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Oliver - Maltese
My 15 year old Maltese Oliver was diagnosed with kidney failure on April 7th, 2014. He spent two in a half days at the pet clinic being flushed of all the toxins and hooked up to IV's. His BUN was 157 at the time he was admitted, but bloodwork was done the morning of his release- BUN now is 75 (still too high), leveled back to normal. Vet told me to make him comfortable and that he basically had 2-3 months left. I am heartbroken. Since I brought Oliver home on April 9th, he has been eating, drinking water, walking and acting normal. He is more active than ever before. He even looks better. He is only a KD diet, and a supplement. He will see the vet this weekend for a recheck. I am also taking a holistic approach to this and already have a script drawn up for him for the vet to review. He is not throwing up and does not have ulcers. The day I actually rushed him to the vet he was looking sick and limp. Realistically I understand that Oliver is 15 and I have been blessed to have a dog this long. I want to take the holistic approach to make him more comfortable and for the progression of this disease to slow down. I have been doing major research since he was diagnosed. It breaks my heart to read the stories.
COMMUNITY LEADER
I also am so happy for you and Oliver, Elsa!
Similar happened with my Misty. She was diagnosed with early-stage renal failure end of summer 2011.
Our vet put her immediately on the renal diet plus ACE inhibitors. I kept to her diet pretty strictly, but as it was boring to give her the exact same food every day I asked the vet what was 'good quality protein' to give her, which didn't result in too much (what he called "Nitrogenous waste" for the kidneys to process) He suggested scrambled egg whites, white fresh-water fish, and chicken breast. Vegetables also were okay, so I sometimes gave her these things too, to keep some variety in her food. She was a food-hog!
Whenever I gave her anything other than her diet food I added about 1/8 teaspoonful of powdered eggshell to her food, to act as a Phosphorus-binder. Her blood Phosphorus wasn't elevated at that stage,only her BUN and Creatinine.
Well guess what? In one month, her values had come down, in two months they were down to 'upper normal', and by February 2012 all her blood values read as 'normal'. She was over 14 by that stage. But very active and defied her age -much like Oliver by the sound of it!
The vet was impressed. So were we!
She passed away some months later -NOT from kidney failure! Something else -Hemangiosarcoma... completely unrelated, and just bad luck.
I wish you and Oliver all the best, and hope he will continue to do really well! This is great news!
Similar happened with my Misty. She was diagnosed with early-stage renal failure end of summer 2011.
Our vet put her immediately on the renal diet plus ACE inhibitors. I kept to her diet pretty strictly, but as it was boring to give her the exact same food every day I asked the vet what was 'good quality protein' to give her, which didn't result in too much (what he called "Nitrogenous waste" for the kidneys to process) He suggested scrambled egg whites, white fresh-water fish, and chicken breast. Vegetables also were okay, so I sometimes gave her these things too, to keep some variety in her food. She was a food-hog!
Whenever I gave her anything other than her diet food I added about 1/8 teaspoonful of powdered eggshell to her food, to act as a Phosphorus-binder. Her blood Phosphorus wasn't elevated at that stage,only her BUN and Creatinine.
Well guess what? In one month, her values had come down, in two months they were down to 'upper normal', and by February 2012 all her blood values read as 'normal'. She was over 14 by that stage. But very active and defied her age -much like Oliver by the sound of it!
The vet was impressed. So were we!
She passed away some months later -NOT from kidney failure! Something else -Hemangiosarcoma... completely unrelated, and just bad luck.
I wish you and Oliver all the best, and hope he will continue to do really well! This is great news!
I am enjoying my little man for as long as he is with me. I am very happy that he has done so well. Thank you for the well wishes.
Hugs
Elsa
Hugs
Elsa
What great news! Kidney disease tears us apart at the end, but if you can control the symptoms for a while, you've done your job! Enjoy Oliver :)
Tony, each day is cherished and is a gift with my Oliver.
We are so blessed.
Oliver sends cyber hugs to all :)
We are so blessed.
Oliver sends cyber hugs to all :)
No one can ask for more ... this is great news. I am so very happy for you and Oliver. Well done, both of you. Keep up the fantastic work. Give Oliver a hug from me ... and have a huge cyber hug yourself from me. Tony x
Thank you ! I can't believe it nor can Dr. Schultz. Will continue on this forum with my updates....thanks again.
Hugs from Oliver
I(I would post a pic of Oliver, but I don't know how )
Hugs from Oliver
I(I would post a pic of Oliver, but I don't know how )
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The blood levels are quite amazingly good, for now, so I think the diet is spot-on. You might want to consider adding some natural supplements ... omega-3 oil is one useful thing - and a spoonful of chopped cabbage every other day (fermentable fiber) which acts as a nitrogen trap. Things like this can be really positive in the early to mid period of canine kidney failure.
Stay with us here on the forum ... we are all on a learning curve here, and occasionally someone else's experience rings a familiar bell, which means we help each other with information and support. So far, I think Oliver is doing very well.
Tony x