My dog has kidney failure. Why is my vet vague about her treatment?

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.

Poor Zola. I am so very sorry she isnt doing well. Unfortunately I do feel that her non response to treatment is a negative prognostic indicator. As far as studies, for a young dog in renal failure, the outcome is not good unfortunately. But it depends on the cause. Did she get in to grapes? Antifreeze? Was she tested for Lepto? I would say to try another 24 to 48 hours and get more information about potential cause of the kidney failure

Hello, sorry to hear about Canela. It’s likely that your medical management of her is supporting her kidneys really well. However, kidney disease is considered a progressive disease, meaning it only gets worse. Despite this, progression may be very slow and thus patients may live a long life with medical management. Keep up the good work, Canela is very lucky to have you , Best of luck

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. : )

Hello, and thanks for your question. I’m so glad Henry seems to be doing a bit better! His appetite tells you a lot about how he’s feeling so that’s an important thing to monitor. It’s certainly possible that the antibiotic shot was more effective than the vet expected - and a kidney infection would be good news, since that’s more treatable than a majority of other kidney problems. Is it at all possible that Henry could have been exposed to something toxic and the vet care helped him turn a corner? I would definitely recommend rechecking his kidney values with your vet. Rechecking those values in bloodwork will be the best way to monitor how much improvement he may have made, and this is particularly important since he improved after the antibiotic. Kidney infections sometimes require a longer course of antibiotic therapy than a single shot would provide, so your vet may advise repeating the injection, or adding oral medication, to hopefully help Henry continue to improve. They may also talk about recommendations for continued fluid therapy - fluids are so important to help keep the kidneys happy! Hope this helps and you continue to see improvement in Henry!

Part of this decision should be based upon how Squeakers is doing clinically and how bad or not bad his values are. In general, if kidney disease is caught early on, it responds very well to treatment. Most of the time, treatment is simply a diet change to a kidney friendly, prescription diet. Pet’s where the disease is more advanced, may need to take a pill to decrease protein loss through the kidneys and they may need subcutaneous fluids on a daily or weekly basis. For cats with more advanced disease, they may need hospitalization and IV fluids to see if they will recover. Again it all depends on the blood values and how the pet is doing clinically. Most cats with kidney disease, if caught in time, will live an average of 2 to 3 years of quality life after diagnosis. This is variable though. Some pets progress quickly and others live longer than 3 years. You don’t know until you try. I hope this helps to guide your decision making. You can also find a fair amount of information about kidney disease on this website. Use the search feature. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

It looks like he is suffering from some liver and kidney values elevations and he also is anemic. (Low red blood cells). Since I do not not his current condition and how long this has been going on, it is difficult for me to give you a survival time. If this has happened quickly and could be a toxin then with aggressive therapy (hospitalization and IV fluids), then these values could go back to normal and stay that way as long as there wasn't any permanent damage. If this has been chronic and his urine is very dilute then this could be permanent damage to the kidneys which is a much poorer prognosis long term. I would still recommend hospitalization and IV fluids if possible. I would talk to your vet about whether he needs fluids, antibiotics, appetite stimulants, anti-nausea medicine etc. I hope this helps and your sweet baby gets well really soon!