# 8 yr old Golden having Kidney Failure



## Mcc92 (Sep 9, 2014)

Hi all, 

My sweet 8 year old golden has been having multiple health issues, the worst of which being kidney failure. The vet has not been able to tell us the extent to which her kidneys are failing and said she could be around for another year or two, possibly more. My girl unfortunately has not been eating very much and is very lethargic lately. My question is: has anyone experienced this same diagnosis with their golden, and if so- how long did your dog live? Every time she doesn't feel good I worry sick! Any advice from those of you who have experienced something similar would be greatly appreciated!


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## Pilgrim123 (Jul 26, 2014)

I'm so sorry you have this diagnosis. I can't give you any personal advice, but have you tried the search section of this site? It has many threads giving information which may help.


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## Phoenix'smom (May 28, 2016)

*Kidney Failure*

Hi, I am really sorry to hear your dog and you are going through this. We had a 8 year old Collie suffer from kidney failure. I am not sure what the dog's creatinine numbers are, but when Hollys got high she became very ill, vomiting multiple times in a row and urinating HUGE amounts. Our vet said the disease is irreversible and progressive. We tried the fluid dialysis but the relief was very short. Some major University hospitals are doing dialysis now. We relied on our vet to guide us and help make the final decision. Don't take my story as vet advice. I am just relating the course of Holly's illness as it happened. The vet figured she had been compensating for a few years and had lost over 80% of her kidney function. Has he/she been ultrasounded for the kidneys? Has the vet done a Createnine level? That could tell a lot. I didn't mean to scare you. This was after Holly had been compensating for years. Sounds like your girl is no where near that bad.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Welcome to the Forum.

My beloved Sabrina was only 3 when she was diagnosed with kidney disease. I took her to a specialist at a vet med school and had more tests done. They told me we had 3-6 years. I fought that disease with all that I could muster, the best weapon being chicken broth diluted with water to get my girl to drink enough to flush her kidneys. She made it just short of 5 years, dying weeks before her 8th birthday. Those years were rich with joy and she taught me many things along the way.

Moving to special diet can make a world of difference. Sabrina was on the Hills KD formula for years. When Joker had kidney issues late in life, he wouldn't touch the KD but liked a Royal Canin product. Some vet schools will formulate a diet to match the specific needs of your dog. If you need help finding something like that, please let me know.

Hugs and prayers,
Lucy


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## wdadswell (Dec 17, 2015)

I lost my 6 1/2 year old Golden to renal failure. My best advice is to join the K9 Kidney Diet Forum. They are amazing!! Anything you want to know and how to help your dog live with this disease, they will help. Mine was in end stage, but was fortunate to have him with me for another 6 months, with their help.

It's a lot of work, but so worth it. I used to give him sub-q fluids Twice a day and I eventually had to force feed him, as they have no appetite. Blood work frequently, to show where their levels are at. I did have to hospitalize him once, so he could go on IV drip, to flush the kidneys. I'm sorry, it is such a helpless feeling to watch your dog go through it and know there is no cure. The only good thing is, it's not painful.


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## Mcc92 (Sep 9, 2014)

*Thank you*

Thank you to everyone posting helpful advice and good wishes. I have noted all the suggestions provided, hopefully it will help my good girl feel better. Thank you again, much appreciated!!


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## Dennis Thomas DVM (Oct 9, 2015)

Sorry to hear about your dog. Kidney failure, in my opinion, is not a diagnosis. Imagine if you went to the doctor because you had a headache and he told you that you had brain failure. It is too general. Too often, we vets have a sick dog come into the hospital and since we don't find anything on the physical exam, we do blood work. If the blood work suggests that the kidneys are dysfunctional, we often make a diagnosis of kidney failure and prescribe treatment depending on how elevated the numbers are. 

Blood work should only be a flag that the kidneys have a problem and we should move beyond that in order to determine the cause for the kidney disease. This might require further laboratory testing, ultrasound, biopsy, etc. There can be many causes of kidney disease in the dog and many of them can be successfully treated if diagnosed. Examples might be infection, inflammatory (glomerulonephritis), etc Others are not so good (cancer, immune-mediated, congenital, etc). Primary kidney failure is not that common in dogs as it is in cats. We cannot blame old-age kidneys as a cause for kidney disease. 

I had a dog a few months ago diagnosed with kidney failure and told that it would die in a short time. She got a second opinion. We found out the dog had a secondary glomerulonephritis due to chronic pancreatitis. We resolved the pancreatitis, supported the kidneys while they healed and the dog returned to normal kidney function. Not all kidney disease is kidney failure. Good luck.


