The Nest

I am the proud dog Mom of 2 resident dogs and 1 foster dog that were all in renal failure and survived!  J 

First off, I would like to recommend a supplement that my vet recommended that I give my dogs every once in a while it is called azodyl and must kept refrigerated.

 http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/pages/global_06.html   You can order it online, but I always ordered it through my vet’s office.  Also, I always keep pepcid AC on hand, many times when mine were in renal failure, they vomited and had upset tummies to the pepcid helped a lot.  Check with your vet on dosage. 

I would also like to add that I give them acidophilus almost on a daily basis now. 

I also purchased this book and home cooked for ~4 months after they were in renal failure (a vet later on said that the rice in the food I made for them, helped save their lives- but they went into the renal failure because of the dog food recalls and had poison in their bodies and the rice apparently helped soak up the poison).

http://www.drpitcairn.com/books/pitcairn_book.html

I would like to share my story about Duke.   Duke is my 100 pounder that was as close to death as my vet as ever seen a dog that ultimately survived.  His diluted creatinine was at a 31.  My vet has never seen a dog with a creatinine above 12 that lived.  Well, my baby boy was at 31 and going into seizures (he had about 4 of them) and two double IVs with fluids in him.  They were doing kidney flush after kidney flush.  His BUN was over 5.9 and phosphorus levels were high too.  Throughout this process both Duke and Raven developed pancreatitis as well.  I hear that is not uncommon. 

Raven’s creatinine was at 18 and 19 (I actually think I remember her being in the 20s at her highest), BUN were high but not as high as Duke’s and her phosphorus levels were also high.

I spent all my spare time at the vet’s office, in the kennel with them both.  I didn’t want them to lose hope.  Duke started to lose the will to live though even though I went to visit him all the time.  They actually sent him home prematurely, because he was tired of being at the vet’s office and was not wanting to fight for his life anymore.  My fun loving, good natured dog was tired of being poked and prodded. He was tired of being nice to the vets/techs.  Many times he didn’t even acknowledge my presence when I was in the kennel with him.  But I just sat there and talked to him and sang to him and let him know I was there.  After they sent him home I made sure he drank day in and day out.  He would stay home at night with me and I would drop him off at the vet’s office in the morning.  That helped immensely!! 

After coming out of renal failure, my dogs and I came home and we had more adjustments to undergo as my husband left me, but we took it in stride one day at a time, many times it was minute by minute.  Every little thing made me paranoid that they were going into renal failure again.  I did tons of research and even though I am still paranoid to this day I am confident in the food choices I have made for my dogs.  You will want to keep a low low phosphorus level in the food that you choose.  I would try to stay in the .5% range (or lower if you can find some) but definitely don’t go higher than a phosphorus level of 1%.  Also, many vets will tell you to keep a low protein level, with the research I have done it is not the quantity of protein, it is the quality of protein you feed your dog. 

http://www.dogaware.com/kidney.html

There are also kidney health yahoo groups that you can join. I used to be a member of the groups, but I don’t go on there much anymore. 

To this day I take Duke in every 6 months to get blood work done, Raven goes in every year.  Raven’s numbers are totally 100% normal. All of Duke’s numbers are in the normal range now, but his creatinine is on the high end of normal.  I get paranoid when I see that, but the vet assures me that he is fine as it falls within the normal range.  Jojo has since been adopted and has not had renal problems since. 

I kept telling my vet that if there is still hope, for them to do everything and anything they can for them.  They did and they are alive. 

 
The infamous Simon



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My family
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My Mom loves taking me for a swim! (Raven)


A day at the park


Duke is happy!


YAY! We went to the groomer.


Duke, Duke, Raven and Coral are good buddies!


Did I tell you to take a picture of me?


Raven and me.


Sadie, Duke and Raven


Sadie, Duke, Raven, and Tuna (adopted foster)


Jungle Kitty.


Thanks for looking!

 
 
 
 
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Cat and Dog food ratings: http://www.petfoodratings.net/

What is in your dog's food?: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com
http://www.dogfoodproject.com
http://www.dogaware.com
Grains and Raw Foods: The Long and the short of it
 Why I don't feed Natural Balance - K8e_girl's post describes it to a "T":
http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/9693695.aspx

What is in your cat's food?: http://web.archive.org/web/20080108162940/http://alter-idem.smartmonkey.org/cats/goodbadandugly.htm

 Who manufactures your pets foods?:  http://www.thepetfoodlist.com/ 
 

Another informative link: http://www.healthypetproducts.net/resources.html# 

Are you vaccinating too much? Check out http://www.critteradvocacy.org/
http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/VaccineGuidelines06Revised.pdf 

 Looking for a holistic vet? Check out the holistic vet list: http://www.holisticvetlist.com/

 
Looking for a specific breed of dog, this site is extremely informative on the characteristics of the majority of breeds that exist. http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/

 
Are you willing to adopt? Check out: Petfinder! http://www.petfinder.com/

 
Want to help a dog in danger?? http://www.dogsindanger.com/
Puerto Rico and US Virgin Island dogs in need.http://www.islanddog.org/

allergic to dogs:
http://members.aol.com/AHTerrier/allergies.html

Poo-dogs/Designer breeds:
http://www.canismajor.com/dog/poodogs.html