Chronic kidney disease

[mmcginty]

A couple of months ago (2/26/2020) Brandy was in stage 4 CKD, several of her numbers were off the chart. They had me start giving her subcutaneous fluids daily. I have to admit we skipped a few days, I was dealing with Jake at the time too

Two weeks ago (4/17/2020) she she had improved quite a bit, most of her numbers were back in the "normal" range, but a couple of them were still very high. According to the kidney disease web site, stage 2 CKD.

I have been religious about giving her fluids every day for 3 weeks now and I think it's paying off, she seems stronger and her appetite is consistent, as long as I feed her baby food with a spoon... while she hides from me under the bed -- but I really don't care what it takes at this point, I will do literally anything to get her healthy! We'll worry about details later, maybe someday make it back to something near normal, but that seems like a lot to expect.

We go back for more labs on Monday, hoping against hope she's out of the woods. Poking holes in her is wearing on both of us, the jury is still out which of us it's hardest on... But at the moment, losing her is not an option, so... all I can do, is all I can do.

 

[Ann]

If you can, try also giving her milk thistle. My first Sheltie had kidney issues and milk thistle, which is supposed to help the liver and kidneys, helped bring her numbers back to normal. I'd get the best brand you can...I use Marin Plus (I get it here, from Chewy) at my vet's suggestion. It's a chew that you can give like a treat, just once a day. I don't know if it will help, but worth a try. I hope the new labs show improvement! Pats to Brandy.

 

[Sharon7]

I'm sorry, I've been through this twice so I know what a struggle it is for all concerned. I hope her labs do show some improvement. I would just caution to be careful how much straight protein you are giving her (baby food) since that is hard on kidneys. Although I know sometimes it's whatever you can get them to eat.

 

[mmcginty]

If you can, try also giving her milk thistle. My first Sheltie had kidney issues and milk thistle, which is supposed to help the liver and kidneys, helped bring her numbers back to normal. I'd get the best brand you can...I use Marin Plus (I get it here, from Chewy) at my vet's suggestion. It's a chew that you can give like a treat, just once a day. I don't know if it will help, but worth a try. I hope the new labs show improvement! Pats to Brandy.

Thanks, Ann, I will give it a try!

 

[mmcginty]

I'm sorry, I've been through this twice so I know what a struggle it is for all concerned. I hope her labs do show some improvement. I would just caution to be careful how much straight protein you are giving her (baby food) since that is hard on kidneys. Although I know sometimes it's whatever you can get them to eat.

That's where I am now, anything she will eat is a godsend. Hopefully as her appetite comes back she will eat other things.

 

[Cindy]

I haven't gone through this with a dog, but I did with my cat (and I know KD is pretty much almost normal in old cats).
getting her to eat was a challenge, tried everything.
We had ups and downs, but what I really learned was that wisper needed to be on fluids for the rest of her life.
after her first recovery with fluids that I gave her for a month or so, she crashed once they stopped. She rebounded when I started them again, only to crash (and need to be put down) once again.
It wasn't that I gave up on giving her fluids, but that no one told me that it would be best to keep her on a maintenance dosage for the rest of her life. Maybe that's not a thing they normally do, but I would have appreciated the honesty.
She was 17 when she died, so things were probably more drastic because of that.

So all i can add is ask the vet is maybe Brandy will just needs fluids at a maintenance dose/regime for the rest of her lif to keep her numbers in range.

 

[Ginny Barry]

I'm so sorry that you, Brandy, and your family are going through this heartbreaking experience; I went through it with my Sheltie and have learned some things since then. One of the things that are suggested is to reduce the phosphorus in the diet. A great article is available online that has some very helpful information in it about Kidney Disease. "Recipe for Low-Phosphorous Dog Food, Caring For A Dog With Chronic Renal Failure" on Eats Write Shoots. There are also dog food brands that are low-phosphorus/low protein. I know two owners this approach has been successful for. My heart goes out to you, and I wish you and Brandy the very best.

 

[Ginny Barry]

I'm so sorry that you, Brandy, and your family are going through this heartbreaking experience; I went through it with my Sheltie and have learned some things since then. One of the things that are suggested is to reduce the phosphorus in the diet. A great article is available online that has some very helpful information in it about Kidney Disease. "Recipe for Low-Phosphorous Dog Food, Caring For A Dog With Chronic Renal Failure" on Eats Write Shoots. There are also dog food brands that are low-phosphorus/low protein. I know two owners this approach has been successful for. My heart goes out to you, and I wish you and Brandy the very best.

*I would also like to add this information that comes from VCA,
A kidney support diet for dogs with CKD will contain the following key components on a dry matter basis:
Protein 14-20%
Phosphorus 0.2 - 0.5%
Sodium ≤ 0.3%
Omega-3 fatty acids 0.4 - 2.5%
*We went lower on the protein, increase the fat a bit. But it was good fat. We did the omegas, this was part of his supplements.

 

[Chris]

If you can, try also giving her milk thistle. My first Sheltie had kidney issues and milk thistle, which is supposed to help the liver and kidneys, helped bring her numbers back to normal. I'd get the best brand you can...I use Marin Plus (I get it here, from Chewy) at my vet's suggestion. It's a chew that you can give like a treat, just once a day. I don't know if it will help, but worth a try. I hope the new labs show improvement! Pats to Brandy.

I remember this, Ann -- you had excellent results with milk thistle!