Kassie Is On Azodyl

[NancyB]

Having just lost my Ruby to kidney failure on Aug. 28, I was so sad to find out recently that Kassie also has kidney disease. My regular vet was on vacation and the doctor in her office suggested I put Kassie on Azodyl. She has been on it for a week now.

 

Does anyone here have their greyhound on it and if you do has it helped?

 

Edited to post her results

 

Urine 9-30-11

 

blood 10-3-11

Edited October 25, 2011 by NancyB

[racindog]

I gave that and Epakatin to Aggie who was diagnosed at 11 yoa. Can't say for sure if it helped but I think it did-Aggie didn't cross over till she was 14 1/2. I thought it was usually given in conjunction with the Epakatin. I also fed Aggie raw green tripe which is excellent for kidney dogs, Solid Gold Holistic Blendtz and low P treats (like figs) and people food for msot of those years. I don't believe her kidney disease was the cause of her crossing over either as it was farily well managed-it was that in combination with other things. Giving fluids helps a lot too I believe whcih I also did. There were no observed side effects from teh Azodyl/Epakitin. Hugs to Kassie.

[kudzu]

I am so sorry to hear that. Having gone through this with two pets, I understand some of what you are feeling. What are Kassie's values?

 

If you have not yet joined the K9Kidneys &/or K9KidneyDiet groups I suggest you do. They are both a wealth of info.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9KIDNEYS/

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9KidneyDiet/

 

Good thoughts going out to Kassie.

[krissn333]

My dear friend (whose name is also Nancy ) has her old girl on this and it has been AMAZING for her. Sweet is 12 and was diagnosed over a year ago with severe renal disease. She is skinny as a rail (as tends to happen with kidney pups), but she is bright eyed, has a great appetite (eats EVERY meal!), and even plays in the house and does a lap or two now and then with her younger male greyhound, Bus. Just over the last month or so, she is spending a little more time snoozing on the couch in the sunbeams, but her appetite is still great and she still has a little bit of zoom that bursts through now and then

 

I hope that Kassie has the same great results

[Tallgreydogmom]

We have used Azodyl. Our vet could not believe how fast it helped bring our girls kidney values back within a normal range. She believes it extended our girls life by 3 years.

 

I hope it works for your baby.

Edited October 13, 2011 by Tallgreydogmom

[NeylasMom]

I tried it for Neyla when she got kidney issues as a result of her pamidronate treatment, but I really don't know if it helped at all. I have recommended it to other people since then because I think it's a supplement that can't hurt, but can certainly help. My understanding is it's really only probiotics along with fiber that helps get them to the gut where they can repopulate to help reduce the increased toxic load caused by the failing kidneys.

 

The other thing I heard all of the time on the K9 kidney thread was fish oil, as well as pepcid. Those 2 seem to be the absolutes, everyone starts their dog on those right away, with the Azodyl being another possibility.

 

I did also start to look into Standard Process's kidney formula but didn't get far. It has a lot of different ingredients so researching all of them would be a challenge if you're like me and like to do that sort of thing, but they are well regarded for their products and quality control.

 

I'm curious about the values too I will admit. Are you positive your vet isn't misinterpreting normal greyhound values? Does she have symptoms?

[greyhead]

We're using only CQ-10 for Shane's kidney problems, along with Royal Canin MP (medium protein) kibble. The K9 Kidney list ran a poll on CQ-10, and the results indicated that it works best for dogs whose creatinine is between 2 and 3. So far, so good.

[Batmom]

Gidget came to me on it. She had had an acute kidney failure incident. She was mostly recovered when I adopted her. My vet and I had talked about taking her off of it once her values had been stable for 6-9 months. They have been but I just hate to mess with success so she still gets it. I honestly don't know how much good it does. The Greyhounds Only people who took care of her when she was ill might know better.

[kudzu]

Fish oil, CoQ10, b-complex & add'l b-12 were the ones that seemed to help my guy the most but the only one I could show a correlation between supplement & improved numbers was CoQ10.

[NancyB]

Thank you to everyone that has posted to this thread. I added Kassie's urine and blood results in my first post. Her vet wants to check her blood again in the middle of November.

[EllenEveBaz]

Nancy, as far as I can tell (bad eyesight), her creatinine is high, even for a greyhound, but her BUN/creatinine ratio is in the normal range, as is her urine specific gravity. I don't see just a BUN level. Most greyhound-savvy vets say that even if the creatinine is high, if the BUN and specific gravity are okay, it's not kidney failure. (See Suzanne Stack's GreytHealth articles and Bill Feeman's Greyhound Medical Idiosyncracies. My apologies if you are already familiar with these from your experiences with Ruby.)

