AEB

Thank you. I am glad to share in the hope that it may help another grey. I tried to do my best for Sadie, but with 20/20 hindsight . . . When we got Kevin a few weeks ago I was pointed to GT as a resource. I saw a post on kidney issues by another GTer and it spured me to join. I can't emphasize enough my belief that low protein was not right for Sadie. It doesn't mean it is not right for your girl. But the weight she lost as a result of that diet could not have been easy on her kidneys. As for blood pressure, very difficult to get in the vet's office. She would be too nervous. We wanted a confirmation of a significant elevation before adding Enalapril (again, greys have a different "normal" as to BP as well). We ended up having the techs come to the car. She loved the car and felt safe there. The sound during the reading scared her but not like being in the office. Something to think about for BP readings and your girl. Also, the swallowing thing, Sadie had thyroid problems (at least we thought she did- I'm not sure about anything anymore). Could it be an enlarged thyroid that your girl has??

McSheltie is discussing what I was thinking of re: diet.

I already posted some of this elsewhere in another thread and apologize for some repeat here. I hope that maybe you can glean something from our experience. First, I am so sorry you are going through this. I am sure it feels like a whirlwind and you're not even completely sure of everything that is going on. It is a terrible feeling not to know. I hope things improve with Koda soon. We lost our Sadie in July after battling kidney disease for two years. We began by monitoring her values frequently. We gave her baby aspirin. But after some research I decided to stop. Medication (Enalipril) was eventually added, and eventually increased. Eventually our vet suggested we needed to adjust her diet. We chose Iams early stage renal. She was 11 when all of this began. We cooked the wet portion of her diet. She did well until sometime last year, early 2010 when things changed. At first the changes are subtle and we didn't notice because we lived with them everyday. Like you mentioned there was this strange swallowing thing she did, like she was choking. It had become more frequent. I thought it was thyroid related. And she started panting more- a lot more. And yes, her teeth were bad. But she had not had a dental in several years. They were much better than they had been in the past because of home cooking since the 2007 food recalls and the scaling I did at home. But her mouth was like low tide at the town dock. And she started to smell all over. Her anal glands were a problem that we constantly struggled with in the last few years, but this was a weird funk. She had lost some weight but it started going down steadily despite her eating. Our vet said it was a race between her kidneys and weight. We could no longer keep the weight on. She was dropping it like crazy. Eventually she had lost so much muscle mass that she was having trouble standing and would be weak in the rear and stand like a German Shepherd. We kept visiting the vet weekly for weight checks. When she got to 50lbs (from 65lbs 9 months before) we stopped weighing her and just did everything we could. We knew she was still losing. She lost more than that before we said goodbye. I do wonder what was really going on. There were other problems at work. It is heart-breaking. I can simply tell you that in our case her weight ended-up being more of an issue in the end. We got to a point where the vet said forget the kidneys, feed her whatever you can to get the weight on her. She just continued to lose so rapidly despite every effort. So just keep a close eye- on her weight. Weigh her no less than every week. She could lose several pounds in a week and not be able to get them back on. And the low protein diet of a prescription kidney diet . . . I am clearly not a vet but in the end it did Sadie no favors because of the weight problems. There are websites out there that discuss alternative ideas as to diet in a situation such as this. I wish I could find them right now. I will look later when I have more time. I should have bookmarked them. Maybe they could be of help? And do not hesitate to talk to another vet. Ours would consult with others. I just wish you all the best.

Best wishes.

Hi- I'm new here too. We lost our Sadie in July and she had kidney issues that we battled for a couple years but probably ultimately lost to a form of intestinal/stomach cancer. I agree that if kidney issue are suspected you need to look at urine and have a complete blood panel done. Also, check out the articles on the OSU Greyhound program website about what is normal for a grey as to kidney values, etc. Don't be afraid to discuss the differences in greys with your vet. I have, more than once, shown veterinarian written articles to my vet that involved greyhound specific topics pertaining to Sadie's situation. Good luck with everything.

I am so sorry. Not knowing is awful. I certainly hope it is nothing. Our Sadie had old shoulder injuries from the track that we did not realize she had until years later. They would flare-up at the drop of a hat. It would only take a mis-step on a walk (that is all I can surmise) sometimes. And she would limp for days. (She actually did better with it later in life with her shoulders with supplements and lots of exercise). Let's hope it's something like that- a simple mis-step.

