Jakemedic

we joined an online group that is dedicated to kidney disease in dogs. I dont want to list it for fear we upset the moderators here. Message me and I can share that info privately.

Thank you! We went to the vet this morning and the labs were confirmed. We will be confirming her RBC’s Tuesday as it appears she isn’t producing any or much through her bone marrow. We researched out and have started a home made mixture food which she seems to love! We are very blessed that she has an appetite! So many people state that their dogs don’t have much of an appetite with kidney failure. So far, she is happy, hungry and enjoying life.

I just joined after lurking around for a real long time. My bride and I have been greyhound parents for nearly 20 years. We totally understand what you are going through, as we lost one of our original girls to osteo and the other to liver cancer. They make such wonderful companions providing unconditional love and joy to our lives. Our thoughts and prayers are with you, your family and of course your loving companion Joey. Keep him comfortable and enjoy your time together. They are truly amazing creatures.

Thank you for your response! We are taking Laci back to the vet this morning. Knowledge is power for sure! The kidney disease charts are much appreciated. We will post her lab values and treatment course once figured out. Thanks again!

Hello, Have read this site for years, never really needed to post. My sincere gratitude to the members here for creating such a wonderful place to read about what ails and some fantastic fun stories about our beloved pets. My bride and I have rescued these loving and gentle creatures for better part of 20 years. Our first two, Belle and Luci (sisters from same litter) crossed the rainbow bridge nearly 8 years ago now. After Luci died, my bride came home with Laci. She is a black broken leg girl. I openly admit I wondered why would you bring home another one so quickly after Luci died, but she quickly fit in. After Belle died, Laci became an our dog. She loves her heated blanket in the winter time, her food, her walks and most importantly our love. Recently we noticed that she wasnt eating her hard food (unless prompted with a piece of something else) and had a noticeable drop in weight. We took her into the vet thinking it was time for a dental and she would be good to go again. We recently relocated and were recommended to the vet by my sister in law. The vet was quite familiar with Greyhounds, which is a good thing. We drew bloods and she got her shots updated. We scheduled the dental for Monday, and doc said she would call with her lab results later yesterday afternoon. When she did call, it was not quite what we had expected. It turns out that she has tick borne disease, even though we had treated her in the past for it. The last vet didnt run tests for tick borne diseases, just heart worm. That, looking back at the phone call, was the least of her worrys. The vet said that she has renal failure. In comparing her labs from the previous vet (which were elevated for dogs, but for greyhounds within normal limits) these were off the chart! Vet said we needed to cancel her dental for now and come in today to discuss treatment and to what extent. Our goal is no heroics, (i joked with my bride no doggy dentures), keep her comfortable and happy as much as possible. I spent most of last evening looking here at forum posts from others that went through this. Apparently it is quite common. What I did notice however is that most of the posts were quite old, generally 8-12 years old. I thought I would start a new post regarding kidney failure, and share our experiences and look to the group for ideas, recipes and general words of wisdom. At this point Laci has a HUGE appetite (we went and got her some good canned food earlier in the week. She is experiencing lots of thirst, and quite clear urine though, which appears to be two of the more common symptoms of kidney failure. I apologize for the Hemingway novel for a first post, but would like to draw from the wisdom and experience of others who have found themselves in the same situation. Thank you and may God Bless our wonderful animals.