Need advice: 5-year old dog with kidney failure - BUN level over 180

[maisondesarah]

Hi,

My dog looked sick, not eating at a quarantine place and was rushed to a vet. The vet advised us that he may have chronic kidney failure - we were devastated, and still are....

After 3 days of IV, his test results did not improve significantly. He looked a lot more active though and happily ate the food we brought him.

Initial results:
BUN: > 180 (unreadable by machine)
CA: 9.8
PHOS: 19.8
CRE: 7.3
GLU: 6.2
WBC: 6.52
RBC: 4.75
HGB: 9.8 g/dl
HCT: 32.13%
PLT: 179

Results after 3 days of IV:
BUN: 179
CA: 10.3
PHOS: 10.2
CRE: 6.3
GLU: 5.1
WBC: 10.06
RBC: 4.04
HGB: 8.7 g/dl
HCT: 27.75%
PLT: 111

He was put on another 2 days of IV during hospitalisation stint and due to mounting costs, we decided to take him home. We were given a bunch of supplements/meds (both Western and Chinese) and are told to give 250ml subQ fluid, twice a day.

Western meds/supps (for around a week)
- doxycycline, SAMe, ketosteril, lactogel, food powder (renal N), phosphate binder, ranitdine, virbac

Traditional Chinese meds:
- renal activator and liu wei di huang tang (kidney support)

First night at home, he ate and drank well. Even went out for a walk, he looked so happy! But today.. he looks very quiet, again. He is still eating and drinking (less than usual) and is able to hold food down. We are planning to run another test in a couple of days.

I've read online that many consider euthanasia with BUN level this high. But we can't just part with him yet, he is very young. How long should we expect him to live? What else can we do?

Thanks everyone.

[Chloe_and_ApollosMom]

Could you please research Rehmannia? I can't say that it improves kidney health because it is a Traditional Chinese Medicine and the FDA doesn't recognize it.

[maisondesarah]

Thanks Chloe! Our dog has been taking Rehmannia Six (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan) and he likes the taste a lot! He's off any types of western medications (aside from phosphate binder) - TCM all the way :)

Do you have a pet with kidney problem too? Do you have any recommendation on how to eliminate bile? Our dog vomits some bile once every 2 weeks...

[Chloe_and_ApollosMom]

My Chloe only threw up the night before she went in to the hospital. I looked it up and sometimes they vomit bile because their stomach is empty. A worse reason is an intestinal blockage, but if it's every so often, it's probably not that. Maybe his tummy is empty and he gets some gall in his tummy and has to get it out. Yes, My baby girl Chloe was in stage 4 renal failure a month ago. After taking her off all her traditional medications, which were just treating symptoms and taking her kidneys, I started her on a program I will have to do the rest of her life which I am fine with, as long as I have her. Supplements, nutritional therapy, herbs, glandular, and of course the Rehmannia. Her last 2 blood work results showed her kidney levels within normal range. She is on the core Kidney Package from Pet Health and Nutrition Center, Kidney Repair from Dr. Harvey's, and Veg-to-Bowl food from Dr. Harveys with my own protein. Green tripe is amazing, you just have to search for a supplier to ship it. Dr. Harvey will want to see the blood work results you have, and he will guide you as to which other supplements to get (not from him), he is there to help you, not just sell his products. He will also tell you how much to feel your dog, how much protein to add and what kinds of oil to add.

[eaglei22]

Is kidney dialysis an option? To give the kidneys a break and maybe reverse/recover from what's going on? Was your dog near or licking car antifreeze?

[maisondesarah]

hi eaglei22, unfortunately kidney dialysis is out of our budget. He was under quarantine when they noticed him being lethargic, most likely he's been having kidney problems for a while :(

[Ewad7]

I had the same situation. I recommend you take him for 3 more days for IV. My dogs bun went down to 22 from 174. I still do subq at home. Even when my dogs bun went to 22 he still didn’t have his usual appetite. I think it could be from him being stressed after 5 days in the hospital... now he’s much better!  

[maisondesarah]

hey Ewad, good to hear your dog is doing a lot better! how many times daily/ml do you give subq?

we have appointment with the vet tomorrow to check his levels, hoping for the best!

[Ewad7]

I have a small dog, Pomeranian so we give 150 ml per day. Our vet said we can give him water through the syringe for extra hydration if we see that he’s not being himself. We will be taking him in two weeks for check up.
Also, the first few days when his bun was high we were feeding him cooked rice/whites/carrots/broccoli all blended with water through the syringe.

[maisondesarah]

Hope your dog feels better these days! Keep us posted with the progress :)

We took our dog for follow up blood test 5 days ago. Sad to say that his blood test went for the worse.

We have since made changes to his diet, based on this link: http://dogkidneydiseasehelp.com. He's enjoying the new food, has great appetite and more energy :) Fingers crossed!

[Ewad7]

Hej, How is your dog doing? Are you still following the diet http://dogkidneydiseasehelp.com?
We have some better and some worse days...

[maisondesarah]

hey Ewad, our dog is doing good. eating 3 times daily based on the diet from that link, walking trips 3-4 times daily (1-hour long walk at night) and is getting naughtier by the day. we really hope his next blood work will turn out better! in addition, we give him kelp, hawthorn berries and fish oils. Since he's drinking well, we dropped his subq to 250ml per day.

how is your dog doing?

[Ewad7]

Hi maisondesarah,
My dog is doing well. He has his appetite back so I don’t have to syringe feed him. I researched that spirulina is good for kidney so I  adding little bit of that to his food. I also want to try fresh nettle seeds but have trouble finding them!
What do you think about green beef tripe from solid gold company? I bought him some but he didn’t eat it on his own, had to syringe feed him.
Also, since last Friday I’ve noticed some kind of hives/rash on his back, outside his ear and belly. It is white and red in some spots. It seems to be itchy only in the ear area.. I’ve read that is could be side effect of lactated ringers solution I’m giving him, but I’m not sure. I’ll be seeing the vet this week.