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NinaA

NinaA

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Okay. Did not see this until just now. So sorry. I have been treating Moonlight for kidney disease for a couple of years. She was having repeated UTI's (which caused the damage) until we did an ultrasound. Bad news - I saw the ultrasound and her kidneys were obvious, but hers were huge with infection and damaged. They are easily visible. Good news. I'm on the Facebook Canine Kidney Disease forum, and they are a huge help. Advice. Recipes for food, etc. I can tell you Hills Canine K/D prescription food costs $65 for 17 lbs. and my girl hates it. It's basically corn and pork fat. This disease is probably what's making her so picky. Moonlight got that way. You will learn a lot, hopefully in a short period. There are four stages, but basically two levels - early (1 and 2) and late (3 and 4). Sounds, I'm sorry to say that you might be level 4. This forum offers lots of feeding advice. You kid of have to experiment. Since Moonlight's is not late stage yet, and since she is almost 12, I decided to do a modified diet to keep her happy and since she has other issues. I feel a complicated menu that even my husband watching me can't figure out, but she loves it. You can come up with something, too. I have found that I need to watch the protein and phosphorus levels in manufactured food - they need to be as low as possible, and the fat levels in everything (to prevent pancreatitis). Also avoid salt. Try the prescription food, but you will find it gross. Raw feed is probably best, but I'm not to that stage. At her level she gets a cup of kibble (mixed 1 part prescription and 2 parts Wellness Senior which has low protein and phosphorus), and a cup or so of a combination of about two heaping spoons of boiled chicken thigh with about a half cup (uncooked) white rice added to the water, two heaping spoons of vegetables of some sort, and a teaser on top of a few slices of hot dog, or a few little pieces of bacon, or a little bit of cooked hamburger, or boiled or roasted beef or pork. I also put salt free beef broth or chicken broth with all of it. The broth gives flavor without fat and any kind of juice adds fluids which are important. You will have to figure out what works best for you. I do urine tests on Moonlight once a week. It's actually pretty easy, and I can check her protein levels and other factors with that. I report all this to the vet and it enables us to catch UTIs before they can get started. PM me if you have questions, but I strongly urge you to go to the Facebook group. Good luck. As I said, Moonlight has had this for I guess three years, and there are people on Facebook who have been handling it for a long time.
 
NinaA

NinaA

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Forgot to mention. You might also want to keep her lady parts shaved and the area around shaved too and keep her very clean. Wash or use baby wipes three times a day. Helps with bacteria. I have to do this.
 
NinaA

NinaA

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My girl, Moonlight, is in stage one or two. Sounds like you have stage four. This sounds genetic. Moonight's kidney's are large, but her urethra is very, very short. Thus UTIs.

So sorry.
 
K

Kimkc

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I am so sorry to hear about Thea. Last year, our one year old Sheltie got sick over Memorial Day weekend. We waited until Tuesday morning and the vet got him in first thing. They asked me to leave him so they could run some tests. I was thinking he ate something or had giardia or something simple. Imagine my shock when the vet called personally to tell me this puppy was in end-stage kidney failure. I rallied the family and we all met at the vets office, thinking we may have to say goodbye. We decided to go ahead w/ the "doggy dialysis" and for the next 3 days we waited. He was so sick and listless. On the 4th day, he tried to pull the IV out. We knew he was going to be ok! We don't know how long he will be with us, but you can't even tell he was ever sick. Other than prescription food, we don't do anything different. The vet believes he contracted leptospirosis and it set up camp in his kidneys. All the people in the house and the other dog all had to be treated w/ antibiotics. Moral of the story: Don't give up! Miracles do happen....Like everyone else said.....LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
 
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