Canine Kidney Failure Symptoms
January 19th, 2012 | 
Author: I've a 12 year old Pomeranian that has had chronic knee problems for years. Most of the Vets we visited discouraged knee surgery due to limited success rates. So back in '07 they thought that she had developed arthritis in her knees, so I started giving her half of a baby aspirin with good results. After about a year, she didn't respond to the aspirin as well as before so we took her to the Vet and started her on Metacam. Halfway through '09 Tribble started slowing down, her tail would always be down, and was only eating half of her food. My wife and I thought this was due to knee pain, so December of '09 we decided to have the knee surgery done. We brought her home from the Vet and she ate as normal, however the next day she didn't finish her food and would only eat cat food. From there on she would only eat limited amounts of various things, such as egg and steak, but would not touch her food. We thought she was depressed so we waited for the cast to come off and see. Well, a month and a total of two surgeries later the cast comes off and the knee looks great, however Tribble still won't eat. We had the cast removed on a Wednesday and on Thursday we took her back to the Vet for the surgeon to double check her knee, which was perfect. We explained to the DR that she is still not eating, so the DR recommended a blood test. Friday I get a call from the DR that Tribble is in sever kidney failure, her BUN is 157 and her CRE is 8. *. The DR recommended IV therapy, which we did all Friday night and got good results with the BUN dropping to 86 and the CRE to 3.
3. To try and continue the good results we put her in the emergency vet hospital over the weekend for IV therapy. I dropped her off at our regular Vet that Monday morning to continue IV therapy and get blood work. Well the blood work came back worse, BUN 108 and the CRE 6. 6, what the hell? So all week I've been dropping her off at the Vet to get IV therapy during the day and the numbers have dropped a bit to BUN 104, CRE 6. 1. However her veins are giving out and they cannot keep the catheter in for more than a day at a time and are now on leg number4. Does anyone have any experience that can offer a suggestion? I want my dog's last days to be peaceful, but don't want to give up if there's any REAL possibility that she could have a recovery, even to the "manageable" level. After looking around, I learned — Kidney failure has the ability to be a potent adversary, and may not always respond favorably to treatment. In general, the body is able to compensate for a necessary amount of kidney dysfunction — 75% of kidney function must be lost before changes are seen, and the damage may be reversible or irreversible. So, anytime a situation like this occurs, it is easily life-threatening. Here are a couple of things to consider in terms of pushing forward or not with your pet: 1. It may be possible to pursue further treatment and diagnostics with a specialist. There are many universities and referral centers across the country with great, board-certified doctors in nearly any imaginable sub-field of veterinary medicine. 2. Step back and look honestly at your pet's situation and begin to consider her quality of life in your decision-making process. It might be difficult at times, but you have people around you — family, friends, veterinary professionals — whoever can all aid in your decision-making by giving opinions and support. The important thing is to not allow her to suffer without cause. –Notice that the above answer is informational and opinionated only. It would not be possible to give sound medical advice pertinent to your pet without seeing her.
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Kidney failure KILLS. . . in every animal.
Responsible adult don't force animals to linger & suffer & die slowly.
The best thing for your dog would be to keep her at the vet 24/7 for at least three days to get a full diuresis of her kidneys. That will have the best effect for lowering her BUN and Creatnin.
At that time the dog would then go home for daily or twice daily Subcutaneous fluids that you would learn to administer.
If the vet can get her kidney values down, you can give your dog some quality time with the SubQ fluids.
Dogs don’t do as well or live as long as cats with kidney failure.
I have had one dog with kidney failure and three cats.
I just lost my one cat to kidney failure after treating her for three years, where her blood values and quality of life remained excellent. She was put to sleep because she threw a blood clot-common in kidney failure issues.
My Bloodhound whoever had kidney failure,was also maintaining very well on his fluids, but also passed from throwing a blood clot.
Life itself is a fatal disease. When there is real possibility of providing more time to a pet with quality there is nothing wrong with doing so.
I think this on and off diuresis is not in the best interest in the dog. Always my vets have started out with 72 hours straight IV.
The way things are going right now I don’t feel you are going to get your dog to a manageable level, and you need to have a serious discussion with your vet.
I am VERY sorry for you and your dog and wish you the best.
Have a heart-to-heart talk with your vet. Kidney failure is terminal. I forced a dog to go through utter hell because I couldn't let go and the specialty vet kept telling me to keep continuing treatment. I got my girl an “extra” 6-weeks–3 of which were spent in ICU on continuous fluids. The previous poster's comments are like a punch in the gut to me. She lingered and suffered at my hands.
If the veins are going, she’ll not be able to continue the hydration. It sounds like she is past the stage of doing sub-cutaneous fluids. These BUN and Creatinine are drastically elevated and rebounding at higher rates than my dog's did.
With kidney failure come other horrible conditions. Eventually the other organs shut down and your dog will be in considerable pain. I'm sorry you are facing this. Please, don't let her suffer.
Added: when the kidney failure was first diagnosed in my dog, she stayed in the ICU on fluids for 13 days. She did have some “stabilization”, but was not able to be maintained at home. So even keeping your dog on fluids for a long-term period doesn't guarantee success. Kidney failure is a horrible disease and doesn't begin to show up on typical blood work until 70-75% of the kidneys' function is gone. Some things just can't be fixed by medicine. Although it tore my heart out to let my dog go, I did grant her a peaceful, although not well-timed, passing. I miss her, but I also felt a sense of relief that my precious dog wasn't suffering anymore. You can't imagine the number of pill and thousands of dollars spent during these few short weeks.