Renal Failure in Dogs?

MPerez,

What you are describing is a very serious situation.  There are many kinds of kidney failure, but the two most common are when the kidneys can't save any water by concentrating the urine and when the kidneys can't remove certain waste products from the urine.  Of these two, the second is the more serious and the quickest to take a dog downhill.  Unless there are other factors affecting your dog, this is most likely what you are seeing.

When your veterinarian did the lab work, was there any problem seen elsewhere?  This type of kidney failure can arise from something wrong within the kidneys themselves or from something going on elsewhere in the body.  For instance, poor blood circulation can reduce the amount of blood being filtered by the kidneys, resulting in higher numbers like you've described.  Also, certain types of liver failure can be involved.

A 5-year old Beagle is pretty young to be experiencing primary kidney failure, unless there is something genetic involved.  If another more treatable disorder is not diagnosed, you may have to make your decision fairly soon.  You are describing all the signs of uremia except for vomiting.  If these signs continue, she will probably get worse each day. 

Helpful Buckeye

Helpful Buckeye,

Thank you for your response. I am at a loss and you' re right, it has been progressing very quickly. It has been less than a week since her diagnosis and only about a week and a half since I noticed a change in her eating and drinking habits. The vet did not find see problems elsewhere and in fact, all other blood work came back normal.

She has not had any vomiting or diarrhea. My vet offered to hospitalize her to continue IV fluids and antibiotics as well as do an ultra sound but she said that we are fighting an up hill battle at this point.

WHEN will I know that it is time? WHAT signs should I look for?

Thank You so much

Marla 

Marla,

Generally speaking, uremia will eventually cause your dog to have some vomiting.  Uremia, which is what's happening when the BUN is highly elevated, usually is a very weakening situation for a dog.  It's a waste product (toxin) that just wears a dog down, dulls the senses, and leads to vomiting.

As I mentioned earlier, if a specific cause for this kidney damage cannot be determined, then your veterinarian is left with running the fluids as the only option...and that is palliative at best.  

The only other suggestion I have is that, depending on where you live, most big metropolitan areas will have several veterinary specialists that might be able to give you further guidance.  I don't think you would find a veterinary urologist (unless you are near a university with a veterinary school) but a veterinary internal medicine specialist with perhaps an interest in the urinary system would be a good place to start.  That will cost more money than what you have already spent, but it might also give you some more concrete answers.

I can tell from your questions that you probably don't want your dog to suffer unnecessarily and, if the lab results don't start to show some decrease in those numbers pretty soon, you will have to decide that it is time to seriously consider euthanasia.

I wish you and your dog the best as you are faced with this worsening situation.

Helpful Buckeye

Helpful Buckeye, 

Thanks again for the information and additional insight. She finally ate a little bit of canned dog food that is low in protein.  All I can do is make her comfortable until she just can't anymore. 

I realize that I will be faced with a very difficult decision in the very near future. Thank you again. Marla 

Marla,

If it's not too difficult for you to do so, would you please keep me informed how things are going with your dog?  If I can help with any further information, don't hesitate to ask.

Helpful Buckeye

Helpful Buckeye,

Thank you again for the offer of help and I will absolutely keep you informed on how she is doing. She still doesn't have much of an appetite and drinks very little. She spends about 21 hours a day sleeping and when she is awake, she just lays on her blanket. She doesn't seem to be in pain and she is not vomiting; but I'm sure that will probably change soon.

Your help and information has been very much appreciated.

Marla 

Marla,

You wrote the following: Helpful Buckeye,

Today I noticed that her breath smells very bad. As I sat and watched television with her, I could smell it when she yawned or licked her lips; the odor is very strong. In fact, I thought she had soiled herself. it smells THAT bad.

What does this mean?

Thank you
Marla

Marla, I retrieved your e-mail from my gmail address and copied it to this location. This message about the strong odor to your dog's breath plus the previous message about her sleeping 21 hours a day are both very indicative of the later stages of uremia--the buildup of nitrogenous waste products in the blood.  With her kidneys not functioning very well and not filtering out the urea, its level in her blood is increasing.  The buildup of urea leads to the strong body waste odor and it also dulls the sensory part of the brain.  My suspicion is that she doesn't have much longer at this rate.  She may well slip into a comatose state as this progresses.

What is her name, Marla?

Helpful Buckeye

Marla,

I'm so sorry to hear about your pet. I lost my 7 year old Shitzu early this morning after staying up with her all night. She died from kidney failure and she was only diagnosed last week end. The signs were there, but we didn't recognize them. She was spunky until her last day. Your website was very comforting to me in the middle of the night as I sat with my pet and read about your puppy. I'm so sorry that someone else is going through this with their pet.

Malinda

Malinda,

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. My little Dallas is still with us, she has good days and bad but we have prepared ourselves for the end. According to our vet, kidney failure is a silent and swift killer and as you mentioned, difficult to recognize the signs. I'm glad that my post was able to give you comfort during such a difficult time.

Marla