Steve --
So sorry to hear about Roly. What follows is the story of my sweet little Phoebe....early March, 2010 found out she was in renal failure. If that wasn't enough she also had CHF (congestive heart failure) and collapsing trachea issues. Phoebe was seriously ill...her BUN and creatinine were off the charts...actually I believe her creatinine was about 4.7 which is way high!!! My vet advised that I bring her home and spend a couplye of days with her and then have her put to sleep...he even left the catheter in her tiny little leg. When I got home I was a mess but I started looking on the internet and reading about subcutaneous fluids and that they can help with renal failure. Please understand that Phoebe was very sick at this point...extremely lethargic and felt really bad. I called the vet back and asked about subcutaneous fluids and he said 'you can try it if you want but it might not help'. So I figured...well then why not try it..my theory is 'as long as it doesn't hurt them, why not give them every chance at life. We started giving fluids that night...this is something you can do at home (believe me you can stick them if you have to). We gave her fluids 50ml two to three times a day and within a few days she was way better...I took her out and had them remove the catheter. It was extra hard with Phoebe because of the CHF...it was extremely important not to give her too much fluid because of that condition but to give her enough to keep the toxins flushed out of her tiny little body. She lived for a little over 13 more months!!!! These were quality months. She was able to go to the park for walks, etc. You have to commit to it but if you love him like I loved her...it won't be a problem. You just take a bag of ringers lactate and attach an IV set...I chose to use a fresh needle every time to cut down on the risk of infection. It could be that your little guy might need more or less fluids of that I am not sure. What I am absolutely sure of though is that this worked and, if I had it to do over again, I absolutely would (I have 13+ months of memories that I would not have and she had that much more life!!!! I wish you and Roly the very best of luck!!! Let me know what happens!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mancs2012  Hi,
Hope someone can offer some advice..... We took our 12 year old yorkie Roly to the vets yesterday as for the past week he has lost a lot of weight and is sleeping a lot and not being his lively self and also has an ulcer on his tounge. He has been eating and drinking still but when I spoke with the hosp today they said he hasn't eaten yet and I'm not sure if that is because he is getting worse or just nervous about being away from home which he never is. The vet has taken him into the hospital and advised she believes that it is renal failure however blood tests on Monday should confirm this. The main problem we have is what to do next as if what I read is correct renal failure is terminal and I am just curious if anyone else have had the same expirence?
Thanks
Steve |