gracegirl
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It's taken me a long time to write this remembrance for Fenway - I don't know how to put into words a life so well lived. He truly was one in a million.
I had just decided to move from my studio apartment in Belltown (downtown Seattle) to a house with a huge yard in West Seattle. I could take dogs with me to work. I thought Grace wanted a friend (she didn't) and I wanted a puppy. So I turned to greytalk and found this:
He was with a group in Indiana who took the whole oops litter. (Thank you Tammi for trusting a single 20-something who you never got to meet with that precious puppy!) I later found out that he was the longest survivor of his litter, all of his brothers passed before he did. He was diagnosed with kidney damage of an unspecified origin years ago, so I knew he'd likely never reach his teenage years. I prayed he'd at least see double digits. He was two weeks shy of that, and outlived my Grace by two weeks.
Many of you watched him grow up on greytalk. He was the easiest puppy. So full of joy, always. I should have named him Peter Pan, he was my forever puppy. He never quite grew up, he always had that puppy zest for life. He was named for the 2004 Rex Sox - the team that reversed the curse. They were a group of beloved idiots. He was well named and would have fit right in with that group of men.
The thing he loved more than anything else in the world was the beach. We moved to San Diego and he got to spend every Sunday at OB Dog Beach - often we'd go more than once a week. But every Sunday in the late afternoon we'd head to the beach and I'd tell him how lucky he was to get to have the "best day ever" so often.
With my brother, one of his favorite people. They were two peas in a pod.
He and Jackson were able to be with us on our wedding day - just for a few minutes. But it was so important to us to have our boys there on our big day. It was right around our wedding in February that his blood work started to show the years of kidney damage taking their toll. He felt good up until Thursday of his last week with us, and then his kidneys simply failed. By Sunday we decided to let him go. He lived a good, full life. It was a life well lived and he is deeply missed.
Rest well, little buddy. You are missed every single day.
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I think it would be worth a call to GPI to ask for vet recommendations in her area if Lien is too far.
I have a gut feeling that this isn't entirely behavioral. Just like with my Fenny. Lots of people shrugged it off as behavioral but I pushed for answers. I'm glad I did.
I'm sorry to hear what happened to the poor guy. QA to Westlake is quite the haul!
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New vet. ASAP. Who is the adoption group? If it's not GPI, call GPI for a vet recommendation immediately.
We used Lien Animal Clinic when we lived in Seattle. They are located in West Seattle and are fantastic. http://www.lienanimal.com
Fenway was peeing inside. We ran all the tests and even put him on ABs just in case. The only thing off was his USG (urine specific gravity). I pushed for more tests and my vet recommended an ultrasound. Turns out Fenway was diagnosed with "minor kidney damage of an unspecified origin" when he was about 5 or 6.
At that point we made sure he always always always had access to both a dog door and extra water at all times. We bought extra water bowls because he could never be without fresh water. We monitored his blood and urine every six months for a while, then every three months after he turned 8. We lost him to the kidney disease one week before his 10th birthday.
Please get blood work and an ultrasound for this pup.
Also, how did he get hit by a car? Had he gotten loose?
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Well, my best friend adopted a three month old Great Dane puppy a month before her due date and they made it work. So while it's complicated, it's not impossible.
Do what you want to do. Adopt another dog because you want one. IMO you should adopt sooner rather than later though, as the closer you are to your due date the more challenging everything becomes.
You could also try fostering to see if your girl perks up with a friend.
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I'm so sorry for your loss. It's never easy. I'm comforted that she is back with her Spudzilla.
She has a lot of other good friends up there with her. -
Thanks for adding Fenway to the list. I'm still to sad to write a rememberence thread for him. There are too few words available for a life lived so large.
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Fenway is in heaven now.
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He just threw up everything he ate today.
I called my friend who is an e-vet. She's working today. I think she might help him cross the bridge later today.
The sub-q fluids don't seem to be helping that much. He's very lethargic now after throwing up. I know that fluids will only prolong the enevitable.
Please reassure me its okay to let him go.
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He's far from energetic, but when I asked if wanted to go for a ride in the car he jumped off the couch and followed me around the house.
They said the sub-q fluids could take a day or two to help. We just started them yesterday. If they are not helping, I'll take a day off this week and send him on his way. I won't keep him around forever if he's truly not going to rebound, but I want to give him a fighting chance if he's not ready to go yet.
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If his phos levels are OK, no need. AFAIK you'd need to get from the vet but I may be wrong.
Sorry I wasn't more clear. His phosphorus levels were okay until yesterday. Results of yesterday's bloodwork showed the levels to be off the charts/unmeasurable.
If I need them from a vet I will make sure to ask when I speak to Dr. Joseph tomorrow.
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I'll try the ensure today. He's eating ground turkey, ground beef and chicken breasts. All cooked. Refusing eggs (used to be his favorite) and cheese. And all the treats I got at Petsmart that's he was eating yesterday. I'll keep offering in case he changes his mind.
Should I get a phosphorus binder on board? His phosphorus levels were okay up until yesterday. Is this something that can be bought at Petsmart or a local specialty store?
