Have to decide how to handle serious illness!

You could try sub-q fluids. It basically involves injecting a small amount of fluid under his skin, which his body will absorb and help with hydration. I previously had a diabetic dog, and he required insulin injections and blood glucose testing several times a day. Before I went through that with him, I would have been horrified at the thought of injecting my own dog - EVER!!!! Let alone on a daily basis. But some dogs don't actually mind injections at all. Honestly. When I would hold up my dog's insulin syringe, he would run over to me and sit nicely for his injection, because he knew he would get a cookie afterwards. He never even flinched when I injected him. It's something to consider, anyway, to help with hydration.
 
Re: dehydration

Not sure what he's allowed to eat with the kidney issues, but I had to get more fluids in my girl a few weeks ago because she was constipated. I made homemade chicken broth (no salt, no spices) and diluted it with water. She would drink the whole bowl. If he isn't allowed chicken, maybe he would drink vegetable broth?
 
We'll look into that. We've tried a number of different things, most of which haven't worked.

My wife did get him to drink several bowls of water today by letting the bowl sit for awhile with a chunk or two of watermelon sitting in the bowl, then removing the watermelon and giving the bowl to Fasb.

Not sure why that works. I guess the water tastes like watermelon?
 
Again, the simplest changes would be to do under the skin fluids, and try a kidney canned food diet. More palatable than kibble. It isn't a big investment to make in either time or money and it should be obvious pretty quickly if it helps and if he'll tolerate it. This should buy him some quality time. I wonder if some of his pickiness is from low-level nausea as the toxins build up in his bloodstream.

As to the dexamethasone vs. the metacam, I don't have personal experience with this but certainly understand you wanting to keep him comfortable above all. So sorry you are going through this.
 
Sharon7 said:
Again, the simplest changes would be to do under the skin fluids, and try a kidney canned food diet. More palatable than kibble. It isn't a big investment to make in either time or money and it should be obvious pretty quickly if it helps and if he'll tolerate it.
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Our vet hasn't even mentioned sub-q fluids. My wife talked to him this morning and asked him about it, and he dismissed the idea without giving any reasoning. He tends to do that with ideas that aren't his. Likewise, we didn't realize until last night that several of these companies make a canned kidney diet. Vet is stuck on recommending Science Diet dry formula and nothing but.

We do have some concerns about whether we could administer fluids ourselves or not, but I guess we'll find out soon.

Sharon7 said:
I wonder if some of his pickiness is from low-level nausea as the toxins build up in his bloodstream.
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Yeah, I'm wondering that myself. We've had some issues with him being very picky going back almost two years. Vet thought it was behavioral and the blood was normal at the time. His overall eating pattern really suggested it was more behavior/being spoiled. I will say that he's eaten quite well the past 3 months or so. We made a couple changes to his routine that largely solved the issue.


We had a friend of the family come over last night to see Fasb. She's retired now, but she worked in a couple different vet's offices for about 20 years. She thought he was far better than she expected, based on what we told her. She expected signs of lethargy or dehydration, but didn't really see any. Actually, he was a ball of energy last night. Groomer said much the same thing when we picked him up from her this afternoon.

We're going to take Fasb elsewhere for a second opinion soon as we can get in. Basically, we feel like Fasb's care is reasonably good with the current vet, but communication is poor. Current vet doesn't seem to like answering questions or considering alternatives. If we tell him we're not comfortable with something he's recommending, he either just dismissed we sometimes get snide "well, it's your dog. Don't do it then" answers. We've been mildly dissatisfied for awhile, but it's finally time to find a vet who will take more time to explain things or consider alternatives. We kinda thought he's just in a rush, being a solo practitioner, but other people say that's just his personality.
 
My Auntie went through a similar situation with her sheltie Merlin and to be honest, there were few external signs that anything much was wrong, other than simply being an old dog. He did get picky over his food but carried on leading a normal life right to the very end. There was no slow deterioration, he was ok and then there was a sudden decline over just a couple of days. I think after diagnosis he went on for another year to 18 months.

Different scenario but I have Revel on a low dose of steroid for his bronchitis. There are side effects in loss of coat and some muscle wastage but internally all seems ok and he has been on them now for about 10 months. (Just had a blood panel done and all results within expected parameters). I had to decide on the choice of treatment - I knew steroids were not without issues but the alternative was either no treatment, which wasn't an option because the cough was clearly distressing him - or to medicate with an inhaler. The latter had less side effects but weighed against this was that I knew Revel would hate it. Anything like this is always a very personal decision but my attitude is that if/when something develops with the older dogs then then I will go with the treatment that has the least outward effect on the dog and if there is a penalty to pay internally then so be it. I would rather have him enjoying his days but perhaps having fewer of them than maximising the time but at the expense of making him miserable.

If you think Fsab would prefer the canned food over dry kibble (which seems understandable) then I would go with giving him something he enjoys eating even if it isn't as good for him. If the canned food is a kidney diet though it should be OK so not sure why the vet isn't going with it. My personal experience has been that vets aren't always infallible and it is certainly worth seeking a second opinion, even just to explore other options. Also if there is an aspect of his 'bedside manner' which is bothering you then that may just add unnecessary stress to the situation at a time when you will be needing his support more than ever so finding a different vet may be a wise move sooner rather than later.

In all your posts it is clear that you always put Fsab's best interests first so whatever decisions you make on his behalf are going to be the right ones for him. I don't think any dog could ask for more than that. :smile2:
 
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Whenever I need to encourage the dogs or cats to get more water I half a cup in with a few big spoonfuls of wet food. The wet food is usually enough of a draw that they'll consume all the water with no problem.

Good luck on fasb, and good luck with finding a new vet. The right vet can make all the difference.
 
JacqueZ said:
Whenever I need to encourage the dogs or cats to get more water I half a cup in with a few big spoonfuls of wet food. The wet food is usually enough of a draw that they'll consume all the water with no problem.

Good luck on fasb, and good luck with finding a new vet. The right vet can make all the difference.
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AMEN!!! to that...it does make all the difference!!!

my girls LOVE watermelon...especially chilled, and I can attest that it creates more potty time...I think y'all are doing a FABULOUS job seeing that Fasb is having a quality life despite the health challenges.
 
Something that may help with dehydration is lactose free milk. My dogs get some every day (I mix one of the tablets into it), they prefer the full cream variety. I sometimes give it to the cats - but they are finicky eaters and like theirs with the cold edge taken off (I warm it a little in the microwave). I sometimes warm up the dogs' in winter, but Deska is so eager to get his he doesn't like to wait.

Btw - SD Kidney does come in a tinned variety for dogs.
 
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