Possilbe renal failure...URGENT ADVICE NEEDED

[Christine]

One of our sweet Sussex Hounds, Twiggy, who has been in foster care is at the vet with possible renal failure. Here is the diagnosis from the vet and the most recent update. The most heartbreaking part of this is that she is up and wagging her tail. Does anyone have any advice about getting her to eat? They have tried chicken, broth, rice and she is not interested because of the nausea. I don't want to prolong her life if it is time, but her appetite hindered by the nausea seems to be the biggest problem at the moment. Her foster mom and Jessica, her rescuer are there with her. Are we missing anything? She has come so far and been through so much in her short life (3-5 years).

Here is the doctor's report:

Hello-
Synopsis for Twiggy-
We estimate her to be 5-9 years old and her spay scar is questionable (please
check
your records). She presented for lethargy, diarrhea, minor gag/cough, and
inappetance/vomiting of 9 days duration.
Physical exam- She was very dehydrated, halitosis, bloody vulva discharge, slow
CRT,
loose stool, minor crackles of the right side of lungs and quiet on the right.
Tests showed- Hookworms, bloody urine, severe anemia and kidney values off the
scale. X-rays showed minor pleural effusion and the
heartworm/lyme/ehrlichia/anaplasma tests were negative. There is a questionable
area
on x-rays of the abdomen that may point to a fuid filled uterus(pyometra)...or
colon. we
sent in blood work to get a final number on the kidney values off the scale
here.
I believe Twiggy is in sever chronic renal failure. We have started IV fluids
and medicine
for nausea/diarrhea and more appropriate antibiotics and dewormer...all by
injection as
she is nauseous. Her prognosis is questionable to poor and her only chance is
significant fluid therapy. We agreed to try and give her 48 hours on fluids to
see if she
improves at all. Her bill is already about $800 without culturing urine or
checking
progesterone for possible pyometra. She is currently calm (as usual) in her
cage.
Hope this info is helpful.
Dr DeNae

This is my last message from Jessica, who is just hearbroken right now, as we all are:

This has got to be one of the worst weeks in my life.

I will probably have to pull the plug on poor Twiggy tomorrow, otherwise she will just starve to death. If her bloodwork comes back tomorrow unchanged, it's the only thing I can do. Kristy has offered to give her subcutaneous fluids, but if she won't eat, it's just a matter of time. I'm sobbing as I write this knowing that I saved her life only to have her die a short time later. There is nothing that can be done for Twiggy as she is in chronic renal failure. They are surprised that she is still alive as her values are so high. Some are off the chart.

Twiggy has been up and wagging her tail. Usually she just sleeps. She has no interest in eating as she's nauseous. I'm sure that Twiggy is still alive because of Kristy. She has probably received more attention these last few months than ever before in her life. This darling girl has been terribly neglected and has been on her own for a long time.

At least she knows she was loved. I will miss her terribly.

[CarolC]

Christine, I hope one or more of the vet techs will answer. Merlin went into acute renal failure. They tried fluids and intensive support for 2 days just as you are saying. They said sometimes the values would improve, we had to see how much. I offered to do fluids at home but the vet told me renal failure with dogs is not like with cats. With cats you can treat renal failure for a long time, but dogs just can't be maintained the same way, if the values don't normalize there really isn't any long term nursing care that will be effective. On the possible pyometra, could they try a v*ginal swab to see if there is pus? Don't know how difficult this would be, I know you have to use a scope, maybe you could ask? One thing that happened with Merlin was confusion. They explained to me that as the kidney values rise, it affects the dog mentally. He began barking a lot, they said it wasn't pain, it was confusion caused by waste products in the blood. I think dogs can go pretty long without food, I don't feel feeding is the most urgent issue... I believe that a severe infection anywhere in the body could cause a kidney infection, which could cause acute renal failure, so if that is the source, maybe the antibiotics will help if they're in time and maybe the values will improve, but it seems like the uterus would need to be removed if that is the source and the vet would need to determine if she is stable enough. An ultrasound can visualize the uterus, here they are about $200 I know you've spent a lot. The other thing I'm thinking is, the vagina and urethra exit through the same opening in a female dog so it is harder to tell which organ the discharge is from. I hope she does better.

[MissWhiskers]

Can you all tell us what you think about feeding tubes? Please, if you see this and have ANY experience or knowledge of feeding tubes - tell me if you think it sounds like a good idea?

Karen

[Bobbie]

I'm no expert but from what I understand about kidney failure in dogs, once you can see it, it is probably too late to reverse it. Feeding when the body is not able to break down the waste does not make things better. It would just increase the build up of toxins. I hate to say it but if improvement doesn't occur with the two days of fluids its probably too late. (And from what the vets are saying it is probably too late.)

Very sad in a dog so young, especially. It could have been something fairly simple like a UTI that became a kidney infection that treating early on could have helped.

[Christine]

Thank you all for your advice and concern. Our precious Twiggy crossed the Bridge today...all of these issues were too much for her little body. Thanks to Jess, who rescued her and Kristy, who fostered her and 5 aunts from other parts of the country, she received a lifetime of love in the past five months. We will miss you, sweet girl.

[mumpkees]

Always loved, forever remembered - a special little dog who touched so many hearts - all of whom were made richer from having been loved by Twiggy.

Run with the wind sweet angel Twiggy. /mari