JerseyGirlInOz

Sorry I haven't updated.... I was away at Grade 4 camp for the past 3 days with DS. The great news is---I have come home to a completely different dog!!! Last week I started her on Rhemannia 6 and the closest probiotics I could find to the ones in Azodyl. She has also been getting daily fish oil and CoQ10. She has been very hit-or-miss with the prescription food, so I made up a batch of homemade (pork mince, sushi rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, egg whites and ground egg shells). I've been mixing in Inliven (a green probiotic/superfood) and Liverplex (which has similar ingredients to the Detoxifier, just to hold her over until the Detoxifier arrives). While I was gone, I got daily reports from DH that she was eating like a champion, and when I got home, I was greeted with an explosion of stuffie-tossing and zoomies that went on forever . I know that the ups and downs of this disease are our "new normal", but after being sent home to die by 3 different vets, seeing her happy and silly again feels like a miracle.

Thanks, Shannon . My sister mailed out 2 bottles of Detoxifier (the last 2 on the shelf at her local store) on Friday, and I was able to get Rhemannia 6 locally. But I will take you up on that if I need more. And to update, I took her to the vet on Friday evening for the vomiting. The good news is, she hasn't lost any weight since being diagnosed and isn't showing signs of dehydration, so the vet gave her a shot of anti-nausea meds to get her through. She is now back on the anti-nausea tablets and hasn't vomited at all over the weekend. The bad news is, she has not moved from her bed, except to eat and go for walks. I am grateful that she is still eating and still interested in going for walks, but seeing her so flat the rest of the time (and Mokkah glued to her side keeping vigil) makes my heart hurt .

When she was first diagnosed, she was in for 4 days getting IV drips, then 2 days the following week, but hasn't started subQ's yet because she was eating and drinking fine. But she is having another really bad day today---even worse than yesterday---so I am bringing her in to the vet later today so we can get her started on subQ's. I need her to stop vomiting long enough for the meds and sups to start to work.

What did her diet consist of? It looks like Rehmannia is available here so I will ask my vet about it, but the regular vet had never even heard of Azodyl so I'm not confident that she would have heard of Rehmannia. What is the dosage? Cruz is on Rehmannia. Here's the dosing instructions: Start with 1/2 recommended dosage and increase over 3 - 5 days Dog Under 20 lbs 3 Pills 2 times per day 20 - 40 lbs 5 Pills two times per day Over 50 lbs 6 – 10 Pills two times per day I'm also giving him a homeopathic product by Newton homeopathics called Detoxifier. It's formulated for the kidneys and liver for symptoms associated with toxicity. I give him 6 drops per day on his food. I put him on Azodyl when he was first diagnosed, but he seems to be doing much better on the Rehmannia and Detoxifier right now. Here's a link for the Detoxifier: http://www.onlynatur...ier/161012.aspx I decided to try it after reading the reviews on this site and it has exceeded my expectations. Sending good thoughts for you and your sweet girl. I know how stressful this is. Aaaaand.... Detoxifier isn't available in Australia either. I can get it through eBay, but the sellers charge $20 for shipping, which is more than the cost of the actual product. . I'll have to get my sister in San Diego to send it to me---hopefully it will clear customs. So far I have only able to find the Rehmannia in a blend (http://www.vitaminwa...dney-Tonic.html). Is the one you're giving Cruz straight up, or in a blend of other stuff?

What did her diet consist of? It looks like Rehmannia is available here so I will ask my vet about it, but the regular vet had never even heard of Azodyl so I'm not confident that she would have heard of Rehmannia. What is the dosage?

I have been giving her Hills k/d and Canin Renal, but she doesn't like it by itself so I have been mixing it in with white rice, boiled mashed sweet potato, spinach and a bit of ground beef or pork (since they are the lower-phosphorous meat options) just to keep her eating, and so far, so good. But the vomiting today is a worry.

She's not having a good day, unfortunately . She has vomited several times over the past 12 hours and is glued to her bed this morning. And Mokkah won't leave her side---when I was making school lunches he didn't even get up to investigate the rustle of butcher paper in the kitchen. I have a call in to the vet to see if it's time to pout her on the anti-nausea meds and phosphorus binders.

I did, but I find the format of Yahoo groups really clunky. There is so much to wade through, and I keep finding so much conflicting information that it's making my brain hurt. On one site it says that things like rice and potatoes are OK in larger amounts, another says carbs unecessary and bad for CRF. Some say cooked vegetables are good, others say that unless you juice veggies they are not bioavailable for dogs so they are a waste of time and money.

