Kidney Failure Advice

[Spinstorm]

Hey all, first of all sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum to post in. 

I haven't been on here in a very long time probably many, many years.

My Husky Malamute called Flash is almost 10 years old. Until March this year he was a super chilled but stubborn doggy.

He had torn both his cruciate ligaments about a year apart from each other so had several months of recovering from that and of course that meant some arthritis as he has gotten older and definitely difficulty moving around but he still wanted to play and go out etc; then at the end of March he stopped eating, drinking and was lifeless. He was having trouble walking and so we took him to the vet. The vet wasn't sure what the problem was but did blood tests and found he has kidney problems. But his symptoms weren't that of gradual kidney failure so he had a scan. Turned out he had cancer on one of his kidneys. The vet told my mum that was the end of Flash; there was no way he would survive surgery to try and fix the cancer and he probably wouldn't last more than a week.

Naturally he is part of the family so we took him to south downs specialists and the cancer surgeon there said we should operate. So he did after about a week of fluids and medicine to make him stronger he had surgery. They removed his cancerous kidney and he recovered well. He was soon back to his old although clearly achey from his knees self. 

We hoped that his kidney remaining would take on the work of the bad one and initially it looked good. His kidneys blood tests showed his body was doing well; unfortunately (as you can probably tell) that soon changed.

Since July his blood tests have been very bad, in fact the vet is amazed he is still with us; and said he expected to see symptoms of kidney failure much sooner. I think it's fair to say that myself and my parents hoped that he would pull through; after all the vet considers the fact he is still alive to be a miracle. (he has tablets for high blood pressure and thyroxine too as his levels are low and he has that issue).

Unfortunately over the last few weeks we have started seeing bad symptoms. He is losing weight and he is being sick a few times a week and wretching quite often even if he isn't sick. It is hard to decide if his lack of desire to go out and go for walks is down to his feeling sick or his legs; as it is very clear that his most recent leg is causing him pain (as it is shaking when he sits down and he drags it when walking time to time; plus his back is also getting sore as a result).

He goes to the vet twice a week to have fluid therapy to try and flush out his kidneys and he also has laser heat treatment to make his legs and achey parts hurt less but he can't have painkillers because of his kidney.

He is still eating - he hasn't lost his appetite although he does need some encouragement time to time and he has gotten this annoying habit of only drinking water from the garden tap; so we are filling syringes with water and basically giving him water like that often. The reason for this is that the garden tap makes him wretch as its a lot of water (even turned down) and it hurts his neck. I bought a inside water fountain type thing from amazon but he seems to have no idea what that is for.

His symptoms are getting worse; even tonight (which is why I wrote this) he had a good dinner and was fast asleep and then suddenly got up and threw up his dinner.... This made me depressed.

I have no idea how long he will last; for all intents and purposes the fact he has survived this long is a testament to what a stubborn dog he is! but I don't know what to expect and what is going to happen... I don't think the vet does either. I hope he pulls through but it seems unlikely that with one kidney and that kidney failing its only a matter of time and no other options...

Any advice would be appreciated... Thanks.

[wolfpup]

I am so sorry your pup is so poorly.    Did a quick search and came up with these  - have no idea if anything will work - but surely worth a read:

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/canine-diets-for-kidney-failure/

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/kidney-disease-in-dogs/

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/kidney-failure-in-dogs-natural-treatment-options/

https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/kidney-disease-why-natural-treatments-are-best/

As for arthritis, I believe the best thing for helping with pain, stiffness etc is this:

https://www.riaflex.co.uk/products/green-lipped-mussel/

with this coming a very close second:

https://www.riaflex.co.uk/products/canine-joint-plus/

 

[Spinstorm]

Thanks for the links. 
 

I was hoping someone here was like be able to share some experiences with you their doggie who had the same problem. 
 

Because it’s just so difficult to know how long he will survive. If he is going to get really unwell and maybe start suffering something clearly we don’t want. But equally I don’t believe in putting a dog to sleep as a kind thing to do (not trying to start an argument here) just it seems that we are on an inevitable train to disaster. And I think what everyone wants is that their family member will pass asleep one night and not suffer. 

I was hoping for some help understanding what is happening now.

He did so well surviving cancer for his healthy kidney to give up is so unfair  

 

[Spinstorm]

Flash has a seizure this morning and was crying. 
 

I wasn’t there myself due to working but my mum had the nurses come and he passed away shortly after. The vet said his whole body was shutting down. 
 

I am heartbroken as you can all imagine and relate but I feel even worse for my mum who was there when it happened. 
 

He was such a good boy and last night when I left for work I gave him a kiss on the nose and told him he was the best boy ever. I didn’t know that would be the last time I see him. 

[wolfpup]

I am so sorry for your loss   -  run fast  Flash  -  run free.

[2Huskyfun]

I am so sorry to hear that.

Run free Flash