Christo750
Source of the Right Arm
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
So I just wanted to vent here I guess. I've been to enough animal hospitals and vets to know what to do but to be honest, it's been really wearing me out.
So this is my little angel Shakira:
The sneeziest, sweetest little rescue there ever was. They found her as a stray, and so we think she was about 7 years old when we rescued her. As an older rescue, her health history is a little unknown, and so far has had gastrointestinal issues and issues with anemia. She was on a steroid for close to a year with no real plan to ween her off.
An abridged version of the story:
The week of Thanksgiving last year, we put her on what we thought was a healthier diet, to both help with her gastro issues and her allergies. She started having irregular bowel movements that culminated in her needing to go to the vet the Friday after Thanksgiving. What we thought was just the result of a dietary adjustment turned out to be a major kidney problem, one my vet (now old vet because of this misinformation) labeled as kidney FAILURE, due to her off-the-charts phosphorus levels. She needed to go to the hospital ASAP for fluids and likely needed to get admitted, but the odds of her surviving were slim, according to the vet.
Turns out, her phosphorus levels were only off the charts because they didn't have the capacity to read levels that high. She goes to the animal hospital the next morning first thing and winds up staying there for close to 4 full days. She came back like a CHAMP. Her phosphorus levels came way down, but she still had signs of kidney trouble, and it was labeled as stage 2 chronic kidney disease. Not failure. She was back to her energetic and loving self in no time at all. A few follow-up visits through December and January, and her levels related to her kidney issues continued to improve, putting her likely at only the beginning stages of stage 2 kidney disease. Turns out the food gave her severe pancreatitis as well, which I guess fired into overdrive whatever pre-existing kidney issues were happening. She got her diet changed to renal dry food and low-fat wet food. It's a great balance and she loves the food and she's happy.
I've been told by numerous doctors (and heard plenty of anecdotes) that dogs can still live a few more happy years with these underlying issues. And she remains in really good spirits and relatively good health, given what she's going through. She's energetic on walks, plenty playful, still has her appetite, thirst, etc. The issue I'm having is just what ailments are what. If she doesn't want to eat is it from the gastro issue? Kidney issue? Pancreas issue? Is there something else? With Kidney issues, there can be signs of blood clotting, protein loss, etc. Little changes in her behavior that would otherwise be normal can't help but stress my fiance and me out at home. There's been an abundance of vet bills on top of home renovation stuff on a house we bought last September, all while we're planning a wedding happening in 3 months.
But when all of this is done and she comes into bed with us, she walks right up to me, licks my face, and lays down next to me to go to sleep. Wouldn't trade that for anything. My little baby.
Does anyone else have a pet with kidney issues? How did you deal?
So this is my little angel Shakira:
The sneeziest, sweetest little rescue there ever was. They found her as a stray, and so we think she was about 7 years old when we rescued her. As an older rescue, her health history is a little unknown, and so far has had gastrointestinal issues and issues with anemia. She was on a steroid for close to a year with no real plan to ween her off.
An abridged version of the story:
The week of Thanksgiving last year, we put her on what we thought was a healthier diet, to both help with her gastro issues and her allergies. She started having irregular bowel movements that culminated in her needing to go to the vet the Friday after Thanksgiving. What we thought was just the result of a dietary adjustment turned out to be a major kidney problem, one my vet (now old vet because of this misinformation) labeled as kidney FAILURE, due to her off-the-charts phosphorus levels. She needed to go to the hospital ASAP for fluids and likely needed to get admitted, but the odds of her surviving were slim, according to the vet.
Turns out, her phosphorus levels were only off the charts because they didn't have the capacity to read levels that high. She goes to the animal hospital the next morning first thing and winds up staying there for close to 4 full days. She came back like a CHAMP. Her phosphorus levels came way down, but she still had signs of kidney trouble, and it was labeled as stage 2 chronic kidney disease. Not failure. She was back to her energetic and loving self in no time at all. A few follow-up visits through December and January, and her levels related to her kidney issues continued to improve, putting her likely at only the beginning stages of stage 2 kidney disease. Turns out the food gave her severe pancreatitis as well, which I guess fired into overdrive whatever pre-existing kidney issues were happening. She got her diet changed to renal dry food and low-fat wet food. It's a great balance and she loves the food and she's happy.
I've been told by numerous doctors (and heard plenty of anecdotes) that dogs can still live a few more happy years with these underlying issues. And she remains in really good spirits and relatively good health, given what she's going through. She's energetic on walks, plenty playful, still has her appetite, thirst, etc. The issue I'm having is just what ailments are what. If she doesn't want to eat is it from the gastro issue? Kidney issue? Pancreas issue? Is there something else? With Kidney issues, there can be signs of blood clotting, protein loss, etc. Little changes in her behavior that would otherwise be normal can't help but stress my fiance and me out at home. There's been an abundance of vet bills on top of home renovation stuff on a house we bought last September, all while we're planning a wedding happening in 3 months.
But when all of this is done and she comes into bed with us, she walks right up to me, licks my face, and lays down next to me to go to sleep. Wouldn't trade that for anything. My little baby.
Does anyone else have a pet with kidney issues? How did you deal?
