooked diet. I did a lot of research and got a lot of advice through the yahoo group k9kidneydiet. I am not sure if that exists anymore. Anyway, I came up with her diet and also gave her subcutaneous fluids daily. She tolerated it pretty well. I also gave her Sucalfrate in case of stomach upset and a couple of different prescriptions for blood pressure. The first one might have been Benazepril like a previous poster mentioned and then it might have been Amlodipine, I can't remember. If you are doing this without insurance (as most people are) shop around on meds. It can vary wildly. If I recall, Amlodipine is extremely expensive but Costco had a great price on it. I believe you do NOT have to be a member to use their pharmacy. I think that's regulated by law. Wal-Mart is (or was at the time, back in 208) very good for fluids. I bought many cases of Lactated Ringers there. I eventually lost my dog due to back problems (she suddenly could not move her lower half one day, and seems to be in a LOT of pain), not kidney disease. I think she was also on a calcium supplement.

The enemy to failing kidneys is more phosphorus than protein. Protein just tends to be high in phosphorus. The best source of protein with little phosphorus is egg, especially the whites.

Best of luck to you. It's tough.