Lyme...renal failure
 

I have wanted to post about Ruby for a long time but it is such a long story I didn't know if I gad it in me, if that makes sense. I read Yorkie talk all the time and can relate to many of you.
ruby will be 7 in February and she is usually 6 and a half pounds. Life was going on just fine until about three weeks ago when she suddenly started to limp, favoring her back right leg. It was a Wednesday when this was noted, by Thursday I called the vet and they said to keep and eye on her etc. on Friday she wasn't using the leg at all! So my husband left work early and brought Ruby to the vet. They did X-rays, blood work etc and found nothing. Gave us pain meds for her. Over the weekend the meds (this was Dec 13) the meds helped her leg and she was back to normal. the vet called Monday and said her blood work results came back and she tested positive for Lyme, which might be why her leg was sore. She also wanted her to have a urinalysis cause she looked like she might have a slight UTI. We decided to stop the pain meds cause she wasn't eating, I thought maybe the pain meds were causing stomach discomfort. The vet suggested we do a bland diet of boiled chicken, rice, boiled hamburg. They wanted to start to treat her for Lyme but since she wasn't eating we decided to give it a week get her feeling better and eating then do doxycycline for a month. they did start her on amoxicillin for UTI. A couple days go by and she is really enjoying the boiled chicken, rice diet and I was so glad. then the results come back for the urinalysis and her BUN number is 56! Not good. I bring her back and they thinks he might be dehydrated and give her fluids subcutaneously. I might be off a bit on the days but we have been back and forth so many timed to the vet it is a blur. So we are giving the amoxicillin still but she isn't eating, not interested in the chicken, rice, or hamburg anymore. That brings us to Dec 23, the vet checks her numbers again and her BUN is 109! They recommend us to go to the animal emergency hospital for a kidney flush, fluids, antibiotics and something for her appetite. We bring her to the hospital and she stays for two nights and we picked her up on Dec 25. The responded really well to the flush and her BUN is down to 26. She ate a little was getting antibiotics and fluids. They called it acute renal failure possibly from the Lyme or from a kidney infection.
So we bring her home last Wed. By Friday we brought her to our reg vet to have her bloodwork rechecked, and because she was vomiting. her BUN was 42. We talked a lot with the vet and decided to go back to emergency animal hospital and have more testing done, specifically an ultrasound and perhaps a kidney biopsy. At the hospital they were going to admit her but we decided to treat her at home giving fluids subcutaneously 2 x a day along with Pepcid 2 x a day, tumil k, doxycycline, anti nausea med, appetite stimulant, and anther med for her kidneys. We have to write everything down each day along with the time given just to keep it all straight. At this point the vet says whatever she wants to eat is fine, just try to get her to eat. She wants nothing. We tried baby food beef and baby chicken she ate a bit at first but is refusing everything now. On Sunday we went back for the ultrasound to look at the kidneys. After an honest thoughtful talk with the ER vet she says they might not even learn anything from the ultrasound. We know her kidneys are failing, the damage is not repairable so just do what we can to keep Ruby comfortable. She said some fogs can live like this for 3, 6, or even 9 months or less. I know I left out parts of the story or things we have tried it's just so much info. I'm writing because I don't know how much longer we should continue to treat Ruby. The only way to get her to eat is to force feed her a syringe with baby food in it. She is still taking all the meds and the fluids but the eating is the biggest problem right now. We have tried everything- tonight we had prime rib and I tried to hand feed her some and she got up to lay someplace else :( it's just so so sad. She is too young for this to be happening.
I don't know what to do.

Ask your vet for science diets AD. I have taken care of animals that where sick or injured most my life. I assure you your dog will eat it this. It works great for older animals as well. Even cats love it!!! Hope your baby gets better soon.

Renal failure is tricky. They simply are so sick that they have no appetite...no matter what you try to feed them. I have had a few go through this. Has your vet given her mirtazapine? It is an anti depressant...in dogs it cuts down the nausea and vomiting and also increases the appetite. It does not always work, but when it does it is amazing! One of my sweet boys who passed a few years ago was on it for the last few months of his life...I could not believe how he went from not eating to eating anything that was put in front of him...all because of this medicine. If you have not tried it yet, ask your vet about it.

I am SO sorry you are going through this. So heartbreaking. Will say prayers for your precious Ruby.

I am so sorry, your story is very a sad. Only you can decide when it is time, when the quality of life is no longer there and I think you will know. I wish you all the best. :unlove:

This is what the vets use for animals in critalcal care to get them to eat.

I'm so sorry that your precious Ruby is suffering from Lyme. It's a terrible disease. It sounds like you have spent a lot of time and resources already, but, I have had the most kind and excellent care at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. Could you take Ruby there and see one of the internal medicine specialists? Maybe they could turn her around?

So sorry
 

I relate to this. We just lost our 2 furbabies within 3 weeks of each other. Bully was the last one. He went into renal failure same description of your baby. Not eating, no matter what we gave him! Walked away most of the time not wanting to be held or touched. Broke my heart. He was off the chart on his numbers....

It was with a heavy heart they we let him go to be with his brother Rocky, whom we lost just 3 weeks earlier.

You will know... Look into their eyes.. If the sparkle is gone he/she is asking you to do the most selfless thing you will ever do. We loved them sooo much!!! But Bully decided he would much rather be with Rocky.

My heart bleeds for you. Remember the best. All my love and prayers

I am so sorry about Ruby. I lost my 7 month old Dixie to congenital kidney failure. The nausea from the kidney failure makes it very difficult to get them to eat. If possible I would try the vet 107barney mentioned just to get a second opinion. I think you will know when Ruby has had enough. I will keep her in my prayers.

Oh I am so sorry to hear about ruby :( I will keep her in my prayers.