Kidney Failure And Back End Weakness

[Guest LindsaySF]

Excellent advice from everyone here.

 

Chase is 14 and in early kidney failure. She won't eat the kidney diet herself, so I syringe feed it to her and also supplement with other foods. She runs around the yard and still seems happy. I wouldn't panic about the kidney failure until you know the actual numbers. Dogs can live several years with failing kidneys if you catch it early enough and manage it with diet and meds. Chase is losing protein in her urine, but it's still concentrated and her blood levels of protein are still good, so she's stable. She has some hind-end weakness, which I attribute to muscle loss. (She was only 39 lbs when I got her, and while she's gained the weight back, her back legs have no muscle tone at all).

 

Now I am going to add something really stupid, but hopefully it helps. Chase had a few incidents of severe hind end weakness that freaked me out. She basically collapsed her hind end in the yard and I panicked. You know what it was? Poop on her butt. Her poop was a bit soft, and there was some 'residue', and several minutes after pooping, she was walking along acting totally normal, and then her back legs went out from under her. Then she walked a few more normal steps, then collapsed again and couldn't walk, and was weak all the way into the house, needed assistance. Inside I looked her all over, saw the residue, cleaned it, and miraculously she was all better, walking normally. I was wondering if she was hoping to wipe her butt on the ground or something but couldn't manage to maneuver herself to do it? And it wasn't like a huge mess either, it was just a tiny spot on her fur, barely noticeable, but enough for her to feel it and to upset her. Chase did this at the vet too when she had diarrhea (she was there 2 weeks for an infection), the vets were stumped until I told them to wipe her butt. So I'm just throwing that idea out there, since Elton has diarrhea.

 

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

[Guest shanesmom]

Really good advice. Thanks everyone. Lindsey, Elton has had poop on his butt before too and did freak out but he snapped at the air next to himself while spinning around when that happened so I don't think there was any on him when he fell on the stairs. Good news though is that he is not having any more problems with the stairs. Still remaining hopeful that everything we are trying will keep him with me for a long time still. Trying to get some weight back on him. Taking it slow though.

[Ronni]

On 8/1/2011 at 12:19 AM, JJNg said:

Sorry to hear about Elton's diagnosis. Do you have his actual bloodwork numbers? Kidney failure might cause weakness if there are abnormalities in electrolytes (usually sodium, potassium, or calcium), but that's not very common in dogs.

 

The weight loss is a bit of a concern. How long had he not been eating well and having diarrhea? Is his appetite back to normal now, or just better than before? Any protein in his urine? Did your vet check his blood pressure? If he is losing protein in his urine, that could be contributing to weight loss, and adding a medication like enalapril or benazepril might help.

 

I would definitely talk to your vet about starting him on a prescription food like k/d or NF. Restricting phosphorus intake is very important with kidney disease, and going with one of the prescription diets is the most effective way to do this. I had an IG with kidney disease, and he did well on k/d. I lost him about 9 months later, but to a combination of other health-related problems, not the kidney failure itself.

 

Elton might be having trouble with his back end due to arthritis or a neurologic issue. Your vet should be able to tell by doing an exam. Pain medication and anti-inflammatories might help, but you have to be especially careful using medications with kidney disease. Novox is essentially a generic Rimadyl, and NSAIDs should be avoided as much as possible as they can make the kidneys worse. If you need meds for pain, tramadol and gabapentin might be better choices. If he has arthritis, I'd also try to rely more on supplements like glucosamine/chondroitin products or Adequan. Dasuquin is a glucosamine product that also helps with pain/inflammation, where most other joint supplements don't.

Rimadyl is very dangerous and truly destroyed my last dog, a Rottie. My dog is now on Galliprant, which is much more kidney friendly and only been on the market about two years. He still has his moments with the back legs, but is doing much better and does not seem to be in pain. Ask your vet about it. Good luck!!