Mokkah just had one of those---I took him to the vet when he caught it on something and it started to bleed. The vet said it should go away on its own, but gave me cortisone cream to apply 2x/day to speed up the process. Within 2 days it was nearly gone.

Was hoping for better news, but at least it's manageable. That's great that he likes the new food, I'm sure that's a huge weight off. Hugs to Jack, and to you

Double crap. It looks like Azodyl isn't available here . Does anyone want to come visit me and smuggle it in in their luggage? So now I have to see if I can find other probiotics that contain the same strains, or see if a compounding pharmacy can mix up something similar. Does anyone know how much fish oil and CoQ10 she should be getting daily?

I feel the same: even of it doesn't help, it won't hurt to try. The tricky bit is going to be getting it. I don't know how widely available it is here, and even if it gets shipped here from the US, there may be problems getting it through Customs. Need to look into it.

Then your hip-girl license will have to be suspended!

Oh, and I also asked her about Calcitriol and Azodyl. She is open to putting her on Calcitriol, but only if I can get her phosphorous levels down. She is leery of Azodyl because, from what I gather, it is relatively new and lacking in supporting studies, but would probably agree to it if I insist on it. I have to look into it a bit more, but I am a firm believer in pre/probiotics and as far as I know, they certainly couldn't hurt, so it would be worth a try. I just hope it is available here in Oz.

Crap. The culture came back negative. The specialist gave me 3 reasons why that could be, but in any case wants me to take her off the Clavulox and get another culture in 2 weeks time. She is going downhill so fast that 2 weeks seems like a scary amount of time to wait. She has been completely flat today and had hardly touched her dinner tonight, so the specialist also wants to put her on an anti-nausea/appetite stimulating medication, and also talked about the possibility of doing subQ fluids if she doesn't perk up. So I sat cuddled up on the couch and had a long chat with Hailey tonight, and told her that she's really going to need to help me out here because I'm not sure what to do. All of a sudden she stood up on the couch and stared down at me, and in a something like a scene from "Lassie", started whining at me and kept looking towards the back door. I let her out and she started sniffing around near where her food bowl had been, so I took her leftovers and put them out for her---and little bugger.ate very last bit, then came back in, went over to where the coats are and demanded I put hers on. Then she stood at the closed door of my bedroom until I opened it, and laid down on the other bed I've been keeping in there for her. So clearly she senses weakness and going to milk this for all it's worth .

Thanks so much for that, Jen---and everyone else who is sending good thoughts. The specialist was worth going to, as she has been absolutely *brilliant*---and while the news isn't great, at least she is giving me the information that the other vets didn't. She is so thorough and supportive, which is exactly what I need. She explained all the test results, as well as what numbers could be controlled by diet vs. meds, then followed it up with a written report and treatment plan that includes all the things you mention. She wants to have Hailey on a low phosphorus diet for at least 4 weeks to see if that brings her levels down before starting her on binders. And I believe the Omepral works similarly to Pepcid. And as far as additional meds, she wants to wait until the cultures come back so she can address the infection and what its role is in all this. Hopefully they are back today, and hopefully there will be some answers there. And I know she's really unwell when she goes without doing at least 1 furniture-re-arraigning zoomie a day---and it's been at least 2 weeks. I miss that mischievous glint in her eye before all hell breaks loose

Still keeping the good thoughts coming your way

Yes, sorry, I took her yesterday, and the news is not good (I would have posted sooner, but I've been a bit leaky ). There are still a few tests outstanding, but basically she is in Stage 4 renal failure. There is also still the presence of an infection (as I suspected), and we are waiting for the culture to come back to find out what it is so they can put her on the right antibiotic. But based on the ultrasound the condition is chronic rather than acute, and essentially her kidneys are just old and worn out. She is on Clavulox until the cultures come back, and Omepral to protect her stomach.Once all the results are back we have to tweak her diet and possibly put her on additional meds. But she is so miserable, and seeing her like this---instead of her usual irrepressible self---is devastating. Since you are one of the only people on GT who has actually met her, you have seen first-hand what a whirling dervish she is---or was. The deterioration has been so rapid in the past few weeks, and now she barely moves from her bed. And since she got back yesterday afternoon, Mokkah won't leave her side. He is so lost without her. This sucks.

Sending loads of positive thoughts your way!!!

