[llapan]

My poor Miss Kitty is indeed very sick. At first, when I was telling the vet the history of her recent vomiting (and how it had slowed dramatically, and how she had showed an interest in food this am), the vet (head vet this time) agreed with me that it was probably just something she had eaten. As a precaution, he ran parvo test again (came back negative again); checked temperature (normal); checked heart and lungs (clear); then suggested blood work just to be sure we weren't missing something. (I was going to suggest blood work, if hadn't suggested it first.) The vet told me that we should know most of the results fo the blood work within 20 minutes (except for something that would take until Monday to know the results on). Shortly thereafater, I knew something seriously bad was probably up, because, after running the initial blood work, the vet came back and got Miss Kitty for more blood work, and for a urine sample.

After this second series of blood/urine testing (some done to confirm the results from the first testing), the vet informed me that Miss Kitty's kidney functions were very, very elevated, indicating probable kidney failure--very unusual in a puppy my Miss Kitty's age (4 months). I understand from my vet that her BUN level should be around 25. It was almost 400. Her creatinine level was also very escalated. By then, I was too upset to hear the actual number of her creatinine level.

They kept her, have put her on intraveneous fluids. I am sure that he told me a lot of other treatment, I was just too upset to hear him by this point. Without coming right out and saying it, he tried to gently prepare me for the fact that there is a good possibility that she won't make it. He just kept repeating how extraordinarily high her kidney levels were, and how unusual that was for a puppy.

Before the blood work came back, I had had the presence of mind to ask about pancreatitis. Unfortunately, it was only the vet assistant who was present at the time I remembered to ask (the vet was out of the room at the time). The vet assistant said that usually there is blood in the stool of a dog with pancreatitis, and that my puppy had none. After the blood work was back, I was too distressed about the kidney malfunction to ask again if the vet could tell anything about the possibility of pancreatitis, from the existing blood work (maybe that is the blood work that won't be ready until Monday??). I did ask about liver shunt (I know none of you guys even suggested that possibility, but it was one of the congenital diseases that knew were prevalent in Yorkies)--and he said it definitely wasn't that, because BUN levels are usually low, not high, with that condition.

So, do the kidney levels also indicate pancreatitis, or is it solely kidney problems. This is the first time she has been sick since I had her. I think others may have misunderstood about her food picky-ness, and thought that she was picky because all the things I was trying to feed her were, one after the other, making her sick, and that was why she wouldn' eat it again. Never, did she ever, before Thursday, show any signs of sickness or weakness or lethargy or invalidism or anything. She played like MAD with my full-grown Corgi anytime I had them outside together (which happened DAILY, two or three times a day), and when she wasn't sleeping inside, she was always ready to play with either me or my husband. In fact, a lot of times we would have to take her outside and let her wear herself out with our Corgi so we could "rest" when we got her back inside. When she was playing with our Corgi, I would always eventually "break them up," because I was afraid of her becoming overheated by that much fast and furious play--Miss Kitty and my Corgi would take turns chasing each other, and then they would wrassle and roll around on the ground, biting at each other's legs and faces. I would break them up, because I was always fearful that so much hard play would send her into a hypoglycemic state. Does this sound in any way like a sick dog?

So, to recap, she has always been picky in her eating habits, and maybe I caused that by giving in at the very start, and allowing her to
"dictate" special foods. Of course, I wouldn't have done that except she was so TINY and has so little fat reserves (partially because of her high energy level when playing). Even though picky, the one thing she NEVER turned down was honey/ham lunch meat I would give her outside when she came to me and when she sat for me on command, usually only two or three TINY, very thinly sliced pieces, per potty break, and none during the last potty break right before her next meal so it wouldn't spoil her appetite.

One thing I did do out of the ordinary, since Friday morning, after she had thrown up so much on the way back from the vet, and then wouldn't eat-- was feed her honey through a syringe (about 2 cc's at a time, and I did that a couple of times, trying to make sure she wouldn't become hypoglycemic from lack of eating and the throwing up. Once or so she kept it down, once or so she didn't. That honey wouldn't screw up the blood work would it, and cause kidney levels to be high??--(wishful thinking, I know).

Again, a hugely overlength post, again due to my distraught state of mind. If anyone has experience with puppies with high kidney numbers that went on to live long and happy lives--where the kidney malfunction was a fluke--I would be so, so happy to hear about it.

I read the string of posts having to do with kidney problems, which did nothing but scare the sh*t out of me. I am certainly ready for solace, hope, etc. from someone, anyone with positive experiences.