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I've had 5 with kidney failure. Four I was able to nurse along with sub-q fluids, nutraceuticals, and whatever-they-would-eat (appetite is a huge problem for kidney dogs) for varying periods of time. One was already in big trouble when diagnosed, and she was almost 14 and had other weaknesses; I let her go.
I hope that you can get Fenway feeling better and stabilized.
Thank you! Fenway is not quite 10 so we will see how he responds to the fluids. He's still eating so it's a wait-and-see game right now.
I know it can't be reversed, but if we can have a few good weeks or months together, I have to try.
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This is helpful. Thank you. We will see how the subQ fluids make him feel. Might try them at home until Tuesday morning. If he's not doing well I might drop him off on Tuesday morning at the vet for IV fluids and get him that night after work.We tried a couple days-only in hospital to have IV fluids; I took him in in the a.m. and brought him home in the evening. Then we did some subq fluids at home, too.
If he responds to the fluids, you might have some time. If he doesn't ... IIRC we had 10-12 days after first knowing that the numbers were W T F . Half of that was trying to get things turned around, and I don't know that I'd do that again. Nothing worked, for us.
I fed all kinds of things -- whatever he showed the smallest interest in eating. Chicken strips, honey nut shredded wheat, tripett, you name it.
Hugs and best thoughts.
So far he'll eat Arby's roast beef sandwiches, Iams biscuits (bought two varieties), chicken lunch meat sandwiches, and scrambled eggs. He turned down his kidney food, Jackson's food, Tripett, and a peanut butter sandwich.
I also have ground beef, ground turkey and sweet potato fries to try as well.
He's also on blood pressure medication, starting today. Will probably not drag it out any longer than this week if he doesn't respond to the fluids.
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Typing through tears with a terrible headache, so please forgive if I'm not writing in clear and complete sentences.
5 1/2 years ago Fenway was diagnosed with "kidney damage of an unspecified origin". Diagnosed through low USG and confirmed with an ultrasound.
He's now 2 weeks shy of his 10th birthday and he's not doing well.
We've been monitoring bloodwork closely even few months to keep an eye on his health. In January his kidney values skyrocketed so we started him on the prescription diet. They've been steady since. Not better, but not worse. Just in the last week Fenway has been more lethargic and not eating well. Took him for bloodwork this morning and his numbers are off the charts. They don't know how high, because they literally can't measure high enough in house. His blood pressure is also high.
Took him back to the vet for subQ fluids. They showed me how to administer them at home. So today and tomorrow I'll be giving subQ fluids so we can see how he responds. Since his blood pressure is high, we are starting slow. The other option was to hospitalize him for IV fluids, which I'm not ready to do yet. Maybe next week if necessary. I won't take heroic measures to keep him alive just for my sake. He's not going to get better, right now it's just a matter of making him comfortable.
What can I expect from here? Do we have days left? Weeks? I'm going to do what I can to get him to eat anything at all. He turned down ravioli for breakfast. We will try a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch.
Send prayers please. I want my buddy to feel better.
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I'm chiming in late here but I was also going to suggest Iams, start with the green bag but try other varieties too. Glad it's working so far!
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Fenway's looks like that sometimes and I've never done a ting about it. You can decide if that makes me a bad dog mom, but as far as I can tell it's not an issue at all.
No need to hit the panic button.
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@inaandmax, service dogs and support animals are highly trained and temperament tested. You can ask the office to request the licensing paperwork. I can't stand people to slap a service dog vest on their dog in order to take it places with them.
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I'm sorry to read this, Jen. I've been thinking about you guys a lot lately.
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Two dogs I e never met just brought tears to my eye. Rest well, sweeties. Thank you for sending your momma and daddyman two new houndies to love!
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Run free, sweet girl. You're pain free now.
I'm so sorry she had to go. Hugs, PJ. I wish your heart speedy healing.
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Bacon. Bacon taught our Airedale to use a dog door. The greys picked it up pretty quickly. The dale flat out refused to use it. All three dogs were in the backyard one day and I was cooking bacon. Next thing I knew, I looked down and Jackson was standing next to me. Busted. After that I stopped letting him in and out the regular door and made him use the dog door.
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Well that only lasted a few days. Now we're back to not eating, even with the cottage cheese. I might have to start adding eggs and cheddar cheese to all meals now. He loves eggs.
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He's obsessed with cottage cheese now. Thanks!
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I don't know how you feel about Dr Dodds, but here's a link to the kidney diet on this site. Scroll down to the bottom
If he can do dairy, cottage cheese is a good food - low in protein but you can get it higher in fat. You might also try large bred puppy food, which will also be lower in protein, but higher in calories. Sweet potatoes and pasta will also help add calories to his diet. You'll want to avoid things like satin balls as the protein will be too high for his compromised kidney function.
Smooches for Fenway!
Thank you! I'll try cottage cheese and will look for a large breed puppy food. Good ideas.
He's a weirdly picky guy. He's not a fan of rice or pasta. Eggs are his favorite food.
She has a lot of other good friends up there with her.
Manley (No Mon Manny) 10/22/08-11/11/16
in Remembrance
Posted
The time you did have with him was precious. I'm so sorry for your loss.