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Renal failure. what now?

Hi all,
Been doing a Lot of reading the past week and a half, and stumbled upon this site while doing so. My toy poodle, Pebbles, is 10 years old, and a heart failure patient. She's been on lasix(diuretic) and enalapril(blood pressure) for 2 years and has done well on those. A few months ago she started sleeping more, doing less, and just seemed..off. Then I noticed weight loss, despite being fed extra every day. I took her to the vet 2 months ago, and they said it was her teeth(which had just been cleaned 8 months before and weren't bad), and cleaned them. 2 Sundays ago she stopped eating and just laid there. We went back to the vet and discovered kidney failure and severe dehydration. Her BUN was 122 and Creatinine 2.8. She was put on iv fluids until Wednesday afternoon. Her Bun was then 85 and Cr 2.7. Last Friday night she looked terrible again, and wouldn't take anything I offered. Saturday she was back on iv fluids, which she stayed on til this Wednesday(1/29th). In just 2 short days her Bun jumped back up to 112 and Cr at 2.8. Her phosphorus was 8.6 and calcium 11.2. She has refused all food except certain meats and occasional egg whites, even though I've cooked all the suggested whole food meals. She's also been on daily anti-nausea meds. I gave her subcutaneous fluids this evening and she is drinking well, eating a little. Starting to look bad again though. My vet offered epikatin, but we haven't started yet since we're still waiting on it. I've looked into holistic therapies. I see now that azodyl is not proven beneficial. My vet doesn't have any other solutions. Where can I go from here? I would greatly appreciate any help or suggestions for my baby girl. Thank you.
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Avatar universal
Maddies_Mom16, congratulations on being rescued by Molly. I hope she brings you the utmost joy. Maddie would be glad to see you happy.
As for Pebbles, she refuses all dairy products now. She used to love them, but the toxins seem to have made her tastes change. Sge still refuses most everything, but I've had some luck with organic baby food. I check the nutrition facts on all of it to determine what's best for her. She's still getting all her meds, and subcutaneous fluids every other day. She's not back to normal, but slowly gaining her personality back. We've reached a bit of a better place for the moment. She tires very easily. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my hopes up.
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7378022 tn?1390751481
Thank you. :)

Maddie hated it too, but I found if I put a smidge of sour cream in it and heated it, she'd eat. They recently came out with a lamb which she was crazy over! You might want to try that one.

I just adopted a 10 week old Chihuahua mix from my local shelter, but truth be told, she rescued me.,, I know my Maddie sent her for me to love. <3 I named her Molly.
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Avatar universal
And Maddie's_Mom16, I'm so sorry for your loss. This is a terrible disease. It breaks my heart that we can't do more.
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Avatar universal
My vet originally prescribed science diet K/D kidney formula food,but she won't touch it. She's slowly progressed to rejecting almost Everything I've tried. So my vet said while high quality proteins and low phosphorus are important, it is more important for her to eat Something at this point. If her appetite increases I'll begin trying to add in more appropriate food choices. I am mixing epikatin, a phosphorus binder, in twice daily now. It's a struggle to get her to eat, so I'm doing the best I know how. Thank you Karla, I've read great things about green tripe, but didn't know pet stores carry it. That's next on my list.
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462827 tn?1333168952
My suggestion: Go to your local pet store and buy a can of Green Tripe....Although YOU probably don't want to know what Tripe is, dogs adore it and it's extremely high in nutrition (Probably the highest) AND Kidney friendly....

I know Petco stores sell two different kinds....Petsmart I'm not sure.....
"Solid Gold" makes one and I believe the other one is named "Green Cow".

ALL dogs benefit from Tripe!!!  :)

I'd at least give it a try.....Karla
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1916673 tn?1420233270
Hi. A low protein diet is ideal, but sometimes you can reach a stage when whatever a dog in renal failure will eat, let it eat it, because a) food is of such pleasure to most dogs; and b) the energy acquired from eating really helps prolong a dog's ability to enjoy life.

More recent research suggests low protein diets are not always necessary, though high protein diets are certainly not advised. In fact, rather than concentrate on the protein content, it is better to ensure a dog in kidney failure gets a low phosphorous diet. This can be further assisted by the vet prescribing a phosphorous binder. The problem is that the kidneys would ordinarily remove phosphorous from diet intake, but dogs in renal failure cannot do this - and extra stress is put onto the kidneys as a direct result. High levels of phosphorous cause an electrolyte disturbance, resulting in painful muscular spasms, tremors and other problems as well as further damage to the kidneys.

Tony
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7378022 tn?1390751481
First off, I am so sorry to hear your Pebble's is in renal failure... I lost my companion of 16 years to the disease less than 2 weeks ago, 5 months after her diagnosis.

I am concerned reading what you are feeding her... Did your vet go over a renal diet with you? It is my experience they should ONLY be on a strict diet of prescription food specifically formulated for this disease that is low in protein (steak) and phosphorus. If not, PLEASE call your vet asap and go over this... I know you wouldn't want to exacerbate the problem.

Good luck, and enjoy to the fullest the rest of the time you have with her.
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Avatar universal
Pebbles got more sq fluids yesterday and perked up noticeably. She ate several pieces of cooked sirloin last night,which is much more than usual. I've been supplementing calories with nutri-cal daily. Still drinking/urinating well. I'm willing to try Anything to help, so she's been on vitamin herbs and herbal therapies from Five Leaf pet pharmacy since Friday. Green herbs twice daily mixed with organic baby food and herbal tinctures 4x daily. I'm also doing hydrotherapy twice daily per holistic recommendation. She's not gotten any worse except when needing fluids for dehydration, so I'm going to keep trying.
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462827 tn?1333168952
Your welcome...Thought there may be info. in those links that you could use either now or the future.....Good luck at your check up...Let us know how she's doing.....Karla
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Avatar universal
Thank you @Misfits4Me. Alot of those stories seem worse than our situation so far. I don't feel that it's "time"  yet. Pebbles has a lot of spunk still. She woke me up bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, ready for her walk outside. She drank lots of water too. She's also learned that if she turns her nose up at something, I'll cook her something better. So of course she holds out for the best, and that's fine by me as long as she eats. Back to the vet today for a check up. I've thankfully been off work this week and able to care for her and watch her closely,but worried about next week when I go back to my night shifts. Thankfully, my parents have agreed to keep her while I'm at work. Staying hopeful, thank you for the information.    
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462827 tn?1333168952
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462827 tn?1333168952
Welcome to the forum....I'm sorry to hear about your Pebbles.....Here is a thread from yesterday...It may answer some of your questions.....Karla
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