# Mollie & Juvenile Renal Dysplasia



## Britt5427 (Apr 2, 2015)

My husband and I lost our sweet Golden Maggie of only 5 years back in September from Lyme Nephritis. We found out we were actually pregnant right before she passed. There was a huge void in the house without her which neither of us could handle. We knew that with the baby coming we wanted to get another puppy while we could handle it. We got our precious Mollie Mae in November. Mollie is nothing short of an amazing dog. She is now 7 months and full of energy and love. But we have had some problems since she was a baby. She got two UTI's and was peeing in her sleep quite often. We just thought this was normal puppy stuff. The first UTI was treated with a 10 day antibiotic in February and all her symptoms seemed to go away. It wasn't until we took her to her spay appt that we realized her levels were still high, at a 1.6. We then put her on a 14 day antibiotic to hopefully get everything straightened out. A couple days ago when we went for her blood work to try to get her spayed for the second time her levels went to a 2.2 which was very concerning. We cancelled her surgery and took her to a local hospital in MA. We got an ultrasound today that confirmed our worst nightmare, she has a kidney disease called Juvenile Renal Dysplasia. As of right now she's only 7 young months, she's eating all her food, going to the bathroom regularly, and in high spirits. We won't know how progressive it is until we get more blood work done in three weeks. I just can't believe that we are going through this for the second time in less then a year in two young dogs. Has anyone else dealt with this? I'm just hoping to give her a couple of amazing years with us and to meet the new addition to our family in May. <3


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Mollie is super beautiful and I am so, so sorry to hear about her DX. I will leave it to someone here who knows more about it to comment fully, but she is a very pretty baby and I am really sorry.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

I'm so sorry to hear that you're dealing with this a second time. Such a pretty little girl!


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I have seen many labs with renal dysplasia and it can progress fairly quickly. We did spay a golden from a breeder who was culled from the breeder's breeding program who had renal dysplasia. When we spayed her, we biopsied her kidney...it came back renal dysplasia... She lived to be 11 years. And her owner really did nothing to help prolong her life. Renal dysplasia definitely has a familial basis, so you should let the breeder know. Good luck and best wishes...


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## Buddy's mom forever (Jun 23, 2011)

I am very sorry for your girl, Sally's Mom story is giving hope for your girl to live long life too.


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## Goldylover2 (May 1, 2014)

Sorry to hear the news about your pup. You gotta stay positive. Hopefully some meds and a food change will help your pup live a long life.


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## Britt5427 (Apr 2, 2015)

Thank you for the kind words, she's our little princess! 

Sally's Mom, thank you for the positive thoughts we are hoping for that same outcome. Just trying to get some more answers before we figure out if getting her spayed right now is the right move. We did let the breeder know, and she's been great trying to work with us to try and find what we can all do to help Mols. The litter had 10 puppies, one of which our very close friends have so we are hoping it's not something that is going to affect the other puppies as well. 

Thank you again!<3


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

So sorry to hear your story. Mollie is such a sweet looking girl. We also lost our Zoe at 5.5 years old to kidney failure, thought to be Lyme nephritis. It was devastating. Hoping that the renal dysplasia is something that can be treated. Have you considered consulting a vet that specializes in kidney problems. Your regular vet can probably refer you to one at a nearby veterinary school or hospital.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Mollie is lovely! I'm so sorry that you and she face kidney disease.

My Sabrina was three years old when she was diagnosed with kidney disease that was presumed to be congenital. At that point, she was reluctant to eat or drink much and obviously didn't feel good. I took her to specialist, who told me to expect three to six years with her. We put her on KD low-protein food and I used my secret weapon, chicken broth diluted with water, to get her to drink more. For the rest of her life, her veterinarians and I monitored her condition with frequent urinalysis and blood work, treating the occasional UTI. She took soloxine for hypothyroidism and eventually Adequan injections and rimadyl for arthritis and hip dysplasia.

Sabrina was seven years old when her test results began to worsen, after years of being stable. About 10 months later, she stopped eating and I rushed her to an emergency clinic. The bad news came back that she had a cardiac cancer (probably hemangiosarcoma, based on what I have learned on the GRF), as well as the kidney disease. The treatment for each condition would make the other worse. I was given three choices: keep in in the ICU at $1,000 per day; let them put her down immediately; or take her home and plan to let her go within a few days. I opted to take her home and spoiled her rotten, letting her have time to say goodbye to Joker and Charlie, whom she had raised. I also insisted that our vet leave me with an escape plan - something I could give her if things got awful during the night. I gave her that injection around 4:00 AM on her last day with me, a few hours later taking her to our vet for the final injections that eased her out of life. She was surrounded by two loving pet sitters who came to our aid, our gentle vet, and me. I held her to the last breath. 

Losing her before her 8th birthday broke my heart, but we had almost five good years together after her diagnosis. She was smart, mischievous, and loving, and she enjoyed her life thoroughly, down to the last slow walk after a tennis ball that a pet sitter rolled across the grass for her.

