SOCKS HAS RECOVERED FROM MCT BUT NOW...

by **twisted** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:22 pm

1st all i would like to let everyone know that socks has recovered from his surgery to remove 6 mct's. here he is giving me a goofy look.

so with that problem out of the way we have a couple more things that popped up... :eek:

socks is turning 11 soon and old age is catching up. his arthritis from his hip dysplasia is getting worst. i have him on glocusomine and it helped for years but now it seems it isnt so much.

i cant give him anything else because he has elevated kidney enzymes which leads me to our next problem.. he is on hills kd diet and i think its not providing good nutrition as he has lost a little weight. that and he doesnt eat it like he should. i called the vet and he gave me an alternative diet i cook up but that is gonna be tough keeping up with the demand of hamburger needed.

so i was wondering if anyone here has some good ideas i can run past the vet on our next visit ?

thanks as always, George

by **AllisonPibbleLvr** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 4:59 pm

I would stick to the k/d if possible. Poor old man.

As for his hip, ask your vet about using tramadol for pain.

by **suzanne** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 7:52 pm

I've actually heard of a lot of dogs losing weight on k/d, there are a few other diets to try - Royal Canin Renal LP and Purina NF. I would play around with the kidney foods to try to entice him.

Is he on anything for his tummy such as pepcid/famotidine? If not talk toy your vet, when they are in kidney failure their tummies get upset. Another thing you could try also would be an appetite stimulant such as mirtazapine which can help him to want to eat.

by **elegy** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 8:30 pm

K/D isn't one of the more, er, palatable diets out there. What about a homemade diet consultation? Something like this? Not cheap and likely work-intensive, but potentially worth it.

Also, if you're not doing a fish oil supplement, I'd look into that. It can help with arthritis.

by **pblove** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 9:23 pm

I think thee is a lot of very useful information on this site

http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidney.html

Good luck to you Socks.

by **twisted** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:01 pm

AllisonPibbleLvr wrote:I would stick to the k/d if possible. Poor old man.

As for his hip, ask your vet about using tramadol for pain.

we have tramadol for him for when it gets bad.

by **twisted** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:04 pm

suzanne wrote:I've actually heard of a lot of dogs losing weight on k/d, there are a few other diets to try - Royal Canin Renal LP and Purina NF. I would play around with the kidney foods to try to entice him.

Is he on anything for his tummy such as pepcid/famotidine? If not talk toy your vet, when they are in kidney failure their tummies get upset. Another thing you could try also would be an appetite stimulant such as mirtazapine which can help him to want to eat.

i should of also said that its not his appetite. its the food. how i found out is i tried some other food for two days to see if he wanted to eat or if he just didnt have an appetite. he begged for the food. problem is what wasnt a kidney friendly food so i didnt continue.

idk if he has had an upset stomach but i know it looks like he has trouble going #2 sometimes.

by **tiva** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:55 pm

Just how elevated are those kidney enzymes?

I ask because my Tiva (16.5 yrs) has some very similiar health issues as your pup. After her last MCT surgery, we initially tried tramadol for her arthritis. Tramadol wasn't working and was sedating her too much, so then we tried rimadyl (since the alternative was going to be euthanasia since I didn't want her to be in untreated pain). Rimadyl worked wonders for her pain and made her act like a MUCH younger dog, but then her kidney enzymes got elevated (but not terribly much above normal). Our vet suggested every-other-day rimadyl. She also wanted to keep Tiva on TOTW (the salmon forumula which is medium protein) rather than putting her on a prescription kidney food, because our vet was more worried about Tiva losing weight on a kidney food. Anyway, so far it's working great--her kidney enzymes stabilized and she eats like a hog. We mix her TOTW with lots of water and often add in some green beans and carrots (both low in phosphorus).

Good luck! Other low phosphorus foods that might be more palatable include those listed at http://dogaware.com/health/kidneynonprescription.html
As an earlier poster mentioned, the website above is an excellent resource for dealing with kidney issues.

by **twisted** » Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:22 pm

last blood panel in early spring his kidney enzymes were high normal. but before they were in low range of "above normal"

his arthritis is not terribly bad but it does show. he wines now and then and struggles to get up. he also "plops" down hard in the rear when he goes to lay or sit down. ive also seen him stumble a little with his rear feet.

on the same note he will go running through the yard with no care. :thumbsup:

so i think a vet trip is in the near future. iam also gonna look into purina nf.

by **tiva** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:08 pm

With high normal kidney enzymes, many vets feel that it's reasonable to treat your dog with NSAIDs such as Rimadyl for severe arthritis--well, my vet believes this strongly, and when I asked on this board about it this winter, the board vets also agreed. Rimadyl and other NSAIDs can strain the kidneys, but untreated pain is worse than slightly elevated kidney enzymes. For my Tiva, the tradeoff is completely worth it, particularly because every other day dosing controls the arthritis pain without worsening the kidney enzymes (Tiva's are at high normal, and slightly above normal at times. But they're stable enough).

Godo luck!

by **Nickdawg** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:07 pm

I love him!!!!!!!!

strongly suggest he is on something daily for the pain - to me the trade off is worth it and was with my dog (who had bad arthritis in mid to later years- did liquid metacam then added tramadol later on along with it- also did cartrophen shots and tried Flexadin (glocosamine/Chondroitin) but he reacted badly to the Flexadin ironically all the rest ok) - these dogs are very stoic and have high pain tolerance so if whining etc., it is quite significant imo.

by **Misskiwi67** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 11:18 pm

You could try http://www.petdiets.com

It is a veterinary nutritionist approved consultation service.

by **twisted** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 4:10 pm

update one socks.

he is feeling better and i now have him on purina nf. he seems to like it a bit better then the hills. as far as the arthritis, its still present but his pain has decreased. i still have to get him in for an office visit.

each day i try to get him out for a little exercise so he doesnt get to stiff. it seems to help.

tiva , ill mention this to my vet about the nsaids and see what he says and report back here.

thanks everyone for the help.