[Proud Mommy]

Originally Posted by OwenandDaisy

Hello to everyone dealing with IBD in their Yorkie.

In our case, it has come to pass that IBD was not the correct diagnosis for our five year old male dog. He actually had kidney disease and he passed away today.

It is our hope that sharing the details of his illness will help someone else achieve a proper diagnosis.

First, I must make the point that Owen was our first dog. We did not recognize subtle signs in him that a more experienced owner might have realized to be kidney trouble.

Still, our misdiagnosis could well have happened to anyone.

So, here is our story:

In August of 2007 our dog began vomiting several times each day. He also had wicked diarrhea. He had thrown up many times in the past, so we were used to this and expected him to stop after two days. When he did not, we took him in for treatment.

The vet looked him over and gave him a short acting steroid and an antibiotic - believing he had eaten something (he was notorious for getting into garbage and buried treasures on a walk) that contained a chemical or other toxin.

The steroid and antibiotic ended his trouble - at least temporarily.

About a week later the vomiting began again - with some yellow bile present - and this worsened until he had to be seen at the local animal emergency. After a course of blood work and other treatment he was diagnosed with IBD or possibly a pancreas issue. He was started on a low fat diet after getting fluids from an IV and a host of helpful injections.

When the low fat diet seemed to work, and Owen returned to normal, the diagnosis of IBD seemed to fit his history of gastric troubles. He sometimes burped a bit of bile and we learned to control this with liquid Zantac.

When Owen became ill recently, we began the usual course of treatment for a flare up of IBD. We administered Zantac twice a day and gave Metachlopromide when there was vomiting. He wasn't getting better.

After four visits to the vet or emergency in 10 days, we had Owen on steroids and he was not responding. It became apparent that something more was wrong with him. We went to a new vet, ran blood work (which the emergency had refused to run the previous night stating that the blood work would be out of line due to his steroid medication) and discovered that his kidneys had completely failed.

We now clearly know that Owen had kidney disease, not IBD, but presented with symptoms of IBD. His blood work in August 07 at the emergency was actually normal with only slight elevation in creatinine.

His blood work today was off the charts and we ended his suffering peacefully.

The loss of this lovely dog at the age of five in a family where we do not have children is devastating. Our hope is that sharing our story might prevent another dog from improper diagnosis and to help people be aware that kidney disease can be diagnosed as IBD.

Thank you Owen for the joy you brought to our lives. You will never be forgotten.

I am so sorry for your loss