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## L Withers (Aug 22, 2016)

Mcc92 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> My sweet 8 year old golden has been having multiple health issues, the worst of which being kidney failure. The vet has not been able to tell us the extent to which her kidneys are failing and said she could be around for another year or two, possibly more. My girl unfortunately has not been eating very much and is very lethargic lately. My question is: has anyone experienced this same diagnosis with their golden, and if so- how long did your dog live? Every time she doesn't feel good I worry sick! Any advice from those of you who have experienced something similar would be greatly appreciated!


I adopted a Dachshund back in 09-30-14 (she was an older dog) and she was tested for heart worms and it showed that she had canine Ehrlichiosis. I did not know anything about it so, I read some and heard how terrible it could be with the inflammation arthritis and could be crippling not to mention, Uveitis of the eyes. So therefore, I was very afraid of the disease ad decided that if it progressed and she became ill, I did not want her to suffer and would put her down. I did give her Serrapeptase for inflammation one aday (Robert Redfern), and she got to where she wouldn't take a pill. When she developed the Kidney failure, I didn't know if it was from the Ehrlichisosis or from age. 

She has a dental in January 2016 and her blood work showed that her kidneys were elevated and had 5 teeth pulled and was kept on a IV that day and was given antibiotics for home.

When I took her back in March she had an odor and ask the Vet if it was her teeth and she said it was her kidneys and prescribed her Epakitin, which is a powder to put on her food. She would not eat her KD keebles & can food and she got to were she would not eat her food with the Epakitin. I did feed her cooked vegetables, chicken and turkey. 

She became anemic and started bleeding out of the mouth, so I took her to the Vet and she said her gums were bad and tongue was white. She could smell her Kidneys and she could not be sedated for any dental, due to she would not survive. She was throwing up alot and I didn't know what to do. She lost weight from 13 to 10 lbs. She did develop a cataract in her left eye which could have been Uveitis? jI told the Vet how the week before she had some seizures and ask her if I should put her down and she thought that would be best. (08-03-16)

Now, I read 319 reviews of the Pet Wellbeing Kidney Support Gold and I feel that I could have gotten her health back. My heart is broken. I know that she would have wanted to live and feel good. Even if it was only for 6 months or a year what a blessing that would be. I regret now trying more options. I'm going to keep on reading.

Pipe Creek, Texas


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

Three years ago next month I was admitted to the hospital in a semi coma--BP was 70/40, temp 96. Well, it turns out I was in stage 5 kidney failure. My function was 8. Anything under 15 is dialysis or transplant.

I spent 12 days in there on dialysis until the final 3. The kidney specialist said it was the diabetic drub, Metformin that caused my failure. A biopsy was done and while waiting on the results to come back from the Mayo Clinic, my function number climbed some on the day I didn't have dialysis--it would normal drop. He called of dialysis the next day--my number went up more. Then the results came back--the part of my kidneys that had failed is the part that will regenerate themselves and mine were doing just that. He did keep me a couple more days as I had developed bronchitis. My number was up to 26 when I came home and since it has ranged from 40 to 49--100 is perfect. I will never get out of stage 3 failure. I have to have blood work done every 3 months, urine test every 6 months. 

Naturally he took me off the Metformin. I had been on it along with Glipizide and Januvia. Then Januvia was dropped and Victoza was added in it's stead. Due to total heart failure 3 years last March, my heart doesn't beat and I have a 3 lead pacemaker that shocks my heart to make it beat every beat. Also 2 stents in my heart. As for drugs, I take those two for diabetes, Levothyroxine for low thyroid, one for high cholesterol, one for my heart, Gabapentin for sciatica, and one that is actually used for Parkinsons Disease because of cramps in my legs. I also take--at the various doctor's orders--Iron and B-Complex for my chronic anemia, Flaxsee Oil, garlic gel caps, Milk Thistle, Cranberry gel caps, Vitamin D3, Magnesium. We are walking pharmacies....hubby takes more prescriptions than I do!

When my old golden had a UTI, I gave him cranberry gels (about 9 years ago) and my vet thought it was a great idea. My kidney specialist told me to take them. The juice would have been better, but to much sugar for my diabetes..


