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Chronic Kidney Failure in Dogs User Group
If anyone wishes to join the Group (your input and participation will be appreciated) or anyone that has a dog with Chronic Kidney Failure and wants information, advice or support ... please click the following link: http://www.medhelp.org/groups/chronic_kidney_failure_in_dogs
Tony
Tony
Hi
My amazing 11 year old Alaskan Malamute Mishka passed away on Thursday night with a final diagnosis of CKD from a large kidney tumour and changes to the cells in her bladder.
My problem is that I didn't know she was ill-or so ill. She had problems with excessive drinking and urination back in the summer. Lots of tests were done including an abdominal ultrasound to test for cushings which came back with enlarged adrenal glands but kidneys were fine. Other tests were negative for cushings. She then developed Pyo so had an emergency Spey which largely resolved the drinking and urination.
By September she started vomiting for a few weeks almost daily which largely resolved after some Zantac. She was still vomiting once or twice a week but usually after deliberately eating grass. She was still having difficulty lasting all night without urinating about once or twice a week. All blood work in sept was clear except mildly raised liver enzymes.
Unfortunately on Wednesday she became suddenly unwell. She had met my partner at the door with her usual enthusiasm and we had gone for a walk. Half way through she started to slow down and got gradually slower as we headed home. She then went out into the garden and wouldn't come in. She refused a treat, drank some water but was then sick and refused to come in at bed time. We now believe she knew it was her time.
The next morning she couldn't/wouldn't get up so we carried her to the car and off to the vet. They put her on IV fluids with a little improvement the. She went downhill fast. She had a seizure and never recovered from it or the rectal diazepam. Bloods showed a creatinine of 5.5 and an ultrasound late in the day showed the kidney damage. With no chance of her surviving
Has anyone else gone through this and not known? She appeared fine all week and only during and after her last walk did we have any suspicion she was not right. No weight loss, no loss of appetite, no noticeable lethargy, no change in her drinking/urination over the last 4 months, yet within 24hrs of any suspicion she had gone.
Sorry for the long post. I'm just trying to get my head around all of this and devastated at the loss of my best friend and wondering how I could not have known.
My amazing 11 year old Alaskan Malamute Mishka passed away on Thursday night with a final diagnosis of CKD from a large kidney tumour and changes to the cells in her bladder.
My problem is that I didn't know she was ill-or so ill. She had problems with excessive drinking and urination back in the summer. Lots of tests were done including an abdominal ultrasound to test for cushings which came back with enlarged adrenal glands but kidneys were fine. Other tests were negative for cushings. She then developed Pyo so had an emergency Spey which largely resolved the drinking and urination.
By September she started vomiting for a few weeks almost daily which largely resolved after some Zantac. She was still vomiting once or twice a week but usually after deliberately eating grass. She was still having difficulty lasting all night without urinating about once or twice a week. All blood work in sept was clear except mildly raised liver enzymes.
Unfortunately on Wednesday she became suddenly unwell. She had met my partner at the door with her usual enthusiasm and we had gone for a walk. Half way through she started to slow down and got gradually slower as we headed home. She then went out into the garden and wouldn't come in. She refused a treat, drank some water but was then sick and refused to come in at bed time. We now believe she knew it was her time.
The next morning she couldn't/wouldn't get up so we carried her to the car and off to the vet. They put her on IV fluids with a little improvement the. She went downhill fast. She had a seizure and never recovered from it or the rectal diazepam. Bloods showed a creatinine of 5.5 and an ultrasound late in the day showed the kidney damage. With no chance of her surviving
Has anyone else gone through this and not known? She appeared fine all week and only during and after her last walk did we have any suspicion she was not right. No weight loss, no loss of appetite, no noticeable lethargy, no change in her drinking/urination over the last 4 months, yet within 24hrs of any suspicion she had gone.
Sorry for the long post. I'm just trying to get my head around all of this and devastated at the loss of my best friend and wondering how I could not have known.
