::update::
 

Hi everyone and thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
I went to the vets office today at 1pm to find out how she did thru the IV dialysis. She did very well and ended up getting a liter of it. When she brought her out to me, she looked much better and was very happy to see me. I held her and kissed her, ended up setting her down to see if she regained any of her energy, and she took off at a steady gallop all thru the office!!! lol!!! I chuckled as seeing this warmed my heart. This was the little one I've known and loved for so long. While speaking with the vet, I asked again about her prognosis since so many things I've read led me to believe that she was in the last stages of this disease. She told me that she ISN'T, but she is close. I still have some time with her and that was what I have longed to hear since this started a few days ago. I've cried and beat myself up over this since I am her mom and obviously missed the signs. I blamed myself and her doctor since she's had other health issues and has been to the vet several times recently. Then, someone on here told me that the signs are sometimes so vague that it could be missed until they're in full-blown failure. That did help in reading that since I had already begun the process of pointing fingers, even at myself.
I have her home now since her treatment is done. I fed her some boiled chicken with brown rice and added some Omega3 fish oil to it since that seems to be good for dogs in renal failure. She managed to eat pretty well and has held it down thus far. That was several hours ago. :D I also have it set up with her vet to go in the beginning of next week for training on how to administer this IV treatment that gets done at home. She also suggested putting her on an iron supplement since this will make her anemic so I need to find out from her how much of that to give her. Other than all of this, I'm going to do all that I can for her. Right now, she is resting and her bubbly demeanor has subsided once again. I've had to carry her outside and then back in again. I'm trying to figure out if it's me making her lazy or if she really is too sick to get up and go outside!!! lol! Believe me, she knows how to put on the sympathy act and make me run to cater to her!!! LOL! She's pretty smart! Either way, I don't mind doing it. I just wish I knew if she really feels that bad. I thought this IV would keep her going for a longer amount of time than just a few hours.
Thank you all again!! You're all fantastic people and I feel blessed by you at this terrible time.
I'll keep you posted on her. I will need strength and prayer to get thru this. She'll be the 1st dog that I have EVER lost and I'm terrified of how I'm going to handle it.
God Bless you all...

I am SO happy she is home with you! One word of caution: chicken is high in protein so I would not feed her that. Did your vet suggest a kidney diet? That would honestly be the best way to go imo.

Did the vet repeat the labs? That also needs to be done so that you have something to go by.

What you will be doing at home is different than IV treatment. It will be subcutaneous fluids. But, when they are doing this, they need to periodically check her BUN and Creatinine.

Hold her, love her and enjoy every minute that you have with her. Make these moments you will treasure. It is good that you have some time with her.

Oh, that brings tears to my eyes. Thank God she is doing better.
When my girl was 3, she became quite ill, but the symptoms were so vague that I didn't realize it until she was in a full blown crisis and I almost lost her.
You cannot blame yourself!
I am so glad you have more time with her!

I am so happy to hear your baby is home and that she has perked up, I had such a big smile on my face when you said she was running around the Vets office :).. you will both be in my prayers.. ~~~~~~HUGS~~~~~~
Isabella and her Mom

Yea, I am so happy for you.

I am so happy to hear she is home with you and can enjoy more time with you. As far as her being more laid back could be she was so excited at the vets to see you and now she is tired from her ordeal. Or she could be milking this!!! lol The one sign that told me for sure Dixie was near the end was she wouldn't eat at all and she kept licking her lips. The nephrologist told me that the toxins building up in her system made her very nauseous and that's why she wouldn't eat and was licking her lips constantly. I would ask the vet about repeat BUN and Creatinine as well. I will keep her and you in my prayers.

There is an amazing medication that my vet gave to me for my Cody in his last months. The name of it is: Mirtazapine.
In dogs, it acts to stimulate the appetite, reduce nausea and prevent vomiting.
It really helped him a LOT....he lived longer because it kept him eating! You might want to ask your vet about it.
Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of a kidney diet!...and also repeat BUN and Creatinine so that you know what is going on.

Jamie, reading your post gave me goose bumps!....I'm so happy for you both!.....I was so hoping the IV would get her feeling better!

I posted a link in post #9, it has some info regarding the diet if your going to home cook. It might be of some help. It is very important to watch the phosphorous. Egg whites are a very good source of protein ,but no yolks. The fish oil is good also and so is coq10. If you read the link it's all there. You can also join a yahoo group for dogs with CKD, there are some great ladies there who will answer questions for you.....

