Experience with a dog dx with early kidney disease?

[abitofcrunchmama]

Hi Everyone!
My 7 yr old Havenese was just diagnose with early kidney disease. It was all fluke that we even found out a (took him to the vet for his physical and they did a blood panel). He is acting totally fine, but his BUN number and his specific gravity was both wonky. We are still waiting for the results of the urine sample to see if he has any infections.
Anyway, the vet put him on the special diet and there's a chance he might need to take blood pressure meds.

The vet said this wasn't a death sentence, that we can manage this...but i would love to hear other success stories. Like i said, Moof (the dog) is acting totally fine. Eating, playing, annoying my DH . He isn't drinking anymore than usual either....

Any insights would be really helpful.

[Sol_y_Paz]

yahoo groups has a group to renal failure in dogs, advice, diets, and words of encouragement that can help greatly.

[rainsmom]

my dog had glomeruleonephritis, which is a specific kidney disorder. info here:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...nephritis.html

we just happened to find out when the vet did prelabs to do dental work. It was in advanced stages by the time of diagnosis. Lucky for us, they had a holistic vet on staff who got her on supplements that gave us an extra year with our dog, a year I am most grateful for. The vet didnt offer much.

The holistic vet recommended colostrum daily as well as aan ace inhibiter and an edgar cayce Rx for watermelon seed tea. There was a couple other items as well, omega fattys was another.

I highly recommend seeing a holistic vet in your area if at all possible. It didnt add that much to the costs of her care, and in the long run it gave us another year in which she felt great, up until the last 4 weeks.

There are a number of different kinds of kidney diseases, so find out as much as you can about the type your dog has. And I did find the canine kidney group at yahoo to be most helpful and supportive.

sorry, i guess mine isnt a success story..... but having an alternative medicine option gave us time with our dog, and THAT is success in my book.
good luck!

[Sol_y_Paz]

I am also a big believer in holistic vets.
www.holisticvetlist.com