End stage renal failure

[spooches610]

Hi I'm new to this forum and stumbled onto it while looking for help with my dog not eating. I have a 15 1/2 year old toy poodle named Chloe. She was my daughter's Christmas present in 1994 but has really become my dog over the years. I have noticed Chloe not eating as much and losing weight but attributed it to her advanced age and problems with arthritis. We had her at the Vet's office 3 months ago and he told me she was in pretty good health for her age with the exception on a slight decrease in kidney function and suggested putting her on KD. She has always eaten dry dog food but did not like the KD and I started mixing it with chicken broth to try to get her to eat better. When that failed, I started trying out different foods. They didn't work much better. After a trip to the Vet on April 12, the Vet called and said Chloe was in end stage renal failure. I saw a different Vet from the one I had seen before. She told me her creatinine level was at 6 and wanted to get it down to 3 so they kept her for a couple of days. I told them she would not eat the dry KD so they put her on canned KD and gave her some IV treatments. When I called to check on her they told me her level was down to 4 and let her go home. I went to pick her up and was given a very expensive bill along with a case of KD. The Vet also told me she had some loose stools and gave me pills for that with the recommendation that she take them twice a day. When I got her home I fed her the KD which she ate a little of and then the pill for the loose stool. She started to heave and I took her outside and she staggered, fell, and vomited. She didn't have any more loose stools so I did not give her any more of the pills as they made her so sick. The following day I again offered the KD but she refused to eat it. I called the Vet and she gave me a prescription for canned Royal Canin. She has only eaten small amounts of that and in fact it has taken 2 days to eat 3/4 of one can. She is not drinking as much water either. Has anyone had any luck with a diet I found on line consisting of ground beef, white rice, egg, and white bread slices? It is breaking my heart to see her starving to death. We have given her thin sliced turkey that I'm sure is not good for her since it is processed just to get her to eat something. Of course she readily eats that. I have read many heartbreaking stories on here and as hard as it will be for me, I know I will do the humane thing and put her down once she is unable to hold anything down. This disease seems hopeless and I am very sad.

[maryasm]

My Mellie is dying - 7.1 Creatinine - I read about Spooches dog and looked at the birth date! 16 years old! Mellie is 10 - had liver failure at 7. An eye doctor put her on MASSIVE doses of prednisone against my protests and she has declined steadily. Hospitalized twice - using Azodyl, Aluminum Hydroxide, forti-flaura to offset the effects of long-term antibiotics - the AUTOIMMUNE response turned out to be STAPH and Mellie was on Clavamox in case the diluted urine didn't show infection - four weeks! She is finished with that - getting her to eat chicken/burger/steak - you're right - they do need protein. My baby has gained weight in kidney failure. I make waffles with egg whites, cake, French toast - anything to keep her tummy full - Back legs seem to be weakening - muscle atrophy - a week-long hospitalization took her Creatinine from 6.6 to 5.4 - small dips into 4.7 a couple times. Being caged, bruises from being pulled up with strap to walk (between first and second hospitalizations, she went blind - SARDS) really stiffened her legs.
What to do now - I can't give anything with calcium - hers is 14.4 - going up....
rice seems to make diarrhea worse

[tonyb286]

Hi. "I now know that low (really low) protein and NO phosphorous is best." Actually, this is not strictly true or accurate. Most specialised manufactured kd food is indeed low in protein, simply because it was proved through research that the protein was causing a problem. But the tests were being made on existing manufactured dog foods, which contained very poor quality protein. The by-products of these ingredients were an issue - and still are.

More recent research has found that human-grade proteins (meats you would eat yourself) are produced, manufactured and packaged to a much higher quality and don't contain the dangerous animal by-products or preservatives contained in manufactured dog foods.

Recent research has also found that proteins are essential to a dog's health and well-being, and high-quality proteins in moderation do kidney failure dogs a lot of good.

Phosphorus and sodium are the bigger problems and restricting these remain essential.

You might consider joining our specialised "chronic kidney failure in dogs" User Group here on MedHelp. I administrate this group, whose members are owners just like yourself with dogs that have or have had kidney failure.

Tony

[GinaDawg]

Apologies and correction...I believe Epakitin inhibits phosphorus absorption through the digestive tract (and thus the bloodstream).  It's a technicality but same concept.

[GinaDawg]

Yes!  I made the mistake of giving my dogs high protein treats (both with chronic renal failure - one at the moderate stage and the other at the advanced stage) just to get them to eat something as they would not eat the renal prescription kibble (or the canned for that matter).  I now know that low (really low) protein and NO phosphorous is best.  It seems that the more important thing to avoid is phosphorus, which was not apparent to me in any of the list of ingredients for anything I have ever fed my dogs...grrrr.  The good news is that there is a powder called Epakitin that you can sprinkle on their food (tiny spoonful on every meal) and evidently it will bind the phosphorous so that it will not be absorbed into their blood stream and thus interfere with kidney function.  My vet has stressed that this is very important.  With my recent frustrations with the kibble, and for my dogs who are almost 18 years and 16 years, I now make my own homemade dog food.  I have never felt confident enough to do this in the past as I know it can be very serious if you 'guesstimate' what they really need for nutrition, but I was desperate.  At any rate, it contains boiled potatoes (skinless), boiled carrot, no salt/sodium beef or chicken broth, a bite of apple for flavor and I add a very, very small amount of cooked ground beef (including the fat drippings) all of which I blend so that it is palatable and good and 'soupy'.  It is my understanding that liquids are very important and the 'wetter' the food the better, as they need as much water as you can get in them to help the remaining functioning parts of the kidney do it's job.  
I sure hope this helps.  I am sick to my stomach about this chronic illness but if I can help you in anyway, I am happy to do so.  Wishing you all the best.

[tonyb286]

Hi. I may have found your post a little too late to help ... if so, please forgive my intrusion. If your dog is still with us, please join the Chronic Kidney Failure in Dogs User Group. I am fairly certain this Group (I am the administrator of it) will offer you some invaluable information, support and advice. Please join the Group then post a brief message about your dog, the most recent blood level readings and additional details about how she is right now and what you have attempted to feed her.

Tony

[DebbieSime1]

Yes... I had my Italian Greyhound on Azodyl, but she didn't stomach it very well...  She would throw up.  She is bad right now and I have decided to put her down on Monday if she doesn't go before then..  I have tried to feed her everything, but she doesn't want anything to do with food.  She is 9 years old and the renal failure was diagnosed back in June.  It is so heart wrenching to have to do this, but I can't stand to see her suffer.  She is being kept as comfortable as possible, under blankets.  When she started shaking a little, I put a thundershirt on her and a hoodie.  It really seemed to help a lot, but she is going to be crossing the Rainbow Bridge sometime soon.