Oh Melissa, this is just so unfair . I'll be sending loads and loads of good thoughts and 's to you---and to Jack.

Thanks so much for all the support and suggestions. I have an appointment with the infectious disease specialist on Tuesday, which can't come soon enough for me, since the bloodwork the greyhound vet did on Wednesday showed her urea levels went up again (to 36.5) and her creatinine is up to 763, which is even higher than when she was first diagnosed. I feel so %#@& helpless

Hoping Jack is on the mend, Melissa! Sending (((HUGS))).

Both are extremely rare, but I will mention these to the specialist. Thanks, Kari, that means a lot to me. I'm trying to stay cautiously optimistic, but this is killing me. She's my hound.

Specific Gravity on the urine was 1.025, and presence of blood was Moderate (80). These are the results of the bloodwork: GENERAL BIOCHEMISTRY SPECIMEN : SERUM Sodium 152 mmol/L (138 - 158) Protein 45 g/L (45 - 62) Potassium 4.1 mmol/L (3.5 - 5.8) Albumin 24 g/L (23 - 34) Na/K 37.1 Globulin 21 g/L (21 - 32) * Chloride 119 mmol/L (100 - 115) * Bicarb. 19 mmol/L (22 - 28) GGT 3 U/L (1 - 10) * Urea 44.4 mmol/L (3.6 - 10.4) Alk Phos 22 U/L (10 - 120) ALT 25 U/L (5 - 80) * Creat. 712 umol/L (95 - 166) CK 244 U/L (50 - 400) AST 48 U/L (10 - 80) * Amylase 2156 U/L (180 - 1300) Chol. 5.3 mmol/L (2.8 - 6.2) Lipase 26 U/L (< 70) Calcium 2.49 mmol/L (1.75 - 2.50) Phosphate2.10 mmol/L (0.80 - 2.10) Preserved Glucose 4.9 mmol/L (3.3 - 6.7) SERUM INDICES (Clear/+/++/+++/++++) Icterus index Clear Lipaemia index Clear Haemolysis index Clear GENERAL HAEMATOLOGY * Red Cell Count 6.92 x 10 ^12 /L (7.40 - 9.00) * Haemoglobin 178 g/L (190 - 215) * Hct 0.51 L/L (0.55 - 0.65) MCV 73 fL (65 - 78) MCH 26 pg (21 - 26) MCHC 351 g/L (320 - 370) Reticulocytes 0.5 % 35 x 10 ^9 /L White Cell Count 5.7 x 10 ^9 /L (3.5 - 6.5) * Neutrophils 87 % 5.0 x 10 ^9 /L (3.0 - 4.5) Band Forms 0 % 0.0 x 10 ^9 /L (< 0.2) * Lymphocytes 9 % 0.5 x 10 ^9 /L (0.8 - 1.9) Monocytes 4 % 0.2 x 10 ^9 /L (0.1 - 0.7) * Eosinophils 0 % 0.0 x 10 ^9 /L (0.1 - 0.6) Basophils 0 % 0.0 x 10 ^9 /L Platelets 237 x 10 ^9 /L (200 - 500) FILM MORPHOLOGY: Red cells show occasional polychromasia .Leucocyte morphology is normal. Platelets: Adequate . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After 4 days of IV fluids they were able to get her urea level down to 24, I took her back for a follow-up a week later, and her level had crept up slightly to 27 so they did 2 more days of fluids. They also put her back on amoxy, although this is the 3rd time and I'm beginning to think that whatever's there is resistant. The vet said that if the infection hasn't cleared by Friday she would do a culture. I took her in for follow-up bloodwork today, but the vet was in surgery so I have to wait for the results. In the meantime I got copies of all her labs and am sending them through to an infectious disease specialist, but I can't actually get in to see her until next week.

A couple months ago I posted about Hailey developing incontinence. The regular vet diagnosed her with a mild UTI and spay incontinence and put her on DES. She assured me that the the results of the urinalysis did not indicate any kidney involvement. She responded well to the DES, but she started losing weight rapidly so I took her to the greyhound vet for a blood test. Her creatine, urea and white blood count were all really high, indicating that her kidneys are in fact failing. I am shattered---and still trying to get my head around the very dire prognosis. I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that it can't be reversed, but want to do everything I can to at least stabilize her and keep her feeling well for as long as I can. Has anyone else had kidney disease in a relatively young grey? What steps did you take with treatment, diet, etc?