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

I am so sorry, it's heartbreaking when they don't feel well and there is very little they can do.
My Mollie had just turned 5, I had the pleasure of sharing her company for 4 yrs. Ms Mollie was a high energy, extremely quick to learn girl. We went to our 1st obedience class... she knew all the exercises to get her UD but I was clueless, the class was for me. When the trainer started saying she wasn't giving her all, lack of effort errors I knew something was wrong and we left class. She started throwing up late that night and we headed to the vet the next morning. Long story short... she died in 6 days. Enjoy each day and hope you have more time than we did. This is my Mollie Glengowan All Dollars No Sense


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## bumblepup2005 (Sep 1, 2016)

*Golden doing great with one kidney/healthy alternative treatments*

It is so hard to see them not feeling well. My now 11.5 year old Golden boy developed kidney cancer about the time he was just turning 9. The cancerous kidney was removed and he was put on Royal Canin Renal MP after surgery to help the remaining kidney, he had a slight increase in BUN and CREATININE post surgery and it is possible for the nephrectomy to initiate renal disease, so he had stage 1 with with remaining kidney. In addition we consulted our specialist vet who does both traditional and alternative Oncology medicine. Having had a Golden before him with Hemangiosarcoma, I was familiar with the cancer routine, but not with alternative treatments. I knew putting my beautiful boy through chemo was not something I wanted to do (having tried one treatment with my earlier Golden). Our vet also has extensive training in Chinese herbal medicines and she prescribed a couple of herbal powders that were not only cancer fighting, but kidney supporting, a mushroom tincture and a form of turmeric, adjusting them slightly based on his kidney values and cancer imaging. She also put him on Wellactin omega 3 oil on his food. He has been doing exceptionally well for 2.5 years since surgery, no recurring cancer, just one kidney and his BUN and CREATININE values remain very good. They have actually improved since immediately post surgery. He has had no side effects from the alternative herbal medicines and is still a zippy senior. I am very thankful I have my big love still two years after the cancer and would definitely consider alternative treatment in all future dogs. I also think the diet change is key, it is the first thing they recommended.


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## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

That is great. My 12.75 year old golden was diagnosed two days ago with a raging, raging kidney infection. She had been in 2 1/2 weeks earlier becaue she had 2 seizures within 3 weeks. My vet was at a seminar up in Boston, but had a fill in vet. She ran a lot of blood work and found Sophie was anemic. Gave her a B12 injection and put her on an antibiotic in case she had had had tick borne disease BEFORE we adopted her shortly after her 11th birthday. She also put her on phenobarbital.

I took her off the pheno after a week of watching spend most of her time down on the grown. Bad his and knees and she would o down spread eagle, etc and I was scared she was going to dislocate or break something. She was to have the follow up with my vet Tuesday--we are in a small town of 400, one vet who is so good he has clients come 25 miles out of Corpus which is full of vets, for him to treat their dogs and cats. He stays up to date on everything.

Well, he said no need to run all that blood work again, but did do a RBC and she was even more anemic, Losing blood somewhere. Got urine sample and found the raging infections, but no blood showed in the urine. They took a stool sample and sent it off to have it checked for blood in her GI tract. He said we have to treat everything aggressively.

First of all, a full 30 days of the antibiotic Augmentin for the kidney infection. And put her on Royal Canin Renal Support kibble and canned. For her arthritis, very low dose pain pil daily (actually 1/4 of a Melosican) once daily. I am to continue the 2000 mf of fish oil with Omega-3. She has been on Cosequin and it did help, but we started her on Adequan injections. She got one then and will get 2 a week for 4 weeks, then 1 a week, then 1 every two weeks and if all goes well, just 1 a month. She also has dry eye, so is on special drops once a day for that and then can use OTC artificial tears again in the day if needed.

We got a call this morning--no blood in her stool. He believes and hopes that the anemia is caused by her kidney infection which she has apparently had for a good while. We will know more after the infection clears up. Neither he nor that visiting vet 3 weeks ago could find any masses, but there could always be a small bleeding one on spleen or liver. If the anemia remains the same or gets worse, ultrasound will be done next.

We are 71 and 72 years old and living on social security. we joke we may be grazing in our yard before long. That food is almost $3 a can, the bag about $58 for 17 1/2 pounds. And it is nothing but "junk"--Brewers rice, chicken fat, corn, corn gluten, etc. We have been paying less than that, a lot less, for a 30 pound bag of really good grain free food. BUT I know this renal support works, so no choice. I may start cooking the special food for her. Has to keep protein so low (me too, I am in lower end stage 3 failure myself). The Adequan is "eating our lunch" right now, but once the injections are every 2 weeks, etc, it will not be bad. But our little girl is worth it. We love her so much.


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