Ah right, yes i have read about that. Katie is our little Boxer dog, i say little as for a Boxer she is very fine boned & small, hard to visualise unless you see her beside another Boxer. These smaller bi*ches do crop up now & then within the breed.
The vet has never mentioned fluids so perhaps she is okay that way? As a trial they started her off on Rubenal in Sep & her creatine which has always been massively OTT has come down, still far too high however the Rubenal has definitely helped. She is supposed to take 2 a day however it made her very sick so we cut down to 1 a day, half in morning & half at night. This she can tolerate
Of the 4 stages of renal failure, she is in stage 3. She was just turned 6 when diagnosed at beginning of last year when we moved & changed vets. The new vets wanted to investigate why she kept having repeated bloody cystitis with some, but not always, 'leaking'. The latter is unfortunately a dide effect from the renal problem. She has meds which help that
We took part in a genetic survey as within the breed there exists a renal problem. At first they were not going to involve her as in most cases the dogs rarely lived past 18 months with many dying before 12 months :(. However they then came across other Boxers who like Katie have lived beyond expectation. We didnt have to take part - it involved bloodwork, as our vet pointed out , it wont help Katie, however we felt if it helped identify the gene responsible, thus it could save future boxers/owner going through this wretched illness, & then it would be worth it.
The one thing they have discovered is that its more prevelent in females which our vet says could indicate that the bi*ches are the carriers.
Before we went to these vets the other vets used to just test her urine & more often than not it would be diluted - dogs (some?) appear to drink copiously - her fluid intake over past year or so from introduction of renal diet & now Rubenal has been within normal limits
From we got cats its something we have been aware of - after reading about how fluid intake or lack if it, can be a problem with some cats. This is main reason why we feed the cats half wet & half dry food. Vets always push for dry feeding - just agree with them :) our cats / kittens do drink water so hopefully it wont be a problem for them.
Do cats feel cold if they are in renal failure? Katie gets very cold - Boxers have thin close short coats so perhaps that doesnt help. At night after the central heating has gone off, i put a knitted dog jumper on her which appears to have helped & keep her more comfortable.
I know that can be a thyroid effect however i have had her thyroid levels checked & they were normal
Sorry for the long post, unless you have had a pet affected by renal disease you can feel a bit isolated at times
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Topic: Vaccination update (Read 139 times)