Chronic kidney failure

[Cinster]

Today we learned that our 16 month old female boxer likely has chronic kidney failure :( . We had noticed that she was drinking excessively and urinating frequently. She's always been a skinny boxer, but the vet wasn't worried b/c she's very active and its very common in younger boxers. After a complete blood test, the vet found elevated levels of certain enzymes that indicate kidney malfunctions. The vet said that she is running on approx. 20 - 30% of her kidneys. Thinking back she's shown subtle symptoms for about half of her life but the were minor and neither us nor the vet thought that they were anything to worry about. She thinks that it might be a congenital defect and she's always had a reduced function, which would be the best scenario. We have to take her back in a month to re-test and see if her levels have changed. Has anyone had any experience with kidney troubles before? We'd like to have a more personal account of what to look for and expect. She's on a reduced protein diet to help eleviate the pressure on her kidneys but at this point the vet doesn't feel she requires any other treatment as her levels are all borderline normal or slightly elevated. We'd appreciate any advice or insight you might have.
Thanks

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

I'm sorry I don't have any answers to your questions but, I did want to extend my support and prayers to you and your dog during what must be a tremendously difficult time for all of you.

I hope someone can help you or direct you to where you can find the answers to your concerns and questions. Best of luck. You are in our hearts and prayers.

 

[J-Bird]

I don't have much advice, but I am feeling like I will be in the same boat soon - my 8 1/2 month old went in for her spay and her bloodwork found elevated kidney levels (BUN and Cretine?)

An ultrasound showed that her left kidney looks normal but the right one is abnormal - the vet said it's shape is not uniform which can be a sign of disease or defect. We will have results of a more comprehensive blood test on Friday - if that doesn't give us an exact diagnosis then they have suggested a biopsy.

Good luck to you - send me a private message and let me know how things are going with your pup.

Jessica
(Meeko's mom)

 

[loulou12571]

kidney failure

i have a 2.5 year old female who had tests showing she had kidney failure. i will find out in about a month if it is permanent (chronic) or was due to an infection/illness of some kind (acute). some important info...the kidneys must lose close to 75% of their function before it will show up on tests. the healthy kidney cells have a uniqe ability to learn to overcompensate for the loss of function of the other cells (thats why we can live with only 1 kidney!!!). you cannot cure kidney failure...you can just work very hard to prevent any further loss of function. primarily this is done by feeding a low protein diet, giving very few treats if any (and they should be low protein!!) and ensuring your dog gets lots of water to keep the system flushed. also, many medications are synthesized by the kidneys so ALWAYS ask your vet before giving any type of medication, vitamins or supplements (or anything that goes into their mouth for that matter). your dog can live a fairly normal, fun, bouncy boxer life if the kidney function doesn't drop below 25%. if you saw my girl you'd never know there was a problem. you can search this site (button in upper right hand corner of screen) under "kidney failure" for some good info. also do a search on the web under "kidney failure and dog" and you'll find alot of info!!! unfortunately there are no guarantees that you can prevent further failure, but doing all you can will certainly make everyone involved feel their best!
please let us know how the babies are doing!
Lisa, Cass, Jake, Daisy and Shay

 

[Sabrina Jay]

I'm sorry to hear about your problems.

Have you contacted your breeder you purchased the dog from?
I would after you find out more information, "to let them know". I would also ask if anything like this has shown up before, that they know about.

 

[Linda/NJ]

I have no advice. Just sending positive vibes to you and your boxer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~You both will be in my thoughts.

Linda
Ginger * June 4, 1997 / Flashy Fawn * natural ears

 

[Adelle]

Our last boxer developed kidney prolems when he was older, I also fostered a boxer with a serious kidney disorder. The Hills K/D helped maintain the kidney values, and for Hooligan our own boxer we also administered fluids every other day at home to help, this is definetly an option to consider if and when her condition gets worse it less stressful than taking her to the vets for fluids, it helps flush out their kidneys and stops the values from getting elavated. Its seems like a very daunting task at first but its acutally very easy to do once you get the hang of it. You will know yourself when her values are elevated without even needing blood work, it will effect her appeitite and energy level. You will find lots of good information on the internet, I also joined an email list for owners of dogs with kidney disease, its been a while though so I don't have the address any more but you might find it on line, they were a great support group and network of information.

Keep us posted on her condition.

 

[Holden's Mom]

fluid therapy

Adelle,

I just read this thread and am interested since my 15 year old cat, Lewis, is in kidney failure. He is also in congestive heart failure and has been on meds, including lasix, for over 5 years. He eats Hills K/D and gets fluid therapy. It really helps. I bought the home unit and administer fluids twice a week. We started therapy every other day and saw real improvement, so now we just do it twice a week. It is so much less stressful and saves a lot of money.

Cinster and others, there is hope. Hope all your babies do well on the diet and fluid therapy.

Pam

 

[Cinster]

Brodey's Kidneys

Thank you very much for all of your advice and encouragement. We still don't know exactly what's going on yet, wether she was born with congenital problems or she's been losing function all along, we need to test her again in a months time. Were hoping it's congenital as there is a very good chance she'll live a long, relatively normal life as long as we're vigilant with her diet, health etc. She's taken to her new diet supprisingly well, I'm sure any dog welcomes a change in food. To look at her you wouldn't know that anything was wrong, she's a typical young boxer with more energy than she knows what to do with. She's never shown any signs of lethargy or ill health. We're taking our 3 year old male in next month with her to have baseline bloodwork done to establish exactly what normal is for him, something we'd highly recommend given what we're dealing with now. If we'd done that with brodey we would have caught this earlier or at least have some idea of what's going on. Again, thanks for everything!

Best regards,

Cindy, Chris, Brodey and Toby & Marley (the cat)

 

[mazeone]

Kidney failure

I'm so sorry to hear about your little one. I hope I can help by sharing my story with you. We lost our female Boxer in Sept. to kidney failure. She was about nine we thinkk (we got her from a shelter). She was perfectly healthy but we started to see signs of incontinence (she was drippling) We took her to the vet and her values were pretty high so they gave us medication, I want ot say it was pretizone but I'm not for sure. We also started feeding her K/D science diet which we could only aquire at the vets office. These two methods of care prolonged her life about a year. She never really recovered, the medication made her very aggressive and there were several very bad fights between her and my male Boxer. Her body eventually shut down completely and we had no choice but to put her down. Please dont let this story make you lose hope. Abby was in perect sprits until the last couple of days. I just pray that your little one will live a long and wonderful life with you and your family. Lots of love to you and the little one.