worried about my dog, possible kidney failure, need advice please

[laundryelf]

Hi, our much loved Labrador is poorly, currently hospitalised at vets, on fluid & antibiotic therapy. He's lost 5kg in last 10 to 14 days, can't eat or drink much without vomiting - vet says dog has vomited again overnight but bright enough.

Blood test showed elevated kidney levels and low white blood count, he also has a low resting heart rate. I have been googling and it has scared me. Vet says not sure what is wrong, may be kidney infection but may be kidney failure, so upset, poor dog is only 6 years old and is part of family.

Has anyone any advice, reassurance to offer please ? Trying to be positive but feeling very anxious.

He is 5yrs old, lovely big soft Labrador with a fantastic friendly nature, a real character, known to so many kids and fellow dog walkers.
I would like to have him home for a few happy days to counteract the stressful the he has had in vets recently bit not sure if I can do it without spending entire time in tears.

I woke up with tears streaming down my face, DS2 is not sure he can cope with it either, DS1 wants to try but both were so upset last night then went to their rooms & cried themselves to sleep.
I think I will ask for house call for PTS.

So sad to read your posts OP. Sorry I can't offer any words to help but I'm thinking of you all. Xx

Oh laundry.

Thanks everyone for the kind thoughts.
We have spent most of weekend fighting tears even when trying to remember all the cute, clever stuff he has done.

He has always wanted to be included whatever we were doing from being pulled along in puppy trailer behind bike to walking up Munro's, trying to climb into kayaks and sitting nicely in canoes, to giving me a fright when he tried to swim out to sea after DH sea kayaking!

The embarrassing time we let him run free beside us on bike trail and he did an ultra fast detour to gently steal a sandwich from a picnic group

He loves bread & happily sat among the ducks at our local river to encourage people to feed him along with the ducks, I have a fantastic photo of him in the river surrounded by ducks waiting for bread to be thrown.

New to mums net and first thread I've read, I am so sorry for you and your family and your beloved pet.
Could I just advise others that grapes are poisonous to dogs and can cause irreversible kidney damage. So are a lot of other items which mostly are known to us.
X

laundry what wonderful memories, I have so many like that too, at the moment I can't look at the photos, my beloved 5 year old dog was PTS 2 weeks ago - but what was your outcome, is DDog still with you at the moment? My heart goes out to you.

After a nerve racking weekend, we asked on Monday if he could come home for a few days but vets talked and said he was too sick, his calcium levels too high.
We arranged for a visit on Tuesday for family to say goodbye and have him PTS.

We arrived and vets brought him out to us. He looked bright & pleased to see us, vet said good news he has improved enough to go home if you want or have him PTS while happy.

We were glad we had left the DCs in the car & we had to have a difficult discussion quickly, still not sure we have been fair to DCs, as they will have to go through it again, but we couldn't PTS while he looked so well.

So Ddog is home with a feeding tube but that is only used for water & drugs as he has started to eat, only the best roast chicken breasts, carefully cut into little pieces and hand fed on demand. No cheap chicken pieces for him, refuses that with a look of disdain.
I am worried we will miss the warning signs and leave it too long to PTS but hopefully it will be ok, I am watching him carefully.

He is very reluctant to be touched around his mouth, it was very painful before due to swollen tonsils so if the tube gets blocked or infected we will not be able to get the drugs into him, he will not eat them in food.

We have given him a lovely few days, nice short walks to favourite places, lots of cuddles and attention so as long as he is happy we will take it day by day.

Oh that is lovely, I'm so pleased you got the chance to bring him home. Even if you do decide to go down the pts route, he's home and he's comfortable and he looks happy. Not stuck at the vets. He's with his family in his home. I really, really hope he pulls through.

laundry I am so glad you managed to get him home, although not the same illness this is a similar situation to my DDog with feeding/medication. I was so glad we had 2 weeks with him at home making a fuss of him, I hope you have a lot longer.

Thanks guys and to you too. There is no cure only an extension of life and as he is so advanced, it will be days, vet thinks.

Had to take him to vets today as coughing a lot and weeping from feeding tube, also been sick twice. Vet can't really give any more painkiller without making him really sleepy and he feels just a slight increase in painkillers he already has will be enough. He has given an antibiotic injection that will last two days and then we will arrange the PTS. He is still only taking pieces of chicken and odd biscuit but has to be hand fed so he has got us all running after him, getting cushions for his head when he lies down etc.

We're there with you laundry. Virtual Mumsnet handholding. We know how you feel. Hang in there. You know you're doing the absolute best for him. I know how alien it seems to let them go but there really isn't much else you can do. Big hugs.

So so sorry to hear, laundry. Lots of gigantic MN ((((((((HUGS))))))))). Whatever it takes.

Hi, just to update the thread, we have has a great couple of weeks with Dpup, he has done amazingly well. Started eating food day after we got him home and got the feeding tube out 4 days later as eating everything but especially his roast chicken.
Had some restless nights but until last Friday was so well, people couldn't believe he was so ill. Friday he started refusing dog food again which is how it all started, but still eating chicken and rice and dog biscuits. He started to breathe heavily and today was limping on walk a bit so took him to vet who advised put to sleep before he starts to have pain.
They were so kind to us, did it in the back of the car, one of his favourite places and he had just had a lovely walk along the river.
So sad to have to let him go and telling the DCs was awful. I know I will miss the afternoon walks and the welcome I got whenever I got back from work. He was just a brilliant dog.
Trying hard to focus on the positives, we had almost three extra weeks with him that we didn't think possible on the 24 March but can't help thinking we should have had another 7/8 years with him.
Please excuse the typos, can't seem to stop my eyes watering.
Thanks for all the support, to you all.

Hello Laundry, I know how you feel, I had to have my 5 year old dog puts 6 weeks ago tomorrow; you did the right thing for him but I know it will still hurt.