Da Huffa Needs Help

[msagro]

The reason i get up every morning for the past 11 years and 1 month, P.J. (aka da huffa), was diagnosed with kidney failure last week. After not eating for 3 days i took him to the vet. After lab work a diagnosis early stages of kidney failure was made. Encard was prescribed along with allowing him to eat anything that he wants so as to get back to his normal weight. A week has passed and his appetite just isn't there short of some table scrabs hand fed PJ just isn't hungry. His water intake had been good up until the last day or so and now that has fallen off quite a bit and i am now bottle feeding him water. I'm afraid he just going to starve himself rather than adapt to this lifestyle change.
Please help with any suggestions as far as appetite enhancers , different foods, herbal hollistic or otherwise.. I am at a loss but he looks to me to make it all better. All i can do is love him but have help that he seemingly desparately wants from me. I am so scared for him and just have no idea when enough is enough and i must make the decision i never wanted to make. i've always been there for him in his time of need and he has been there for me truely unconditional love but now i am failing him and god i am a wreck.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated and of course please remember Da Huffa

 

[RamonasMom]

Have you tried Prescription Diet A/D canned food? When I was working in a practice, I rarely saw any animal pass it up even when they were feeling like crap.

From sciencediet.com:
Canine/Feline a/d®
For the Nutritional Management of Pets Recovering From Serious Illness, Accidents and Surgery Both dogs and cats can undergo significant changes when faced with a serious illness, injury or surgery. They may have trouble maintaining natural defenses and sparing lean body mass(in other words, they may be losing body weight from muscle or organ tissue), which can affect recovery. Prescription Diet® Canine/Feline a/d® has been specifically formulated by veterinarians to be fed to dogs or cats with certain debilitating conditions. These conditions can be affected by the lack of key nutrients and digestible energy.

 

[harleyboxer]

I would take your dog in for fluids on a regular basis until he is stable. The fluids will give him energy and make him feel better so that he will eat. I've seen a lot of animals with kidney problems at the vet office that I work for and they always treat them with fluids and change their diet. Most do really well and their lives are extended comfortably.

 

[haileyboo]

I don't know if this will help or not, but I just did a search of the forums for my sisters dog who is in a similar situation and not eating well. After my search on this site I recommended that she try mixing cottage cheese with his food or try to feed him cereal and milk or a natural balance food roll. Her dog hadn't eaten in 3 days, poor guy. She tried the food roll first and said that it worked. I also saw in someones thread something about giving their dog Ensure (peoples drink) for wieght gain, not sure if this is okay to do though. I'm sorry to hear about your baby. I hope some of this helps.

 

[ljnash]

I'm afraid I don't have any advice for you, but I just wanted you to know I'll be keeping you and P.J. in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Holden's Mom]

RamonasMom is right about the Hills A/D. It is a presription food for dogs and cats available only at the vets. Get a couple of cans and give it a go. It's a rich liver pate and will often jumpstart an appetitie. If you can't get it, try boiled chicken liver. Boil for about 30 minutes, smash and give to PJ. Again, very rich, but both dogs and cats go for the smell and taste of liver.You can do fluid therapy at home. The vet can show you how it's done and the cost of hook, needles and fluid bags is quite reasonable. It's given under the skin, so you need no advanced training other than a once over in the vet's office. The first try may be a two man job, but after a couple you'll get the hang of it. Fluids keep the dog hydrated and give energy. To be as kind and easy as possible on the kidneys, try distilled water with no impurities.

Renal failure is bad, but I kept a 16 year old cat for another 9 months in a pretty decent quality of life. Lewis was also in congestive heart failure.

Keep us posted and our thoughts and prayers are with you and PJ.

Pam and Pete

 

[Cami]

I nursed a cat with renal failure for 4 years. My kitty girl passed away in April of 2003 at the age of 17.
Pepcid was a lifesaver for her. Due to the lacking kidney function toxins that should be removed from the kidneys build up in the bloodstream and cause them to feel nauseated alot. We actually went to a pharmacy and got the pepcid in a lotion form and just rubbed it onto her ears. Your vet can give you doseage amounts. Keeping the acid in the stomach to a minimum will help to ward off bleeding ulcers which is what finally got my girl. She started vomiting blood and got too anemic.
Pedialyte also is great for providing electrolytes. If your dog likes ice cubes you can make pedialyte cubes and offer them often. Also just plain ice cubes or even chicken broth, low fat, low sodium cubes work great also. If you do a search you can locate an online group for dogs with CRF....it will provide you with alot of info to use as kidney disease is something that has to be fought daily. It can and will cause many other ailments for the sufferer.
One of the most important things to do is get them to eat. They need all of the nutrition that they can get. The A/D food is something that we used for nearly 8 months but my girl just hated it, lost all of her muscle mass due to the lowered protien so we decided to switch and let her eat anything that she wanted. Eating anything is better than eating nothing. The pepcid will help with the aneroxia that is caused by the renal failure.
If you can, and your dog will go for it get him to eat bananas....potassium is a necessity for them. There are also supplements that you will eventually have to start offerring. As far as SubQ fluids....aside from getting your guy hydrated, this will make him feel much better as it helps to flush out the bad stuff but long term use will cause the kidneys to have to work harder, so if you can avert this by helping him stay hydrated on his own it will be better.
Once you get into that aspect of doing fluids yourself at home that is a whole other ballgame and again, there is so much info on the crf sites.
Sorry to throw so much info at you but it was what I needed when it happened to my girl. If you want to PM me with any questions I will try to help you thru this adjustment period. It will get easier to manage and you can have many wonderful years left together. It is a long hard battle but they are so worth it. I am sorry that your guy is having to deal with this.
Make sure to offer HIGH QUALITY protien food. Maybe you might consider raw feeding.

Susi & Cami

 

[Julie P.]

I sure wish I could help you also, but I do not know much about kidney failure. My thoughts are with you and Da Huffa. I am sending lots of positive healing vibes your way. I will keep a watch on this thread to see how things are going for your baby.

 

[Austin's Mom]

I don't have any advice, just good wishes that da huffa will be feeling better soon.

 

[msagro]

PJ's Christmas not merry

Its christmas day for pj and i but not very merry. PJ's health is not good. He wont eat anything. I've bought doughnuts and pizza, made pancakes, chiken liver, cottage cheese, ground beef, etc. Nothing is getting him to eat. At least he is drinking water which i've spiked with vitamins. I'm afraid he is suffering and that is killing me. So it is christmas day for us , a day which we used enjoy cause PJ got new toys, This christmas there are no toys today and i know what he wants is his good health back and I cant give him that. I do have a heart full of love and memories which causes my agony!