2 Comments
Dogs are very good at hiding an illness. It's how wolves, their wild ancestors, still act today. An ill, lame or weak dog is of no value to a pack as it cannot help acquire food. These pack members are usually cast out by other members and left to die. Although this seems dreadfully sad from our point of view - it is just how things are.
The instinct of domesticated dogs to hide any signs of illness or injury remains strong.
In addition, kidney disease itself is insidious. There are often no signs of any problems until the kidneys are very severely damaged. A dog can seem fine, even when there is only 30% of kidney function remaining. Of course, there comes a "tipping point", when symptoms become very evident - and that is often close to the end of life.
I am very sorry for your loss. This disease is a dreadful journey for dogs and their owners.
Tony
The instinct of domesticated dogs to hide any signs of illness or injury remains strong.
In addition, kidney disease itself is insidious. There are often no signs of any problems until the kidneys are very severely damaged. A dog can seem fine, even when there is only 30% of kidney function remaining. Of course, there comes a "tipping point", when symptoms become very evident - and that is often close to the end of life.
I am very sorry for your loss. This disease is a dreadful journey for dogs and their owners.
Tony
Mine a very similar case. My Toy Pomeranian has been on heart medication for an enlarged heart and related coughing/fluid build up since the age of 4. He was diagnosed with Kidney failure 2017 March with a BUN of 54 and Creatinine of 2.7. He was put on renal diet for life and Rubenol for 2 months after which his values normalised to 1.3 and 17. Vet asked to continue with renal diet (Hills and Royal canine) and stop Rubenol. There was not much talk of fluid therapy as well likely because he had the heart and fluid build up issue. He was seemingly doing fine till the evening of 2nd Nov 2017 when he started vomiting and refusing food, though he was drinking lots of water. We took him to the vet on the 3rd Nov who administered IV as he looked dehydrated. His Kidney values were rechecked on 4th Nov and found to be 8.9 creatinine and and 124 BUN. The vet laid out a grim prognosis and asked that more IVs be administered to see if he responds. However, his condition declined very rapidly the night of the 4th and had 2-3 seizures before he breathed his last on the morning of the 5th. He was 12 years old and always a fighter. He had fought his heart ailment for 8 long years but went without warning due the Kidney issue. I had got his blood work done only May'17 and was guilty of not having repeated it a little earlier. Also feel the Vet should have let me continue the Rubenol, as that seemed to control the values till such time it was given. Feel could have done more to allow him a few more months or years with me, but had him off radar and he slipped under it. From a playful, eating dog to a dead dog in 3 days, the transformation was very quick. Wondering if any one else has seen such a rapid decline in their Dogs with CKD.I was focussing on his heart condition too much and may not have paid attention to the Kidney issue as much as I should have. The Vets advised the Kidney diet alone should help manage and I lost track of time since his last bloodwork 5 long month ago. Perhaps testing him sooner might have helped take steps in time to prolong his life. Feel devastated. He was the light of my life and had been by my side through my life's journey. How I wish I hadn't taken his condition lightly. The Vets got me into a false sense of security - that Kidney diet alone would help sustain. Never warned me to keep his blood values monitored more often than once in six months. He gave no noticeable signs of any distress either, seemed quite fine till 3 days before he died.
Shivering (actually more notably ... a tremor) is very typical of kidney disease in later stages. It is usually due to one of two possibilities.
The first is the degenerative nature of the disease, which eventually starts to affect neurological systems, including the brain itself and nerves that operate muscles throughout the body. The tremor can ultimately progress to full-blown seizures, which can be controlled with phenobarbital or similar anti-convulsant drugs.
The second reason - and the easiest to treat - is due to an imbalance of minerals and electrolytes. Kidney disease invariably interferes with lots of systems in the dog's body - and this includes the absorption and interaction of minerals and electrolytes. When one or more of the minerals and electrolyte levels become abnormally high or abnormally low in the bloodstream, this can trigger the tremors described.
