My senior dog with heart & kidney failure died after fluids. Why?

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.

I’m so sorry for your loss! Depending on the stage of kidney failure, symptoms can include nausea, lethargy, and sometimes pain. However, with appropriate hydration and care, the condition is not necessarily painful or uncomfortable. Seizures are typically not painful, but can be disorienting to a dog. You definitely did the right thing by taking your dog to the emergency room. I apologize again for your loss and hope this helps!

I would recommend that you have Nica evaluated by a vet as soon as possible. A respiratory rate of 60/minute is much higher than normal. Some dogs with heart issues don't tolerate extra fluids. It is a constant battle for us to manage dogs with both heart and kidney disease. Nica may need x-rays to see if there is fluid in her lungs or oxygen therapy if she isn't oxygenating well.

I'm very sorry Merry is so sick. If her symptoms are getting worse, it may be time to consider letting her go peacefully. You can try the aggressive treatment, but be prepared that she may pass away during that due to her heart murmur. Unfortunately all dogs reach a point in their life that no medical treatment will help their symptoms, and at that time, letting them go peacefully via euthanasia is the best thing for them. I'd take her into a vet immediately. Best of luck.

I'm so very sorry to hear about your loss of Bobo. Unfortunately, it is very common for renal failure to progress very quickly. Our bloodwork tests do not become abnormal until at least 75% of the kidneys are affected, so by the time a dog is sick from renal failure, their kidneys have been damaged for quite a while. We normally do not know what caused the damage and are unable to determine the damage until it is too late. So, unfortunately, there isn't any treatment for us to do except give IV fluids and often dogs do not respond to that. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss of Bobo. I hope that was helpful and answered your question.

Hello. I am so sorry about Chhotu. It is possible that he is uncomfortable, but it is difficult to say without an exam to see what else may be happening to him. Renal failure is a terribly progressive disease & we really do not have many good methods to treat it. One thing that can help is daily subcutaneous ( or several times weekly ) fluids to help lower the nitrogenous waste products that will buildup in the blood stream with kidney failure. This alone may make him feel better. We have to be very careful with pain medicines because many of them are metabolized through the kidneys, which are already compromised. The Ketosteril is just amino acids, so it has no real medicinal value, but probably cannot hurt. I would visit with the veterinarian who did the intravenous fluids about take home subcutaneous fluids & ask about potential pain medications. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It is not likely that there is a connection between her medications for the chronic kidney failure and the synovial sarcoma. Synovial sarcomas are very aggressive soft tissue tumors that tend to metastasize as well. Here is some good information: http://vetsurgicalcenter.com/synovialcellsarcoma.asp Unfortunately at 13 years tumors seem to be the most common cause of death in dogs. I am very sorry for your loss.