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Older dog advice

Just got off the phone with the vet. Charlie has abnormal kidney function and arthritis. He needs to go on a special low protein diet and he'll go on painkillers for the arthritis. The doctor prescribed painkillers that won't compromise his kidney function further. The special diet isn't going to help with his water intake, it'll just slow the rate of kidney damage. Hopefully the painkillers will give him a bit more increased mobility.

The vet says that Proin won't work for him because he's not leaking urine, his bladder is just getting full from the excessive water intake. The diapers that I ordered for him seem to fall off because he drags his hind legs around.

Arcadian, if you're reading this, I'm going to order a belly band for him. Do you find that they are tight enough to stay on your male dog?
 
foxinsox said:
how?? I was thinking of a pet-specific low temperature one under his bed - we've used one like this for years with never any issues for our cats. I would certainly never advocate one directly against the skin but that's just common sense surely?!
I use the clay-based one I got for myself tucked under my elderly cat's bed at the moment as we're going into winter and she's not doing well.
Usual caveats about making sure it's not going to electrocute, strangle or set fire to them either.
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A dog was burned severely at a vet in my area. They put a heating pad under some blankets to keep body temp up during surgery. It caused severe burns and nearly killed the dog.

I think you are okay with the pet specific, super low heat things but NOT a regular heating pad even on low.
 
Oh SMC, I'm so sorry. I was afraid of this. Poor Charlie! It does make it easier and less frustrating when you know what the problem is. I don't know how fast Charlie's kidney issues will progress but watch for signs of dehydration which was lethargy and no appetite in my dog's case. It can be deceiving, in some cases even though they can be taking in copious amount of water the kidneys aren't working well enough for the body to absorb the fluid. Please ask your vet about this and maybe ecf8503 can offer some insight.

I've ordered products from DogQuality.com before and I find them to be exceptional quality. My friend ordered some belly bands for her male dogs from them which she quite liked. Their Washable Wonders blanket pads are amazing. The are absorbent but soft. I bought a number of them to have on hand. This is also where I purchased my last 2 strollers.

I feel bad you're having to deal with so many age related issues at once. You are a sweetheart for taking in Charlie and giving him a good home for the time he has left.
 
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Poodles, thanks! What did you do to address the dehydration?
 
I hate to mention this, but it means sub-cutaneous fluids and/or IV fluids. When this starts happening it usually means the the kidney disease is advancing. The odd thing in Lucy's case she had physical symptoms long before there were any kidney abnormalities showing up in her blood work. She had quite a few other health issues so we had blood tests run on her almost monthly during her last year.
 
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SMC, thank God that you rescued him and he is getting the appropriate medical attention. I can imagine that once the medication and special diet kick in he will probably feel so much better and maybe a little weight loss will help the arthritis as well.

He is lucky such a wonderful person took him in to live out his golden years.
 
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I'm sorry to hear about the abnormal kidney function and arthritis, but it sounds like you and your vet have a good plan to help him out.

Belly bands can be great, but they often aren't a perfect fit. It can help to use bulky maxi pads (full or cut in half) to fill out the belly band or stop it from collapsing down. Since he drags his hind quarters you may have to readjust his band when he gets up.
 
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SMC said:
Just got off the phone with the vet. Charlie has abnormal kidney function and arthritis. He needs to go on a special low protein diet and he'll go on painkillers for the arthritis. The doctor prescribed painkillers that won't compromise his kidney function further. The special diet isn't going to help with his water intake, it'll just slow the rate of kidney damage. Hopefully the painkillers will give him a bit more increased mobility.

The vet says that Proin won't work for him because he's not leaking urine, his bladder is just getting full from the excessive water intake. The diapers that I ordered for him seem to fall off because he drags his hind legs around.

Arcadian, if you're reading this, I'm going to order a belly band for him. Do you find that they are tight enough to stay on your male dog?
Click to expand...

Let me first say I'm sorry for the news with Charlie. Low protein diets for dogs can sometimes be tough to do. You and he are in my thoughts.

I have a girl dog, so had to get some of these http://www.petsmart.com/dog/supplie...washable-cover-ups-13683.html?var_id=36-13683 with diapers when she was on high level of prednisone. No time for anything pretty but they do work very well together. She wears a size small... (she's a skinny model type...lol). Wear them she did but she wasn't happy about it though...

A belly band can be very helpful but if he's peeing a lot, you're going to have to use some seriously absorbent padding. I knew some people that would use human Poise pads because they caught a lot more pee...and you'll probably want 3-4 bands around so you can have some cleans one when needed. But def. try one to see if that works out.

Lots of owners of boy greyhounds who have kidney issues or in end of life situations swear by them, but usually they have to be custom for greys...might have to be the same for corgis

http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/vets-best-perfect-fit-washable-male-dog-wrap

And of course there's more custom stuff too. those can take time but heck he'd be fashionable right?
If you go etsy route you'd just need to make sure you provide measurements for your dog.

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=Belly band for male dog
 
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Thanks everyone! I'm going to try to pick up the medication and food today before my vet closes, but if I don't make it, I'll definitely be there tomorrow. The vet indicated that I could return the food if he refuses to eat it - from what I've heard and read, it must be really sucky for them, huh? Charlie doesn't seem to be a picky eater (unlike my other dog), so hopefully he will transition well. Vet says he could stand to lose a few pounds just so there is less stress on his legs, but his weight is actually pretty normal. I really hope that his disease doesn't progress quickly because if it gets to the point where he regularly needs IV fluids, we will be reassessing whether or not to prolong his life.