To correct this, an owner first needs to have the vet perform an up-to-date blood test of their dog's potassium, sodium, calcium, chloride, magnesium and phosphate levels. If the results show any of these being abnormally low, then supplementation is required to correct the imbalance. If levels are abnormally high, then that particular substance needs to be more restricted in the diet.
Hoping that helps.
Tony
The first is the degenerative nature of the disease, which eventually starts to affect neurological systems, including the brain itself and nerves that operate muscles throughout the body. The tremor can ultimately progress to full-blown seizures, which can be controlled with phenobarbital or similar anti-convulsant drugs.
The second reason - and the easiest to treat - is due to an imbalance of minerals and electrolytes. Kidney disease invariably interferes with lots of systems in the dog's body - and this includes the absorption and interaction of minerals and electrolytes. When one or more of the minerals and electrolyte levels become abnormally high or abnormally low in the bloodstream, this can trigger the tremors described.
To correct this, an owner first needs to have the vet perform an up-to-date blood test of their dog's potassium, sodium, calcium, chloride, magnesium and phosphate levels. If the results show any of these being abnormally low, then supplementation is required to correct the imbalance. If levels are abnormally high, then that particular substance needs to be more restricted in the diet.
Hoping that helps.
Tony
My 4 year old doberman has just been diagnosed with kidney disease...blood work very high, not improving with fluids however still eating and drinking and his sickness seems to have stopped. He seems to be sleeping alot and is shivering alot also. Does anybody know what this shivering means?
Chronic kidney failure
2 Comments
My 15 1/2 year old boy was diagnosed and I am devastated. I am currently seeing him shaking, like he is cold. This seems 'random' but because his once beautiful coat is now so thin, I wonder is he cold? Or is it something else? My heart breaks for others who are experiencing this same feelings of loss. I do not want to think ahead, but don't wish him to suffer
Hi did you ever find out what the shivering meant? My boy is currently going through the same thing....
Hello,
I found this group while searching for info about kidney failure in dogs and thought this might hopefully ease my mind, or help me to better understand and seek new solutions to help my dog. My dog is currently a 3 1/2 year old German Shepard, Belgium Shepard cross and was diagnosed with acute kidney failure January of 2015. He had been not eating well and losing weight for a few weeks and then he suddenly became very disorientated and had a very difficult time walking (almost looked as if he were intoxicated). So we took him into the vet that night. He was diagnosed with kidney failure and ended up spending 2 nights at the vet where he started vomiting bile, became incontinent, and then had a seizure. The vet thought he may have been poisoned by a toxin that could have been in his dog food (we were feeding him beneful at the time). We took him home with a very poor prognosis. He had a very difficult time recovering from the seizure, which took several days. We had thought he may have suffered brain damage as he didn't recognize us and proceeded to walk in a circle for hours before positioning himself in a corner where he stood like that for the entire night. All while continuing to vomit bile and be incontinent of urine. It was absolutely awful. Somehow he pulled through over that next week and very slowly starting eating and drinking again. By the summer of 2015 he was back to his old self. However, the fall of 2015 he had 2 seizures in the span of 2 days without any other kidney failure symptoms. We rushed him back to the vet where his blood work turned up completely normal. The vet had guessed he might possibly have epilepsy. We continued to monitor him at home and he didn't have any further seizures. He continued to eat and gain weight and by 2016 he was healthy weight and was doing fantastic. So in September of 2016 he had another seizure, and we continued to monitor him. Again, at the beginning of this month (November 2016) he had another seizure so we took him back into the vet on November 10. At this time he had no symptoms of acute kidney failure and again all of his blood work came back normal, which helped the vet confirm the probable diagnosis of epilepsy. Although his seizures were not serious enough to be started on phenobarbital. Approximately 1-2 weeks after being at the vet he slowed his eating, started losing weight, and since then has vomited 2 times that we know of. He has also seemed to be very depressed. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since he has been to the vet when his kidney function showed to be normal. I'm going to call my vet tomorrow to see what I can do for my dog. I have a pretty good guess that this is his kidney failure again after almost 2 years since his initial incident. Is there any advice you could give me about my dog? He has had a lot to endure in his short life and I would never dream of putting him down unless his kidney failure does progress to the point where I have no choice. I feel that there must be something that we can do to help him come out of the kidney failure and prevent him from going back into it. Sorry for the long story... he does have quite the history. Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Natalie
