Kidney Failure

[levriere]

It is through tears that I'm reaching out for any advice, and comfort too, from those of you who have had to help their baby through this terrible disease.

 

Since Casey has a heart murmur his vet suspected that he was having heart problems so in addition to lab work he was placed on a portable monitor. Well, the lab results came back with renal failure. We're going to be seeing the vet in a little while to have the monitor removed and find out what the treatment plan is going to be. I guess initially he'll need a course of IV fluids, then we'll see.

 

Keep my sweet boy in your prayers.

 

Joanne

[Guest june]

I don't have any advice but I am so sorry you are facing this. I'll keep you in my prayers that things aren't as bad as they seem.

june

[ripley488]

I have had 3 hound with kidney disease.

 

Your best treatment is sub-q fluids at home daily. That will manually flush the toxins from he kidneys just like dialysis in humans.

 

Sounds scary, but it is really easy to do & really extends their life expectancy with this diease.

[BauersMom]

Do you have the numbers from the lab?

 

We just went through this with Princess in March. By the time we realized something was wrong, her numbers were, as the vet said, "catastrophic" and there wasn't much we could do. But I did do a ton of research when we first got her results and there is quite a bit you can do for dogs not in full crisis mode - sub-Q fluids, diet changes, phosphate binders, etc. Hopefully you will have lots of options at this point.

[Magdalyn58]

I have no idea if this could be helpful, but I just read about a study done on humans with kidney disease that were given baking soda. Their kidneys began functioning again. The article was in The Mail Online (UK), but quotes an article from a peer-reviewed medical journal, The Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. I copied the article below:

 

A daily dose of baking soda could transform the lives of patients with failing kidneys, scientists claim.

 

 

A British team says the kitchen product - also known as sodium bicarbonate - can dramatically slow the progress of chronic kidney disease.

 

 

The household staple, used for baking, cleaning, bee stings and acid indigestion, is so effective it could prevent patients from needing dialysis, the results show.

 

Study leader Magdi Yaqoob, Professor of Renal Medicine at the Royal London Hospital, said: 'It's amazing.

 

 

'This is the first randomised controlled study of its kind.'

 

'A simple remedy like sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), when used appropriately, can be very effective.

 

Around three million people in the UK suffer from chronic kidney disease.

 

The condition ranges in severity from a mild degree of poor functioning to complete kidney failure.

 

Seriously affected patients may have to spend time each day on a dialysis machine which takes over the function of the kidneys.

 

An estimated 37,800 patients in the UK receive renal replacement therapy, which involves dialysis or a kidney transplant.

 

The cost of looking after kidney failure patients costs the NHS £30,000 a year - soaking up 3 per cent of the entire NHS budget.

 

 

Doctors have long wondered about the potential value of baking soda for kidney disease patients who commonly suffer from low bicarbonate levels, a condition called metabolic acidosis.

 

The pilot study conducted at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, was the first controlled test of the treatment in a clinical setting.

 

Researchers studied 134 patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and metabolic acidosis.

 

One group was randomly allocated a small daily dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form in addition to their usual care.

 

 

 

 

 

Over a period of one year, the kidney function of these patients declined about two thirds more slowly than that of individuals not given the tablets. In fact, their rate of decline was little different from what would be expected with normal ageing.

 

Rapid progression of kidney disease occurred in just 9 per cent of patients given baking soda compared with 45 per cent of the non-treated group.

 

Patients taking sodium bicarbonate tablets were also less likely to develop end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis.

 

The findings were published yesterday in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

 

Study leader Magdi Yaqoob, Professor of Renal Medicine at the Royal London Hospital, said: 'This study shows baking soda can be useful for people with kidney failure. That is, as long as the dose is regulated and under supervision.

 

'What happens is the inflammation of kidney is prevented by baking soda because a chemical reaction takes place limiting ammonia production in the kidney.

 

'This cheap and simple strategy also improves patients' nutritional well-being and has the potential to improve quality of life and of course a clinical outcome that can remove the need for dialysis.

 

 

'Baking soda is not classed as a drug so this study has never been tried before.'

 

The scientists pointed out that their research was limited by not having a 'placebo group' of patients receiving a 'dummy' treatment.

 

 

'Our results will need validation in a multi-centre study,' said Prof Yaqoob.

 

Dr Kevin Harris, senior medical adviser at Kidney Research UK, welcomed the study.

 

He said it should 'help to inform future guidelines and assist our research fellows who are currently working extremely hard to ultimately find a cure.'

 

 

 

 

[EllenEveBaz]

It's scary, but try not to panic. Some dogs can live comfortably with kidney problems for a long time. Try this website -- it's huge, but you can take it piece by piece. It's well researched: dogaware kidney disease site

[tbhounds]

Is your vet familiar with gh renal values??

[duncan41]

I know this is scary, but if you have a copy of the bloodwork results and can post them here, there are many people on this site that can provide guidance. These dogs can scare the bee-gee-zuss out of you and turn out to be "normal" for them. On the other hand, if there is indeed a problem, there are many people on this forum who will gladly share their knowledge.

Sending prayers.

 

 

 

[krissn333]

My friend's old girl was diagnosed with renal failure almost a year ago. She has been on Azodyl. It has been AMAZING for her. She has dropped some weight, as kidney dogs tend to do, but, she has a fabulous appetite and an incredible amount of energy, even for a "healthy" dog her age. She even did some zoomies in the yard with her much younger greyhound brother the other day. Other than being on the thin side you would never know that she is ill.

 

This medication, combined with a kidney friendly diet (IMO homecooked is the best way to go) could definitely give you some really good results

[JohnF]

How sad. I too have lost 3 to the disease over the years and each one fared quite differently. You basically treat the individual and not the numbers. What works for one might not for the next etc.

I found the site listed here to be incredibly helpful and supportive. Also the dogaware site already mentioned earlier.

If you try to imagine they feel like they have constant flu, inappetance, nausea and no energy, then you'll see what you're trying to alter. I've always tried to let them go before they get too weak and into the having seizures stage. With one it was 18 months post dx, the middle one 8 weeks and the first one only 4 weeks (congenital problem).

Try to hang in there and try the treatments suggested by your vet but go by quality of life and when it reaches end stage talk to someone who hasn't been quite so close to the coping strategy.. often that will have to be your vet.