K9KIDNEYS : for owners of dogs with Kidney Disease

Good luck and I wish you all the best!

Renal Disease
 

Hello Dear Jamie:
How I feel for you and your little one, I have been there with my Nik and understand only too well how you are both suffering with this disease.
It is great that she is home with you and that the prognosis is good. The under-skin hydration is probably harder on you than the pet. My Nik improved immediately after hydration, but like you are finding, they can soon slip back into lethargy. This can happen so don't get upset.
We pray that the hydration-at-home therapy helps your baby to live a mostly happy life and that the good times far outweigh the bad times.
Praying for you and wishing you a happy outcome.
God Bless!

:thumbup::thumbup: This is a miracle drug. Linda, you may want to explain what is a Kidney Diet? I know you have been thru this with Cody.

No she's the one that suggested the chicken and rice!!!!! Ughhh! See, I'm trying to do what she asked me to do. These are the mistakes I don't need to make right now. She told me chicken and rice. Chicken breasts boiled and rice. She said that she needs to eat and keep the food on her stomach, and that her food intake is more important that the food going in. She told me I could put her on a wet food if I wanted, just whatever I wanted to give her as long as she was getting an adequate amount of fluids. I wanted to get her home and and get her eating and figured tomorrow that I would go after some Hill's k/d. This is where I need help and advice from anyone that knows and can give it to me. I asked if she tested her again and she said no. So.... By the time I got her, they were closing for the day sothere was no way to get the tests then... FRUSTRATING!!!

Hang in there Jamie, You will get some answers here on YT that will guide you in the right direction.

This was posted by jp4m2 Post # 9.........DogAware.com Health: Kidney Disease in Dogs

Thank you for the suggestion. That sounds like a wonder drug!!! I will definitely ask her about this. As for the kidney diet, I have no problem giving her what she needs. I was going by what she suggested feeding her. Though I felt it strange, I did what she told me to do thinking I was helping her. I will go get her wet food Hill's (k/d) tomorrow. The good thing is that she is still eating. and she LOVES wet food!!! Thank you again!

best of luck to both of you. It's a sad fact that our dogs are not around with us long enough. That is the bad part of having a lot of great years with one. Someday, you will lose each other. But, time is a good healer. I know my guy will not be around forever, but I am doing all I can for him. Smae with the little Yorkie at 13. We enjoy them while we can. Someday we may even get another dog, and the cycle completes.

Honestly, if I were going to purchase a prescription diet, I would get the Purina NF instead of Hills K/D. I have had two kidney pups and neither liked the K/D, but did like the NF.

Also, I would suggest you follow the link above for the yahoo group! The other person noted that phosphorous is also important...calcium is good to counteract it, but it is good to avoid high phosphorous in food as well.

I did cook for Cody. I had my vet do a consult with the vet nutritionist at Texas A&M. There are others...if you join that group, you will get lots of great information!

Oh, I hope you get to spend some wonderful time together doing all her favorite things!

Yes, I have been on this site more than any other site. All of this is just soooo confusing. I keep hearing 'lower protein' and yet, the DogAware site states otherwise. Here is an example of what I read and copied: "Because by-products of protein digestion are the main toxins that need to be excreted by the kidneys, an obvious assumption might be that all one needs to do is to cut out the protein and the kidneys wouldn't have any more hard work to do. . . . There is significant evidence, however, that the daily protein requirements actually increase slightly for dogs in chronic renal failure. Therefore, severely restricting the protein for such a dog is likely to result in protein malnutrition, in spite of the fact that the levels of blood urea nitrogen, or BUN (the primary by-product of protein metabolism) would be correspondingly lower."
Now, that being said.....what am I suppose to do. Give her the chicken, don't give her the chicken. I've read also that taking protein from them causes even more muscle loss than what they already are losing due to this disease, and that it should NOT be taken completely. The only thing that I do know about chicken is that it is easier to digest for them than any other meat so it's not so hard on the kidneys. That is what my vet told me. I don't know. It seems the more I read, the more conflicting articles can become and the more confused I get!!!! Ughhhhhhhh!

