7mo. Old W/kidney Disease/help!

[J-Bird]

Jane,
I am so sorry to read this news! My pup, Meeko, was diagnosed in January of this year as having early stage kidney disease. She is 10 months old today - she is pretty asymptomatic - still very energetic and eating well, not drinking excessively and can hold her urine during the night, though when she is active we have to take her out to pee more than "normal" dogs.

I have her on a restricted diet now, it the Eukanuba early stage kidney disease diet. I am preparing myself to switch to a homecooked diet as suggested on this site and others.

A great support group can be found at yahoo groups under the name K9KIDNEYS - the people there are really helpful, some of this board's other members belong too.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are several people with newly diagnosis young boxers that are on that site - I hope it isn't a new trend.

Best of luck to you and your pup - just love him as much as you can for as long as you can Note, Meeko just had her first blood draw since her diagnosis and her levels have remained stable (above normal CREATINE and BUN and PHOSPHERUS which is to be expected, but they haven't worsened over the last 6 weeks thanks to the new diet I think).

Feel free to PM me if you have other questions,
Jessica

 

[VTbxrFan]

I understand how you feel. My family's boxer (when I was in high school) was also diagnosed with kidney disease when she was a puppy. Sadly, she was only with us for about 2 1/2 years. That was actually longer than we expected her to live. We tried to just enjoy the time that we had with her. The positive side is that she really didn't seem to suffer. I don't know if that's typical or not. When she finally went, it was very sudden. She was playing in the yard and collapsed. She was gone within minutes, but both my mom and dad were with her (my siblings and I were all away at college by this point). The vet suspects that her heart was weakened from the poor kidney function and she had a heart attack. This was over 10 years ago - maybe there is more treatment available now. Do some homework and see what your options are, but mostly just appreciate the time that you have with your pup. Also be sure to let the breeder know - it's important for them to be aware of health problems in their lines. (I don't know if there is any genetic component to kidney disease, but I think it's important for breeders to hear about any significant health problem.)

 

[lmcclain]

Our boxer puppy was diagnosed at 6 months with severe kidney damage. That was last February. At the time, the vet didn't think she would make it to the summer. She's still going. Read anything you can find on it, talk to your vet, and pray....alot. Our Ginger has good days and bad days. She's on Science Diet k/d food. As I'm sure your vet has told you, low protein diet is essential. And she takes a small spoonful of Metamucil, 3 Alucap (it's a phosphate binder), and a Zantac with every meal. Her breath is usually horrible, especially when she isn't having a good day. She still drinks plenty of water, but can usually sleep through the night and has minimal accidents in the house. She throws up quite a bit. (Usually just water.) This last weekend was really bad, she quit eating and was getting sick ALL the time. The vet gave us a couple of prescriptions for nausea, and last night she finally made it without getting sick. I take her in every two to three months for a urinalysis, just in case. If she should get an infection, I want to catch it immediately before it does anymore damage. I also have bloodwork done every few months to monitor her numbers.

She can run and play with our others, but she tires faster. She's sweeter than sweet, and well worth all the time and money. Do anything you can to help your boy, and enjoy every minute you have with him. I dread the day when I have to let her go, but I'm going to make sure she enjoys it while she's with us.

Good luck. You're in my prayers.

 

[Jane/Juan G]

Thank you to everyone for your advice and stories. We now know that we are not alone. We are going to do whatever we can to make sure that he enjoys everyday. He is a great dog. Thanks again. Jane and Juan.

 

[boxer_booty]

My female had the same signs as yours, leaking while she slept, always drank alot. At 4 years old her kidneys failed and we put her down. I would definitately look into barfing. Go a see a holistic vet about barfing. I use to cook for her all the time, so I believe that it helped. I now BARF and I think it would have done her a world of good.

Horimones usually help with the leaking, I have tried Vitamin C and another drug used in cold tablets. If you want to know the name PM me.

I hate to say this but I would also talk to the breeder and tell her the situation. The dog is ill, but you don't want to return her. But perhaps when the time comes she will give you another dog for a better price.

I glad that we did not diagnosed her kidney problem until the end. She lived a very happy and health life to the end.

Please feel free to PM about anything. I went through it.

 

[Pooch72]

I totally agree about contacting your breeder.

I had a puppy of a different breed who became ill after 2 months with us. We contacted the breeder and she kept in close contact with us. When the time came to put my Rosie down at 5 months, because she was starting to suffer, my breeder was on the phone at the vets's office while I held Rosie in my lap as they put her down. My breeder paid for everything and asked for an autopsy to find out why. The autospy revealed She had misformed kidneys and Once Rosie reached a certain weight her kidneys could not support her body any longer. My breeder was devastated and did not breed again for two years: plus just to be safe she never breed those two dogs again. She didn't have another pup available at the time so she located another breeder and found an available pup for us. It cost more and she paid the difference because she felt so bad about our loss. She said even
though we didn't have one of her pups any more we were still part of her family and to call any time we needed a question answered!

Your baby was sent to you for a reason and you will help him through this providing the love and care he needs. BW will be a big help with info.

 

[Chrisdigler]

How is Brutus?

I have a 6 month old girl named Luka and a 3 year old boy named Miles. I saw your post about Brutus, I hope he is doing well. Don't give up, never give up. I am responding in support and also to learn from your experience so far with kidney disease. Luka got spay today and prior to performing the procedure they ran a urine test. They said that she had no concentration in her urine. The vet was very positive and said that it is a 95% chance of this just being a fluke and said we will test in another month to see if it is unchanged. He didn't want to share with me what would be the result of a similar test in a month but I pushed him and he said that in most dogs diagnosed with kidney disease this early they don't make it past 18 months. I almost fell to the floor. Like he said, it is probably a fluke but I am doing everything I can to educate myself on this topic now so no time is wasted. I hope Brutus is getting along well and have already learned a lot from the responses on this board. Thanks to everyone who makes this a very useful community.