I just ordered the original belly band (https://www.bellybands.net/ - in stylish camouflage :)). I called them to order and they said that if it falls off, I can put a harness on him and pin the band to the harness. I'm going to try that. I really hope that we can find a way to manage the peeing so we can keep our basement clean and I can let him go to other areas of the house.

I do resent the extra work that I need to do to take care of him, but hey, it's not his fault that he's old and sick.
 
SMC - I am sad to say that if Charlie gets to the point where he needs IV fluids regularly he'll be close to end of life. You'll know when you get to that point and have to make the decision. In the meantime take it one day at a time.
 
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Thanks! Charlie ate his special food tonight without complaints and he took his painkiller like a champ! I put the medicine in one of those Greenie pill pockets and he just gobbled it right up. Vet says that the meds may make him sleepier than normal so I guess he'll be sleeping 22 hours a day instead of 21.
 
SMC, Its great news that you were able to get Charlie to eat the food and take his meds. Hopefully things will improve for him. Sending lots of healing dust to Charlie.
 
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My vet offered to teach me to do subcutaneous fluids for one of our cats. She died due to other issues so I did not learn, but I have known people who do this for months or longer without issue. Might be worth considering and asking about so you can get comfortable with it if you go that route.
 
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Glad to hear you have some answers! In terms of the kidney disease, did your vet give you any numbers from the bloodwork or a stage of the disease? I'm just curious.

Kidney diets are great if they eat them. But know there is some debate as to whether or not the low-protein approach is really helping. When their bloodwork is abnormal, the diets are more helpful, as the low protein intake reduces the values of the kidney markers in the blood and can make them feel better. When they are in early stages of the disease, and bloodwork changes are minimal, keeping a good amount of protein in the diet can help prevent muscle wasting.

Subcutaneous (under the skin) fluid therapy is also helpful, although it is more commonly used in cats, simply because they are smaller and need less of it. Giving fluids under the skin is fairly easy to do - don't worry about that. I'm sure if it comes to that point that your vet or a tech will teach you. Another approach is to feed more canned food, simply because it has more water in it already. If he likes the canned version of the kidney food, consider that.

Kidney disease is a progressive disease. It damages the physical structure of the kidneys so that they cannot absorb water back into the bloodstream after it is filtered. They cannot concentrate their urine. That's why they pee so much. And they get thirsty because they pee - so kind of backwards from what we normally think of. (Interesting fact - there are 2 kidneys, and they are extremely efficient; in fact over 70% of your kidneys structure has to be non-functional before abnormalities even show up in bloodwork!)

I'm glad to hear that your vet is conscious of the arthritis meds being nephrotoxic - some certainly are. It sounds like you're doing all the right things now that you have answers - keep up the good work!
 
Ecf, the vet didn't give me any numbers or indication of disease staging, but I will try to get a report emailed to me next week. I'm also going to drop off another urine sample next Wednesday as the vet wants to see if there are any changes. Charlie seems to like the kidney food (mix of kibble and wet) as much as his regular food so we're sticking with it to see if there's any improvement to his wellbeing. I've noticed slight improvement since he's been on painkillers as he seems to get up on his feet a little faster.

Waiting for my belly band to come next week. Hopefully it will prove to be a good solution to all the peeing!
 
SMC, sending Charlie lots of healing vibes and good thoughts and hugs to both of you.
 
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Thanks for the well wishes. We had a great weekend with Charlie. We took him out to the backyard to hang out with us and he loved it. He's not used to grass and dirt, having been a city dog his entire life, but he had a good time. We discovered that he does have a problem with eating dirt and rocks, and has been throwing up for the past 12 hours, so I hope that it's out of his system. I guess he will have to wear the cone of shame the next time we take him out back. :)

He's been eating his special kidney food and taking his medicine without any issues. Hasn't had a peeing accident in 2 days too. He still has major problems with mobility and needs to be carried up and down stairs, but it's manageable for now.
 
Ecf, I also got his bloodwork report back. If you could offer any additional insight, I would appreciate it. Thank you!

Here are the abnormal results:
Total Protein: 7.9 (normal 5.0-7.4 g/dL)
Globulin: 5.2 (normal 1.6-3.6 g/dL)
BUN: 43 (normal 6-31 mg/dL)
Creatine: 2 (normal 0.5-1.6 mg/dL)
Neutrophils: 85% (normal 60-77%)
Lymphocytes: 5% (normal 12-30 %)
Absolute lymphocytes: 366 (normal 690-4500 /mL)
 
Great! His kidney values (BUN and Creatinine) are above the normal reference range, but not extremely elevated, which is good - appears to be in a relatively early stage. Globulins (a blood protein) can go up with inflammation and kidney disease, both of which he has (arthritis is an inflammatory process), and the elevated globulin fraction is causing his total protein to go up. Nothing to worry about. The rest are white blood cells - shows he was stressed at the time of the blood draw (stress leukogram). Keep doing what you're doing!
 
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Thank you so much for the insight, Ecf!
 
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