Don't give up and don't give in to despair. You have caught Mollie's disease earlier that we detected Sabrina's and perhaps that will let you buy her more time. If you have pet insurance on her, you might see if it covers kidney transplants, which have become fairly common now, at least in this area. In any case, enjoy Mollie and her time with you. Try to forget about the disease that she doesn't know she has and focus on the good times that lie ahead. I do know exactly how hard that is, but I also know that it is the only way to go.

Hugs and prayers...


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## Bosn'sMom (Feb 11, 2013)

I'm so sorry you are going through this! I'm not sure where in MA you are located (I'm on the south shore) but it may not hurt getting a second opinion from Angell in Boston. They work miracles there!


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2018)

*Just got the same diagnosis*

I know this thread is three or so years old, but we just got the same diagnosis with almost the same scenario (went in to get spayed and say the signs). We're awaiting more results but are really at a loss of what to do from here.


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I'm sorry, I know it would be scary. Hopefully it will be mild and treatable.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

cephas04 said:


> I know this thread is three or so years old, but we just got the same diagnosis with almost the same scenario (went in to get spayed and say the signs). We're awaiting more results but are really at a loss of what to do from here.


I'm so sorry, sending good thoughts to you and your pup. 
Hope you'll keep us updated.


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## Britt5427 (Apr 2, 2015)

*There is hope! Mollie is doing great*

I’m so sorry to hear you got the same news. I do want to give you hope though because Mollie is now going on her 4th Birthday and she couldn’t be better. When I originally got her diagnosis I worked with our vet to try to get her numbers down and nothing was working. It also seemed that not a lot of vets were knowledgeable in her condition. I obviously wasn’t going to give up so my husband and I tried the holistic route (neither of us have done this before). Our breeder gave us a holistic doctors name in Maine, and she has been nothing short of amazing. We took Mollie in and she started off by giving her acupuncture and then from there we looked at her lab results and determined what Chinese herbs she should go on and what her new diet was going to look like. 

She now only eats sweet potatoes and organic grass fed beef for both breakfast and dinner (she gets lunch in the summer months when she’s more active). I only give her spring water because our tap water isn’t great and whatever break her kidneys can get I give to her. 

She gave us about 6 different Chinese herbs that shes on and off of. We also give her fish oil, cranberry pills and B Complex. 

After being on this diet with these herbs her numbers were in every normal bracket, so we were able to get her spayed no problem. I’m not going to lie it’s a lot of work I probably cook more for her then I do for my toddler but her numbers have been continuously great. So how can you stop something that’s working. We try to go to our holistic vet after 3 months but that obviously doesn’t always happen. I can give you a more detailed plan on what we do for Mollie if you want it, but I wanted to give you an idea of what worked for us. 

You would never know she was sick and I always say she eats like a queen. 

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help in any other way<333

Brittany


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

What a wonderful update on Mollie! And congratulations on your beautiful daughter!


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Wonderful update, so glad you came back and posted this. 
Great to hear how wonderful she's doing, Mollie is a pretty girl. 

Congratulations on your beautiful daughter!
Your first picture would make a fantastic Christmas card..... it certainly is frame worthy.


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## emkristine (Jun 3, 2018)

Our Golden was diagnosed with renal dysplasia last summer. She is doing great, but I still worry about her all the time. I would love to talk to both of you, as I have found that it’s nice to talk to others going through the same thing. When we got the diagnosis I was told about a yahoo group called K9Kidneys and they a lot of resources. There are a few other Goldens with renal dysplasia in the group too.


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## Tribefan21 (Jun 24, 2018)

Agonizing! We took our 3 year old golden in because she ate something she shouldn't have and had diarrhea for 2 days. While there, we decided to have bloodwork done so we had a baseline for the future. Our last Golden had issues so we thought it would be helpful to have.

We never thought it would have led to renal dysplasia. Her sdma was 19 and Creatinine 1.8 so we did antibiotics hoping it was an infection. Good news it dropped to 16. 2 weeks later though back to 23 and creatinine 2.5. The ultrasound that followed revealed small kidneys and renal dysplasia.

She is not even 3. No clinical signs yet. We are going to start her on a renal diet, standard prescription bags, but even deciding on one of those is overwhelming. Most vets recommended that, but have also heard people make homemade meals.

Also recommended a supplement called aminavast. 60$ a month and no idea what it is or whether it will do anything.

We are devastated. She is such an awesome dog. We are overwhelmed with emotion and choices and have no idea what to expect. 6 months, year, 3? 

Any thoughts or assistance would be much appreciated.


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2018)

I'm so sorry to hear this. We tried the K/D diet at first and that didn't help much. Then we saw a pet nutritionist and got recipes for a homemade diet. Since then her numbers are real close to normal range. The only medicine we do is a probiotic, azodyl, and a phosphate binder of aluminum hydroxide. If you haven't already, go see a specialist. Either an internal medicine vet or a nutritionist. Our regular vet is awesome, but he admitted that this disease is outside their comfort zone and needs to be monitored by someone who does this every day. Since then, we've calmed down and learned a lot more.