 

We went through a similar diagnosis recently with Nutmeg. Her BUN and creatinine levels rose and her specific gravity decreased over several months of testing. But she showed no symptoms -- not drinking or peeing any more, appetite continued good. The vet and I both did some research, and found that some vets would still consider Nutmeg's values as relatively normal for a greyhound. And then her values improved on another round of testing. Her values might have been affected by some raw foods I routinely used to give as treats. I am keeping her on 1,000 units of Omega 3 per 10 pounds of weight as a kidney protective measure.

 

My dear Scout did have chronic kidney failure. I put him on a diet based on the principles at Dog Aware Kidney articles and Omega 3 oil. He also got as much acupuncture as he would allow. He made it over 2 years past diagnosis, even with several other serious chronic health problems. He was on Azodyl over the last few months, simply to help clear the toxins from the kidney failure, and his kidney values improved significantly. As I understand it, the enzyme helps some dogs feel better (fewer toxins circulating) but doesn't actually improve kidney function.

 

Hugs to you and Ms. Kassie.

Edited October 26, 2011 by EllenEveBaz

[NeylasMom]

I would agree with the above, except that the protein in the urine is quite high. I don't have enough knowledge to say whether that could be from something else. I thought that generally protein in the urine equals a kidney issue, but the increased phosphatase is maybe odd. I only remember that being indicative of osteo, but a quick Google search indicates liver disease as well.

 

You haven't yet said, is she symptomatic? What originally caused you to do the bloodwork?

Edited October 26, 2011 by NeylasMom

[JJNg]

Nancy, as far as I can tell (bad eyesight), her creatinine is high, even for a greyhound, but her BUN/creatinine ratio is in the normal range, as is her urine specific gravity. I don't see just a BUN level.

Urea Nitrogen is BUN, and it's slightly elevated as well. And the urine specific gravity of 1.020 is on the dilute side. Although I typically prefer to have a urine sample collected at the same time as the bloodwork for a direct comparison, I would be concerned about kidney disease with those numbers. I agree that a creatinine of 2.7 is high even for a greyhound. Dehydration can cause BUN and creatinine to be elevated, but in that case, the urine should be a lot more concentrated (even 1.030 can be considered borderline).

 

I would agree with the above, except that the protein in the urine is quite high. I don't have enough knowledge to say whether that could be from something else.

There are not a lot of RBC and WBC in the urine, so the elevated protein on the UA is 'real' and significant. And yes, this usually indicates some degree of kidney disease. Has her blood pressure been checked? What about a urine protein:creatinine (UPC) ratio?

 

the increased phosphatase is maybe odd. I only remember that being indicative of osteo, but a quick Google search indicates liver disease as well.

Alkaline phosphatase is often elevated in older dogs and not necessarily significant. At 247, that's really not all that high, and I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point. Alk phos is a fairly non-specific value. Among other reasons, it can be elevated due to liver/biliary disease, Cushings, use of steroids and some other meds, bone growth in puppies, healing fractures, and bone tumors.

 

You haven't yet said, is she symptomatic? What originally caused you to do the bloodwork?

I think this is one of the most important questions. If she's not symptomatic, it looks like the kidney disease was caught early as an incidental finding. Has your vet suggested a diet change? A fairly new medication used to treat kidney disease is calcitriol, which helps regulate the calcium/phosphorus balance and has been shown in studies to slow down disease progression, increase survival times, and improve quality of life. Calcitriol has to be started early, before you have an increased phosphorus level, so Kassie may be a good candidate to consider for this.

[Batmom]

Thanks for taking the time to explain those things, jjng.

 

I am not a fan of dogaware or the yahoo kidney group. Much misguided and dangerous "advice" in those sources.

 

So far our chronic kidney disease dog is well-managed by dietary change alone, but we don't have proteinuria.

 

Best wishes for your sweet girl, Nancy.

[NancyB]

I took a urine sample to check for a UTI because Kassie was leaking urine. She is 11 and I thought a small amount of urine leaking is normal but it progressed during the month of September and I would find soaked dog beds in the morning. I know it was her because I am still sleeping downstairs (because of Albi) and I know where everyone sleeps. My vet was on vacation and the doctor there told me her protein level was a 3 which is high even for a greyhound (yes, I have Dr. Feeman's booklet and have read Dr. Stack's health articles ) and said her urine wasn't concentrated. She put her on Proin and said she wanted to take blood the following Monday. On Wednesday she got the results of the blood test and said Kassie has the beginning stages of kidney disease and said I should put her on Azodyl (which I never heard of before) and put her on a kidney diet. Kass is eating, drinking and peeing normally. Ruby's kidney disease was advanced and the only thing she was on was a phosphate binder and was allowed to eat whatever she wanted.

 

 

Thanks for the explanations, it really is helpful. Kass is our last greyhound and this is not something we expected (our hearts hurt too much already.) They're supposed to live forever, right?

[Batmom]

Nancy, years ago we had a nongreyhound who had chronic kidney disease from middle age onward. She lived a long, active life -- longer and more active than most of her breed -- and died at a ripe old age of something unrelated. Hoping that is the case with your Kassie girl.