Stage 2 kidney disease

[GreyStella]

Stella has been diagnosed with stage 2 kidney disease. Next week they will take a urine sample through her abdomen and she will start a special diet. I don't even know where to begin or what to think. I wish I had asked more questions. I couldn't even think straight. Any idea how long she has? She will be 9 in November. 😪💔

[tbhounds]

I assume your vet is aware of different blood values seen with Greyhounds-specifically slightly elevated creatinine?

[MP_the4pack]

The only way to get a prognosis is to take several blood and urine samples over time to determine how fast the kidneys are deteriorating. I'm in the process of doing that now with my Canidrome survivor. She's only 5 and in renal failure. 

I feed half commercial kidney kibble and half homemade. 

Homemade is a box of cooked pasta like elbows or similar amount of cooked rice. About 4-6 cups cooked veggies. And 4 baked chicken thighs. Or a dozen scrambled eggs. 

CC gets half cup of homemade and half cup of kibble with a splash of water or broth twice a day. Her meds are amlodipene and benazapril.

Good luck.

[EllenEveBaz]

Take a deep breath.  You and Stella can manage this. 

My Scout had one of the several kinds of kidney failure.  I adopted him at age 9, he was diagnosed with kidney disease at about age 10-11, and lived a good life, until the last few months,  and died at age 13.   I fed him a home diet until the last 6 months, then prescription with home diet add-ins.  I got a lot of info from Dogaware Kidney Disease and many other internet sources.  There are numerous threads here on GT -- try searching "kidney" and "renal".  

The higher renal values referenced by tbhounds above can be found at Feeman article.  Scroll down to Creatinine and BUN.  This is an older publication and doesn't mention a newer test now used as a standard, the SDMA.  

 

 

[GreyStella]

Thanks everyone. I am definitely interested in possibly making her food to complement the kidney diet food we will get from the vet. She did seem knowledgeable about different blood values in greys, so I think she is on track. Luckily Stella doesn't really like any junk food so a change in kibble may not seem like a big sacrifice for her. She foes like peanut butter, does that work with a kidney specific diet? She gets it in a Kong almost daily to go in her kennel. 

[tbhounds]

If you decide to homecook I suggest doing a consultation with a veterinary nutritionist-Dr Remillard is wonderful.  Petdiets.com

In the meantime you can try egg whites, pasta, green tripe.....oh and dark meat chicken is naturally lower in protein than white meat (due to it’s higher fat content).

I also suggest checking the first morning urine for protein and checking the USG (A higher value at or above 1.030 would mean the kidneys are concentrating the urine well) ;-)

[zimsmom]

On 8/18/2019 at 1:16 PM, tbhounds said:

I assume your vet is aware of different blood values seen with Greyhounds-specifically slightly elevated creatinine?

This.  I was told my 1st grey had KF by a vet that had no knowledge that Greyhounds Cr run higher due to their muscle mass.  Had her on KD diet for over a year when I did

my own research & found this out.  She lived till 13 as well. 

[Yvonne]

Hi...wondering if there is someone with greyhound medical experience who can perhaps give me your opinion as to what also may be going on with my greyhound and if you have any more suggestions.

He apparently developed a serious kidney condition that seemed to come out of nowhere?! He is 8, was retired early, very healthy and active?! Could be it's been developing slowly and he got into something toxic that has exasperated the condition.

His recent blood work:

GLU: 97 / BUN 180/ CA 10.4/CRE 12.1

ALB 3.4/ PHOS 13.3 / NA 151/K 4.6/

CL 130/ +CO2 12

HEM 0 LOP 3+ OCT 0

UA;

specific gravity 1.010

Glu 50mg

Ph 5. 

PCV 32%

We have had him on IV drip 8 hrs for the last 4 days. He is drinking water fine and eating well. No vomiting, seizures nor diahrrea.  Have him eating chicken thigh and tuna and is on an antibiotic and phosphate reduction powder. 

After last 5 days he has stopped leaking urine, horrid Sylvia drool has significantly reduced and has a bit more energy than he did?! Any thoughts out there???

Thank you!! 

Yvonne

Edited September 3, 2019 by Yvonne

[JohnF]

With every dog it's different. I've lost 3 to kidney disease over the years. One at age 5 who lasted about 4 weeks post dx, one at 8 (related) lasted about six weeks, and the other at 14 who lived a very happy 18 months after diagnosis. Treat the dog, not the numbers. Do everything you can to protect residual kidney function. Always know that you'll be able to work out let them go before things get too bad. For me that's shortly after they refuse to eat at all, and definitely when they will no longer drink water.

The article here explains the disease and how to treat it quite fluently I think.

 

[Time4ANap]

On 9/3/2019 at 10:12 AM, Yvonne said:

Hi...wondering if there is someone with greyhound medical experience who can perhaps give me your opinion as to what also may be going on with my greyhound and if you have any more suggestions.

