Bracie - 9 year old yorkie with Renal Falure

[Terri707]

My yorkie was taken to the vet last Saturday because she was drinking a lot of
water and a lot of mornings I was having to coax her to eat. She was acting
normal and playful otherwise. They ran bloodwork and found renal failure. This
was a total shock, Her BUN was 105 (norm 7-27), her CREA was 2.8 (norm .5-1.8),
her phosphates were 6.6 (norm (2.5-6.8)and her potassium was 6.4 (norm 3.5-5.8).
All other levels were in the normal range. They had me bring her back for the
next 4 days during the day to administer IV fluids to her. They ran the tests
again and her BUN dereased to 89 and CREA only decreased to 2.6, but her
phosphates increased after the fluids. They then suspected Addisons disease and
ran the test Wed, which was negative. She tolerated all of this until Wednesday
night and she began with diarrhea and not feeling well at all and she also
wouldn't eat. We went back to the vet Thursday and he admnistered Sub-Q fluids
and sent us home with saline sub-q fluids to adminster twice a day along with
Fortiflora and Metronidazole for the diarrhea and ALuminum hydroxide for the
phosphates. Yesterday, she still wouldn't eat so I fed her with a syringe every
couple of hours so as not to upset her tummy (I fed her purina EN, which is her
normal diet since she had a kidney shunt repaired in her first year of life).
She seemed like she was doing much better yesterday and was actually up and
walking around and perky. After we administered the sub-q fluid last night
about 6, I fed her again and gave her the meds. About 8 last night, she began
acting like she felt bad again. This morning when we got up, I took her out and
she is acting wobbly and doesn't really want to walk around. She drank a little
water, but is otherwise lethargic and doesn't feel well. Her breath also smells
like medicine and the first time this happened was at the vet when they were
givng her fluids. I feel like I took a dog that felt well to the vet and yes,
she has kidney failure, but she is now very sick. I am wondering if it is
something that we are doing in the treatment that is making her sicker rather
than helping her. I will call the vet as soon as they open. This is killing me
as I love her so very much. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.

[Ghilly]

Did the vet say anything about her possibly having pancreatitis?  It can cause acute renal failure.  

The fact that she doesn't want to eat makes me wonder if that's what it is, since pancreatitis makes them feel just plain downright LOUSY.  Pancreatitis can also cause the other symptoms that you described her as having, it can make her feel weak and wobbly, and nauseous.  I would ask them if they think it's a possibility, because if it is, you need to leap on treatment pretty quickly so that it doesn't become a severe case.  Mild cases can be managed at home by withholding all food for 24 hours and then introducing a very bland diet fed in tiny amounts until the inflammation subsides and things return to normal.  A severe case involves her spending at least 5 days at the vet on an IV with absolutely NO food or water being taken in by mouth to give the pancreas COMPLETE rest.  

Please let us know what the vet says if you do decide to talk to them about it.  

Ghilly

[Misfits4Me]

Here's the Link:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Dogs/4th-stage-renal-failure-in-my-dog/show/425814?page=1

[Margot49]

Sorry you ate dealing with this.  I don't have the link, maybe one of the others do, but lots of info on kidney failure. Does she have diarrhea?  You have to watch the dose on some of those meds.  Did the Vet give you something for nausea to give her?  Not sure about that food.  Purina is not one of the better ones.  You might ask about another one fir renal disease.

[chicky2001]

I'm so sorry you are going through this.  Your baby is drinking a lot of water to compensate.  She is sick on her stomach.  Their breath can get real bad because they have toxins in them that isn't being eliminated with the kidneys.

They feel sick and need hydrating to feel better and to remove the toxins..

I don't know what the kidney shunt might have to do with the failing kidneys.  Is the shunt not working anymore?

Have you talked to the vet about her prognosis?

I had two toy poodles die of kidney failure.  The first I drug out a long time because he kept drinking a lot of water and was hydrated every other day, The second I didn't.  

Keep getting her hydrated.  She needs that to feel better.  She needs to drink water too.  It doesn't sound like she is being hydrated enough.

This is so hard to go through.  

Good luck.