I found this group while searching for info about kidney failure in dogs and thought this might hopefully ease my mind, or help me to better understand and seek new solutions to help my dog. My dog is currently a 3 1/2 year old German Shepard, Belgium Shepard cross and was diagnosed with acute kidney failure January of 2015. He had been not eating well and losing weight for a few weeks and then he suddenly became very disorientated and had a very difficult time walking (almost looked as if he were intoxicated). So we took him into the vet that night. He was diagnosed with kidney failure and ended up spending 2 nights at the vet where he started vomiting bile, became incontinent, and then had a seizure. The vet thought he may have been poisoned by a toxin that could have been in his dog food (we were feeding him beneful at the time). We took him home with a very poor prognosis. He had a very difficult time recovering from the seizure, which took several days. We had thought he may have suffered brain damage as he didn't recognize us and proceeded to walk in a circle for hours before positioning himself in a corner where he stood like that for the entire night. All while continuing to vomit bile and be incontinent of urine. It was absolutely awful. Somehow he pulled through over that next week and very slowly starting eating and drinking again. By the summer of 2015 he was back to his old self. However, the fall of 2015 he had 2 seizures in the span of 2 days without any other kidney failure symptoms. We rushed him back to the vet where his blood work turned up completely normal. The vet had guessed he might possibly have epilepsy. We continued to monitor him at home and he didn't have any further seizures. He continued to eat and gain weight and by 2016 he was healthy weight and was doing fantastic. So in September of 2016 he had another seizure, and we continued to monitor him. Again, at the beginning of this month (November 2016) he had another seizure so we took him back into the vet on November 10. At this time he had no symptoms of acute kidney failure and again all of his blood work came back normal, which helped the vet confirm the probable diagnosis of epilepsy. Although his seizures were not serious enough to be started on phenobarbital. Approximately 1-2 weeks after being at the vet he slowed his eating, started losing weight, and since then has vomited 2 times that we know of. He has also seemed to be very depressed. Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since he has been to the vet when his kidney function showed to be normal. I'm going to call my vet tomorrow to see what I can do for my dog. I have a pretty good guess that this is his kidney failure again after almost 2 years since his initial incident. Is there any advice you could give me about my dog? He has had a lot to endure in his short life and I would never dream of putting him down unless his kidney failure does progress to the point where I have no choice. I feel that there must be something that we can do to help him come out of the kidney failure and prevent him from going back into it. Sorry for the long story... he does have quite the history. Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Natalie
Hi! I am not sure if I've joined-not user friendly! I have a 12 year old Bichon-Tzu mix named Doodle Bug. He is my world. He has a history of bladder stones and had a stone removed at age 2-he then continued to have issues so about a year later he underwent a Urethrostomy-we changed his diet to Royal Canin Urinary SO and for the last several years he has done quite well. He had his Senior Panel and my Vet called with the news that his SDMA showed kidney failure and basically that he only had 9 months to live!! I received the news at work (I'm a Nurse Practitioner) and was shocked; his values were "just over the line" but I plan to get a copy in the morning. Doodle is acting fine-no signs of issues-I ordered the Science Diet kid but I'm freaking out about the 9 month life expectancy situation-please advise! Thanks so much!!
Doodle's Mom
Doodle's Mom
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