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## emkristine (Jun 3, 2018)

After our vet gave us that diagnosis, I actually went and talked to another vet who said she should be put on that medication. I decided not to do anything until we saw a specialist. They told us that there was no need for her to be put on any medication at this time. I know a lot of kidney dogs have to be on phosphorus binders, but Riley has no need for that at this time since her phosphorus values are normal. We just have her on Cranberry d’mannose (Since she was UTI prone as a little puppy) and fish oil. 
The kidney diet started decreasing her values within 6 weeks, but they still aren’t back to the normal range (which I was told might never happen). I sent you a message, so that I wasn’t writing a novel on here. 
How long they will live was something I was very concerned with when we first got the diagnosis. It’s not something that they really have an answer for either. It’s almost been a year for us and our pup is doing great. We just have to love them everyday that we have them.


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## Aili's mama (Jul 13, 2018)

Britt5427 said:


> I’m so sorry to hear you got the same news. I do want to give you hope though because Mollie is now going on her 4th Birthday and she couldn’t be better. When I originally got her diagnosis I worked with our vet to try to get her numbers down and nothing was working. It also seemed that not a lot of vets were knowledgeable in her condition. I obviously wasn’t going to give up so my husband and I tried the holistic route (neither of us have done this before). Our breeder gave us a holistic doctors name in Maine, and she has been nothing short of amazing. We took Mollie in and she started off by giving her acupuncture and then from there we looked at her lab results and determined what Chinese herbs she should go on and what her new diet was going to look like.
> 
> She now only eats sweet potatoes and organic grass fed beef for both breakfast and dinner (she gets lunch in the summer months when she’s more active). I only give her spring water because our tap water isn’t great and whatever break her kidneys can get I give to her.
> 
> ...


Hi there,

Our 8-month-old Golden Girl Aili (eye-lee) was diagnosed with renal dysplasia when she was 5 months old after a series of odd symptoms that were tracked back to her kidneys. We too have her seeing a holistic vet in Toronto, Canada, where we are from, but I was wondering if you would mind giving me a more detailed description of the plan that Mollie is on. I would love to learn what is working for her and you.

We were devastated at the diagnosis, but remain hopeful. We do not know if it is one or both of her kidneys because that would require a biopsy that the specialist said is invasive, risky, uncomfortable (obviously), and has a high likelihood of being inconclusive, not to mention that it doesn't change her treatment outcome, so we passed on it.

I would love to have any information you are willing to share.
Thank you kindly,
Kristin & Aili


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## Penny's mom (10 mo ago)

Britt5427 said:


> *There is hope! Mollie is doing great*
> 
> I’m so sorry to hear you got the same news. I do want to give you hope though because Mollie is now going on her 4th Birthday and she couldn’t be better. When I originally got her diagnosis I worked with our vet to try to get her numbers down and nothing was working. It also seemed that not a lot of vets were knowledgeable in her condition. I obviously wasn’t going to give up so my husband and I tried the holistic route (neither of us have done this before). Our breeder gave us a holistic doctors name in Maine, and she has been nothing short of amazing. We took Mollie in and she started off by giving her acupuncture and then from there we looked at her lab results and determined what Chinese herbs she should go on and what her new diet was going to look like.
> 
> ...


Hi there! I know this forum is four years old, but I found it searching for online for some solutions... our new golden puppy, Penny, was sadly just diagnosed with this condition. She has had some very similar symptoms - like peeing in her sleep- that are things that we attributed to just being a puppy. She developed a UTI and we took her to the vet, did some bloodwork


Britt5427 said:


> *There is hope! Mollie is doing great*
> 
> I’m so sorry to hear you got the same news. I do want to give you hope though because Mollie is now going on her 4th Birthday and she couldn’t be better. When I originally got her diagnosis I worked with our vet to try to get her numbers down and nothing was working. It also seemed that not a lot of vets were knowledgeable in her condition. I obviously wasn’t going to give up so my husband and I tried the holistic route (neither of us have done this before). Our breeder gave us a holistic doctors name in Maine, and she has been nothing short of amazing. We took Mollie in and she started off by giving her acupuncture and then from there we looked at her lab results and determined what Chinese herbs she should go on and what her new diet was going to look like.
> 
> ...



Hi there! I found your forum about renal dysplasia searching online for some solutions... our new golden puppy, Penny, was sadly just diagnosed with this condition. She has had some very similar symptoms to your golden, Mollie - like peeing in her sleep- that we attributed to just being a puppy. She developed a UTI and we took her to the vet earlier this week... her bloodwork came back with some high numbers. She's been in the hospital for two days and thankfully her levels are starting to come down and they are sending her home to us tomorrow. I was so encouraged to find your post about how you managed things with Mollie, because the prognosis is grim and I don't want to give up. Would you be willing to share more about your treatment plan for her- diet, etc? 

Thank you so much!


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