Dog kidney failure: What home care for weakness, appetite, hydration?

I'm very sorry to hear about this situation. Sadly, even if Kody would tolerate fluid therapy at home, it would not reverse the renal failure. When we are giving subcutaneous fluids at home, we are trying to keep our pets comfortable and give them more time. In patients that do tolerate it well, it still only helps for a while. Making the decision to euthanize is never easy. What I never want to see is a patient that ends up resenting the care their family is trying to provide, and making their last days miserable for everyone involved. If you absolutely wanted to keep going and keep trying, you could hospitalize with IV fluids, or take him to the veterinarian for daily subcutaneous fluids, but if he hates the treatment, I'm not sure that is what most people would want their pet's last days to be like. I can only access how Kody is doing based on the information provided, but it sounds like you are at a point when it would not be wrong to consider euthanasia. Even knowing it is the right thing does not make it easy. I wish I had better answers for you.

Poor girl. I would certainly consider at least getting her checked again and fluid therapy (IV or subcutaneously). If her values are not too bad, she may be able to be managed at home with subcutaneous fluids that you yourself give. That is if you are up to the task. Also I am not sure if she is on a prescription kidney diet. If not, then she needs to be transitioned right away. The vet can also prescribe some anti-nausea medication for her to help with her condition. And lastly, I would highly recommend a supplement called Azodyl, which is a natural way to help lower your pets kidney enzymes. Their toxic levels in the bloodstream are directly correlated with how sick your pet will feel, so focusing on lowering these values can improve your pets condition greatly. Here is a website link with more kidney therapy options --> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952670 I hope that these additional treatment suggestions help Chloe stabilize and perhaps hold off the euthanasia talks for a while. Best of luck moving fowrard and take care. : )

I am sorry to hear that Memi is so sick. You may want to discuss doing subcutaneous fluids at home with your veterinarian. Also anti nausea medication such as cerenia can also be helpful and appetite stimulants if needed as well. I hope you have some good quality time left with him. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

I'm sorry Boomer is so sick. The SQ fluids will be keeping him hydrated, but IV fluids would be better in that they are absorbed faster. The drugs he is being given are supposed to stop the nausea and stimulate him to eat, but it sounds like they aren't helping at the moment. Unfortunately I don't think there really is much you can do to get him to eat or drink. I'd recommend taking him back into a vet immediately. In my opinion, it sounds like his quality of life is quite poor at the moment, and in all honestly, it may be time to let him go via humane euthanasia. You say yourself he has really declined over the weekend, he can't stand or walk well, and he won't eat or drink. That's a very poor way for a dog to live, and kidney disease is not something that can be cured. I would be afraid you've reached all you can do with him. It's worth taking him into a vet now to discuss his quality of life. I imagine this isn't an answer you want to hear, but honestly is best in these cases. Again, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry to hear that Caramel is not feeling well. The paperwork showing "female" instead of male is a typo somewhere. Nothing that was run in those tests determine's the dog's sex, so I suspect that was entered wrong at the lab. His kidney values are a bit high, but they aren't crazy high. If a urinalysis was not performed, talk to your vet about running a urinalysis as well, as this will help determine whether those values being high may be in part due to whether or not he is dehydrated (typically the "USG" or "urine specific gravity" is what we are looking for to help interpret this). You may also want to talk to your vet about an abdominal ultrasound (sonogram of the belly); having images of the kidneys and bladder as well as the rest of the abdominal organs (liver, pancreas, GI tract, spleen, adrenal glands) can be helpful in terms of what the most likely cause of his clinical signs are. Another consideration since he is "hardly able to get up" would be a painful condition that's making him not want to move; ask your vet if he seems painful anywhere. To summarize, here is what I recommend you do. Take him to your vet and ask about a urinalysis. Ask your vet if he seems painful anywhere (belly, back, neck, joints). Ask if your vet thinks he needs IV fluids. Ask about an abdominal ultrasound. Best of luck with him, I hope he feels better soon. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Poor baby. Kidney failure is usually pretty bad news in dogs. The usual treatment is hospitalization for IV fluids to lower kidney values (since high kidney values make animals feel crappy) and treatment for whatever associated complications an animal has (such as nausea or anemia). Early in the disease, food changes and at home fluids can help. You mentioned that Priscilla has already been hospitalized for two days, so I'm going to assume she has two days of aggressive fluids and her kidney values haven't gone down. If you don't believe in euthanasia than I'd say you need to find a veterinarian who practices hospice in your area. A Google search should turn up an opinion or two. In your own, there isn't much you can do. I will warn you that kidney disease often ends in euthanasia because at the end stages it causes severe nausea, vomiting, severe weight loss, ulcers in the mouth, severe dehydration (even though they are drinking a lot, it just goes right through them). So it's not a good way to go without really really aggressive support from a local hospice vet. I'm so sorry and you are Priscilla are going through this. You'll be in my thoughts.

Are IV fluids able to be performed? If they are I would recommend doing that over subcutaneous fluids. I would also talk to your veterinarian about starting an antacid with Mimi. When cats are in kidney failure they have a build up of acid in their stomach which make them not want to eat. Otherwise when cats are in kidney failure an aggressive treatment for at least 3 days and it is not helping, they typically at that point don't see any reversal in the kidney failure.