My new boy, Kevin, eats Honest Kitchen (mostly Embark). It's a dehydrated raw food. You mix the dry stuff with warm water until it achieves an oatmeal consistency. Leave it to sit 10 minutes. You can supplement with eggs, cottage cheese, sardines, etc. In fact, the manufacturer encourages some supplementation. My boy is only 3 and has movie star teeth but he loves it. We've had him just over three weeks now. He came to us eating hamburger and potato because kibble gave him the big D. Trying to add-in kibble gives him gas so we're not sure what we'll do ultimately but are sticking with this food for now and he's doing well. Gained 5lbs in 2 weeks. And good stools and low gas for the most part. So I thought I would share with you if it can help your girl even though we haven't used it for long ourselves. Plus, I spent days (literally) researching what to feed him. Someone else should benefit from my efforts! PM me if you want my reasoning as to why I chose it. You can drive yourself nuts with choosing a food. Good luck to you and Cal!

I'll share our story and maybe it will be of some help to you. We lost our Sadie in July after battling kidney disease for two years. We discovered her values were off by accident (a bout of the big D that wouldn't go away). We began by monitoring her values frequently. We gave her baby aspirin. But after some research I decided to stop. Medication (Enalipril) was eventually added, and eventually increased. Eventually our vet suggested we needed to adjust her diet. We chose Iams early stage renal. She was 11 when all of this began. We cooked the wet portion of her diet. She did well until sometime last year, early 2010 when things changed. At first the changes are subtle and we didn't notice because we lived with them everyday. She had lost some weight but it started going down steadily despite her eating (she was a picky eater though) about 4 cups a day. She stopped running and would just sometimes trot on her long walks around our property. She started getting up in the middle of the night to go outside. Sometimes more than once. Eventually she was no longer phased by loud noises that used to scare her so. Gunshots in the area from hunters didn't phases her nor did fireworks (but thunderstorms still made her a little nervous). I chalked it up to old age. She shortened her walks but still took them. She stopped greeting visitors. Barely acknowledged them. She was a people dog. She was having this twitching through her whole body. A shivering. But she didn't stop when we kept her in PJs. It was neurological. Our vet said it was a race between her kidneys and weight. We could no longer keep the weight on. She was dropping it like crazy. Eventually She had lost so much muscle mass that she was having trouble standing and would be weak in the rear like a German Shepherd. But, she seemed happy to come down the driveway, she would stand as best she would and get excited. She liked her walks, even though there was no more running or trotting. She had not messed in the house. She was still eating. She seemed to still be having some enjoyment. And she seemed aware. But we knew the end was near, just not when exactly. We weren't going to put her through anything diagnostic because we wouldn't put her through any procedures to prolong her life. She was 13 and we wanted her as happy and comfortable for as long as possible. When she was no longer, then we knew it was time. We kept visiitng the vet weekly for weight checks. When she got to 50lbs (from 65lbs 9 months before) we stopped. She had lost as much as 5lbs in a month. It was getting too upsetting. For her and for us. She would panic at the vet's even though everyone liked to see her and she wasn't even poked or prodded anymore. The vet gave her prednisone to help with her ability to stand. It did help. That was June. July 10 she had probably gotten down to 45lbs, maybe less. We had fenced the top part of the yard that day to restrict her movement because she could no longer walk up/down the bank in the yard. She pooped that afternoon. She was just staring, not evening blinking. Just waiting for something. Her breathing was even strange. July 11 she would not settle down. Her front legs looked swollen. I feared edema. We called the vet the next morning. We took her in that afternoon. He always would roll his eyes at my millions of concerns - but this time his say his face said it all. He was stunned at the change in her in a month. He examined her quickly and said it was time to discuss euthanasia. But we already knew and had come prepared with questions. He was leaving for Europe on Wednesday. It was Monday. He had Tuesday off. We asked if he could come to the house. It didn't seem real. But she hadn't eaten anything but hand fed scrambled eggs since the 10th, and hadn't defecated since the 10th. She had lived 13 good years. I do not pray. But I did that morning- for a sign I was doing the right thing. And she went happily for her walk. She moved better than she had in weeks. Her tail was curly and she sniffed and enjoyed herself. I saw the vet pull into the driveway, wondering where we were no doubt. I decided to go tell him to leave. Then she had a bowel movement. It was black and tarry and gooey. She was bleeding internally. I knew it was time. We brought her into the backyard. We said goodbye. It was as peaceful as you could hope for. Awful of course. But I am glad that we spared her any horrible days. She had only days left. I struggled though in the beginning that we did it too soon. But I talked to the vet and to many other dog owners. My vet believes she had some type of cancer as well. I am at peace with our decision. And we recently adopted a red boy we named Kevin. My advice is do whatever it takes to keep/put weight on. Ultimately that may take her. Take her to another vet if you are unsure about any part of the diagnosis. But you know her best. You know when she is no longer herself and is no longer enjoying anything. My sympathy to your family as you face each day determining your next steps. Also, my condolences to Maggie's family.