Yes, I did read about the phosphorous and the calcium as well and the yahoo group is a great idea. Thank you so much! :) I'm meeting up with my vet the 1st part of next week.....probably Monday if I can get in. I need to find out how much of the supplements she needs to be on. I read that there are an abundant amount of supplements that would do her a tremendous amount of good right now, but when I asked the vet about it she said that tho all of those were good and what she needs, she fears having too much work on the kidneys because it all has to filter thru them. I do have her on Omega 3 and CoQ10. she told me she needs iron but too much of that can be toxic to her and I need to find out the correct dosage before I attempt that.

Thank you! Me tooooo!

That's so sweet!!! Thank you very much!!

Honestly, I believe in the prescription diets. I kept two dogs alive for years...Cody had renal failure for four years and was on Purina NF until the last six months of his life. At that point he had pancreatic issues so the NF was not good for that. Another one, my Sassy, also was on NF for many years. If you plan to home cook, I definitely feel a nutritionist should be consulted. You do not cut protein out completely .. it is the amount.

sending you yorkie hugs and thinking of you

Hi Jamie
I am glad that your baby has had a little turn around. I hope this continues to go in the direction we are all hoping and that she makes a full recovery.

I concur that the diet is of the utmost importance. We use well respected vet nutritionist Dr. Remillard at Angell Memorial/MSPCA in Boston. She has greatly improved the quality of my 10 year old dog Daisy's life by formulating a diet for her. We also used her when Barney had his second bout of life threatening pancreatitis caused by eating a particular super premium dog food and we plan to use her for Teddy as he has had some urinary conditions since early puppy hood. We use her diets in conjunction with the all-in-one supplement "Balance It." I think the balance it easier - just my opinion having cooked for my dogs for the vast majority of their lives - than doing individual supplementation.

Whatever you decide for your baby, you have our well wishes for a happy outcome!!

This was such a very nice message that you sent me, and how very well you dooooo understand. The thing with me is that I have never lost an animal....ever! and my little fur-babies are like my children....as they are to all of you I'm sure. So this, what I'm going thru is one of the toughest things I've had to deal with. Pain in my heart that is so great that it takes my breath. And she isn't gone yet!!!! Imagine when she does finally go!!! I can only hope and pray to God above that I find peace before that day comes. That she will tell me when she is ready and I'll be at peace to let her go. I'm bawling as I type this just thinking about how sad that day will be. :(

I agree about the hydration therapy. It'll be good for her. Tough on me but great for her. I'm anxious to learn about it and get her going on it. I read an article about it and know what it consists of (Gack!! Needles!!!!) but I'll do it for her. Whatever it takes!
Thank you so much for the kind message. God bless you!

If your vet said chicken and rice, there may be a reason. I would not stop until I spoke with her about it. Just ask her for an explanation...I am sure she will be happy to explain it. Did she say how much chicken and how much rice? If not...maybe ask about that as well.

Your Baby
 

Hello again Jamie:
Giving the water shot sounds bad, but the little dogs seem not to mind as they know you are trying to help them. My Nik used to stand so pitifully quiet in the deep sink as we administered the injection and hydrated her, just taking it - as we cried for her.
It was our first dog and we had her for 6 wonderfully happy years. (We adopted her at 5 and she went to doggie heaven at 11.5 yrs.) She was the perfect dog and was with us all the time, we were devastated when this illness got to her so suddenly, and after 18 months the pain is still here with us.
The tears are coming to me now as I think of my poor little Nik and what she went through. Although it was so very hard to make that fateful decision, we had to do it as she was so uncomfortable and so NOT enjoying her little life. We could not watch her like that any longer.
You will know when the time comes, but we pray that for you it will be a long time from now.
Although we go through such pain while they are going through this sickness, I am sorry to say that peace did not come for me when she passed away. There was immediate relief as she was not in pain any more, but soon after the shock wore off and the reality of her being GONE hit us. The house was empty and life seemed pointless without her. But time does heal.
But enough of my pain, we must look on the bright side for your little baby and hope she will enjoy life for many years to come. All you can do is your best for her, and I can see you are a very devoted and loving petlover and will see that she is made as comfortable as is possible.
So hang in there and enjoy her all you can, and try and forget what sadness might come in the future. Dogs only think of today and I wish we humans could think likewise.
With prayers and good wishes for you all.
Please keep coming to this room and sharing your feelings with understanding people, it does help.
God Bless!

Post
 

Thank you Manolos Mom:

I am so pleased for you that you get to spend some more time with her.
I know you will make the most of it.
God Bless you and your little girl.
Sending more prayers and hugs.