He apparently developed a serious kidney condition that seemed to come out of nowhere?! He is 8, was retired early, very healthy and active?! Could be it's been developing slowly and he got into something toxic that has exasperated the condition.

His recent blood work:

GLU: 97 / BUN 180/ CA 10.4/CRE 12.1

ALB 3.4/ PHOS 13.3 / NA 151/K 4.6/

CL 130/ +CO2 12

HEM 0 LOP 3+ OCT 0

UA;

specific gravity 1.010

Glu 50mg

Ph 5. 

PCV 32%

We have had him on IV drip 8 hrs for the last 4 days. He is drinking water fine and eating well. No vomiting, seizures nor diahrrea.  Have him eating chicken thigh and tuna and is on an antibiotic and phosphate reduction powder. 

After last 5 days he has stopped leaking urine, horrid Sylvia drool has significantly reduced and has a bit more energy than he did?! Any thoughts out there???

Thank you!! 

Yvonne

Yvonne - I would suggest making a new post and asking your question in it's own post.   Many people do not read all of the responses from others when a question is posted, so many of those with the knowledge you are looking for may not even see your question when you post it in someone else's topic. 

[waialua]

Almost a year ago we lost Willow to liver cancer. It was fast...noticed she was losing weight, but still eager to go on walks and basically her normal self. Took her into the vet for a CBC and the liver results were bad. The vet wanted to look inside and told her that if it was cancer to not to wake her up. Very sad but it was for the best. Said goodbye to Willow before going to the vet with the knowledge that a quick end was better than a long drawn out one. Sometimes you just know...

[Jakemedic]

We lost our Angel Laci in March to kidney failure.  It seems to be more common than we thought.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to you and Stella. You have an early diagnosis, and it seems to be quite manageable at the stage she is in. Also there is a group on yahoo called K9 Kidneys. They were WONDERFUL, caring and compassionate. They had excellent medical advice and are all volunteers. Google them and send them a message.  They will ask for lab values and provide advice that both you, your vet and Stella can use.  There is no charge for the service.  They even put a banner on their website of Laci’s pictures when she died as a tribute to her.  Amazing people!  Message me if you can not locate contact info for them  I kept their info.  

On a positive note, we are in the process of adopting a little girl fresh off the track. Even though I shed a tear as i write this, greys bring so much love and joy into our lives.  We are excited to open our hearts to our next hound.  God Bless.

Jake and Ann

[GreyStella]

Update on Stella. She is now almost completely converted to the kidney dog food and really seems to enjoy it. She goes back for blood work in December to check her levels. She seems her regular self. Thanks so much for all the information and support!!❤

[GreytTerp]

14 hours ago, GreyStella said:

Update on Stella. She is now almost completely converted to the kidney dog food and really seems to enjoy it. She goes back for blood work in December to check her levels. She seems her regular self. Thanks so much for all the information and support!!❤

Hi!  Could I ask which kidney dog food you went with?  We just received a recommendation to start transitioning over, though Marv is just in the early phases (very high end of normal but definitely trending upwards in the past 10 months).  Otherwise, Marvin (a seasoned 10.5 years old) is in good health, minus the usual old man wobblies in the rear.  

Wishing you the best with Stella.

[GreyStella]

Hill's prescription K/D food. Chicken flavour dry kibble.

[Rickiesmom]

If anyone's hound decides they don't like or are tired of KD, I recently learned, thanks to needing a kidney diet for one of my hounds, that Royal Canin makes their renal diet in three different "aromas", i.e., flavours, so if one doesn't suit, immediately or over time, there are others to try.  Only difference among them is how they taste, and maybe calorie density not sure.  Minor downside is the largest bag is only 8kg.  Easy to handle, but I buy two at a time as we go through it quicker than the larger bags most dry food comes in.  I use the canned to wrap meds in. 

RC doesn't have renal dog treats, but Hill's has treats compatible with several prescription diets including KD, so we are going to try those.

No affiliation or interest in RC, just thought this information might potentially be useful. 

 

 

[GreyStella]

Update re: Stella's kidney food. I fed her the prescription k/d and her fur went to crap.Her latest book work showed no progression on her disease so I am giving her a half and half mix of the k/d and Canadian Naturals salmon and sweet potatoes. She loves it and her fur looks beautiful. I think it's a good compromise. 

[cleptogrey]

felix had kidney disease due to anaplasmosis and lyme disease. numbers were manageable until the end- nearly 2 years after diagnosis. if you look up kidney disease or kidney diet here on GT you have hit the jackpot in wealth of options and support. glad you reached out, and it's not an immediate death sentence. just watch numbers and make sure your pup doesn't get that bad at the end and start having seizures. their breath will tell you what's going on. as there are more and more toxins in the system their breath reflects the levels. i was directed to check out IRIS, scale and info on kidney disease. good luck, don't panic.