Ill Functioning Kidneys

About two months ago I took in a rescue dog, actually Jake was headed for the pound. The sheriffs office had an ad in the paper & I thought someone had found my old dog Bobbi. Well, to make a long story short I ended up bringing home Jake an Australian Shepherd. I took him to the veterinaries for a check up. Jakes kidneys are shot & they only gave him weeks to live. Well, Jake is doing pretty good. His breath smells terrible somedays due to the poor functioning kidneys. I was told to give him high quality dog food, & vitamins. Well, Jake has had other ideas he prefers bolona sandwichs & eats dirt to pick up his needed minerals. He also has free choice of a Dry Sport Mix dog food & all the fresh water he can drink. We do go out on daily walkies & the other day he joined in a deer chase with the other dogs. I was surprised when he chased the deer. I was told to bring Jake in if he started throwing up his food & the veterinary would put him to sleep when the time comes. I am wondering if anyone else has had such an experience with their dog having kidney disease? We live on a farm & Jake is left to do what he darn well pleases. He is pretty much a porch dog & loves to climb up on the porch rocker & sleep. I just can't get over how he has bounced back & has gotten so lively since he has been here with us. There is not an ounce of fat on him either. I can feel his ribs & back bones. He is such a sweetheart & I am so happy to have him kidney disease & all.

How sad for you and Jake! :( Sounds like his last couple weeks are giong to be happy ones though; good for you! :) I always like to get a second opinion from a vet when something that serious is told to me and the animal perks up like that...everybody can make a mistake sometimes...Best of luck and hope all turns out as well as possible.

My Sadie has kidney disease, she was diagnosed in February. Sadie is almost 14 years old so for her it is age related. The vet recommended a low protein diet. I did some research online and completely changed Sadie's diet. In May we had another blood test and results were actually better than in February.

How old is Jake? If he isn't that old it may help to try to figure out what has caused the kidney problems. Is he having urinary problems? If he isn't and there is no vomiting then he should have more than 2 weeks, no need to give up yet. (Sadie wears a diaper inside and she is still doing well). There are prescription diets for kidney disease, Science Diet k/d being one of them.

I focus on a low phosphorous diet for Sadie - beef with 80% or less lean (more fat less phosphorous!) + rice for extra calories. You want to keep a dog with kidney disease from losing weight. Sadie is real picky about eating so she gets more beef than she should but I want her to eat. She is also on supplements and vitamins - B50 vitamin, salmon oil supplement, vit E, and co-q10. The vet recommended pepcid ac 10mg a day as well. So far this is working. My vet said the prognosis varies - months to years. Sadie has already gone months and has improved.

I have based my plan of action for Sadie on info from www.dogaware.com. I'm so glad I found that site!

Sabie, Thank you for your reponse. I have bookmarked the dogware.com. The veterinary recommended science diet canned dog food for Jake. He will not eat the canned dog food. He prefers the dry sport mix. He also loves bolona wonder bread sandwiches. I know sounds weird. A friend had some left over bolona from a trip out west & gave it to Jake & he ate it right down & Jake also likes bread. I was giving him Senior vitamins but he won't take them. He spits them out & believe me I have tried everything to hide them in his food. Yes, he has control over his urinating & the poops look normal now. At first they were all black looking when he came to us. He is an outdoors dog & has come indoors but wants to go back out. Yes, his flesh condition is horrible more bone & less flesh. He does have his off days where his appetite is down. But he seems to jump back & makes up for it the next day. I have notice days when his breath isn't smelly. We don't know his age, the veterinary figured under 10 years because there is no cloudiness in his eyes. I basically feed him whatever he will eat & lots of Old Roy dog treats. I think the exercise he gets everyday (a good mile walk) has helped him & he loves to be groomed which we do everyday. The dispatcher at the sheriffs office feels Jake was on the lamb a real long time. We wish he could talk & tell us what happened to him in his life. He is very gentle & whoever had him never abused him physically or mentally. He doesn't have any hangups that way. It is a sad state of affairs but we will keep trying different things like diet to improve his condition. Thank you so much for your reponse. I hope things will get better for your Sadie too.