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Chronic Kidney Failure
My dog was just diagnosed with chronic kidney failure. He is a 14 year old American bulldog. He has bad hips and takes tramadol, so they wanted to do routine blood work. This is not our usual vet, but we just moved and started seeing a new vet. It came back that his CREA level was 3.4. the normal vet (who we had saw once) was on vacation and the backup vet on duty said, "I am not saying discard him, but he is 14 and that's a pretty good run..." :( so, naturally I called another vet and another. But, before that I pleaded with him that there must be something we can do or investigate or anything - the vet said that he could test for lepto. And, to know we needed to test. Of course, I said yes. They gave us an antibiotic to start in case in was lepto, but I am still waiting for results on that test. I kept trying to ask questions and the vet kept cutting me off. His bedside man or was lacking, to say the least. I was trying to ask the techs a question and just started crying because I felt so uniformed. They did their best to suggest options, but it was just supporting lepto tests.
Then, we saw a vet who suggested admitting him for two days for IV fluids. We checked his creatine levels again and they had dropped to 3.2 and his BUN levels were 96. BUN/CREA 30. But, to receive the IV THAT MEANS leaving my dog, who I just found out is going to die, alone at a strange place for two damn days. Call me the crazy dog lady, but no way in hell is that happening. We have rarely been apart in 14 years and we are very much codependent on each other. So that wasn't an option. I asked about coming in two days in a row and doing the IVs. I asked for them to set us up together in a room and give him an IV that way. They said it takes hours and after I pleaded, They obliged and seven hours and two bags of fluid later, we went home with k/d food, antibiotics, and an appointment with another vet (in their office who specializes in senior care) for the following day. The next day we came in and we tested the CREA LEVELS again and they were at 2.9. So, that was good. His BUN LEVEL had also dropped from 96 mg/dl ro 63 mg/dl. BUN/CREA 22.
I asked about doing day two of IV and they said that they closed in three hours, so it wasn't an option. I said can we do until you close? They showed me how to give an IV fluids under the skin and sent me home with three bags to do myself (every other day). I feel like it's not the same, but I'll take what I can get to make him feel better. We are supposed to go back Saturday, for a check up.
i am looking for guidance on what's all this means, tips on how to make him comfy, other dogs CREA/BUN levels over time vs. time they had with dogs. I don't see a lot of specific info on the numbers with other posts.
Then, we saw a vet who suggested admitting him for two days for IV fluids. We checked his creatine levels again and they had dropped to 3.2 and his BUN levels were 96. BUN/CREA 30. But, to receive the IV THAT MEANS leaving my dog, who I just found out is going to die, alone at a strange place for two damn days. Call me the crazy dog lady, but no way in hell is that happening. We have rarely been apart in 14 years and we are very much codependent on each other. So that wasn't an option. I asked about coming in two days in a row and doing the IVs. I asked for them to set us up together in a room and give him an IV that way. They said it takes hours and after I pleaded, They obliged and seven hours and two bags of fluid later, we went home with k/d food, antibiotics, and an appointment with another vet (in their office who specializes in senior care) for the following day. The next day we came in and we tested the CREA LEVELS again and they were at 2.9. So, that was good. His BUN LEVEL had also dropped from 96 mg/dl ro 63 mg/dl. BUN/CREA 22.
I asked about doing day two of IV and they said that they closed in three hours, so it wasn't an option. I said can we do until you close? They showed me how to give an IV fluids under the skin and sent me home with three bags to do myself (every other day). I feel like it's not the same, but I'll take what I can get to make him feel better. We are supposed to go back Saturday, for a check up.
i am looking for guidance on what's all this means, tips on how to make him comfy, other dogs CREA/BUN levels over time vs. time they had with dogs. I don't see a lot of specific info on the numbers with other posts.
Try renal essentials from vetri science. They worked for my dog. Amazon only sells the cat ones at the moment. They are the same but half the seize. You can contact vetri sience and get the tablets for dogs.
Hi. I would be grateful if you would copy and paste your post above into the Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs User Group, which I can see you have joined. I visit there each day and therefore I'm able to answer more easily and more frequently from there.
Thank you.
Tony
Thank you.
Tony
1 Comments
I am a member. How do I locate the "dog user group"? Thank you
Please look to the right side of the screen and click on Groups. You will see Chronic Kidney Failure in Dogs, cluck on that. Great, informative group started by Tony.
1 Comments
No "groups" on the right side of my screen. What kind of device shows this? I am using an iphone 7 Plus
I'd like to also note that that my dog has been receiving senior wellness exams, every six to eight months, for years. When I heard the news about his levels being high, I broke out my binder, and pulled out all charts to compare numbers. His levels were around 1.6, this same time, last year. The new vet said that was an indication. But, my old vet never mentioned it being an issue? :(
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