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Kidney Disease


SS Cressa
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:lol: I was slightly concern about the ramen bowl but figure since she hadnt eaten for a couple days it was no worst then can chicken noodle soup after being sick. It was a Japanese ramen bowl from a restaurant so couldn’t separate it out.
The bone broth is low sodium, has some vitamin/mineral, and protein in it.
I didn’t check the fish. I don’t normally feed her fish but thought the fats would be good for her.

I only used 2 slices of bacon and that has been stretched over 2 days so wasn’t too concern about that sodium. I do appreciate your concern since it is easy to overlook like I did with the fish.

I have tried butter to make it more “slippery “ but she still spits it out. Normally after 3 rounds the pill is smush. I do gently close her mouth and tip her head back. The only thing that seems to be more success is drizzling some water down her mouth after I toss the pill in.

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I don't ever mean to make you feel defensive. Part of my motivation is sharing what little I know, of course, but it also helps me to keep these things in mind for the day when I may be facing these challenges with my own CKF dog.

I agree that the ramen you had from the restaurant was probably a lot less salty than those packages. And I can imagine how frustrating it is when Cressa refuses to eat. I'm not looking forward to that.

I've never heard of dribbling water into a dog's mouth to get her to swallow pills. That's quite ingenious! Kudos for even thinking of it!! :lol:

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Lol I was desperate and tired of fighting her.

She is still eating! Thankfully and so far her stool has been solid and no blood.

I started getting her back to homemade food. She likes it fresher. So I have been only making enough for 2 days at a time. So far it’s steam chicken, egg whites, rice, green beans, bone broth  or lean ground beef, egg whites, rice, bone broth, and minced steamed California mix (broccoli/carrots/cauliflower) 

She also now gets Breakfast, lunch, and dinner much to the jealousy of my food hound terrier . 

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Are you giving her anything for calcium? I know it's not as important for her at this stage of her life, but if my understanding is that if her body needs calcium and isn't getting enough it will extract it from her bones, which could weaken them. I've been using ground eggshells.

Happy to hear she's eating well. I actually switched my other dogs to twice daily feeding so they wouldn't be jealous. They just have to suck up that Bodhi gets a bedtime snack and they don't. LOL

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I haven’t given her any additional supplements, so other then the broccoli that’s chopped up it’s would need to be in what she is eating. 
 

I was tempted to look at powder supplement. My line of thought was to get her to eat again and I didn’t want to fight her on another pill. Lol 

I generally just buy groceries store basic eggs and since I think it’s typically bleached the shells aren’t safe to eat? But I could be wrong?

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What I've been told is that there's residue of the cleaning solution and then they coat them with an oil or something to make them last longer, so not something I'd want to give even a healthy dogs. Can you find someone who sells fresh farm or backyard eggs that would be more natural? They'll also taste much better for you as well. ;) It's not like you'd need a lot of shells. You may be able to alternate noncommercial with commercially raised. Just a thought.

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  • 1 month later...

I have added a powdered calcium supplement to my dogs' food whenever I have fed homemade or raw instead of purchased dog food, which I do on occasion. It is such a tiny amount that you put in, there's a very low chance that the dog even knows it's there. I did some research to try to find the best one and got Animal Essentials Seaweed Calcium. Just in case that helps.

When my cat had renal failure I gave him a special canned food I got at the vet that is formulated for weight gain, or to keep weight on an animal. Sometimes I gave him that when he'd lost weight from not having an appetite.  It sounds to me as if you are giving him a good homemade diet. Hope she keeps eating.

 

Sure do wish you the best. I know how hard this is.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Cressa has definitely been acting older. More tired... more senile moments... Not as hungry... however she still wants to be included in activities and can still go for 30-40 minute hikes. 
She just had some more blood work done and it wasn’t too bad. Her creatinine levels are still high but her other levels are still good. The vet thinks she is still just borderline stage 2/3 kidney disease. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Cressa will be 16 years old in a little over a month. Nothing much has change. 

She sleeps a lot but wants to be included on all outings, and walks. She struggles to go longer than 40 minutes. 30 minutes is preferred. She eats whatever she wants. Typically I will offer her homemade meal, but sometimes she want dry food or raw food or whatever I’m eating. Sometimes she snubs breakfast and or dinner but she will typically eat at some point during the day.

She has been really good about going up and downstairs typical right before bed she wants to be carried upstairs.

Her blood work has been stable. Still kidney disease level 2 borderline 3

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I haven't been here in months but it is very good to see that Cressa has been doing so well at her age and with her kidney problems. A happy belated birthday to the good old girl! 

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks you all for the birthday wishes.

Today was definitely a good day for her. Love the pure joy on her face when she realizes we went to the beach. I think her eye sight might be starting to go but she currently can see on sunny days.

I had her in a back on track to hopefully keep her muscles warm. She also was dragging a leash since she is deaf and can make bad choices sometimes so it’s just safer leaving the leash on her. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

On the plus side it’s so far isn’t the kidney disease but I made the decision to let Cressa go to the rainbow bridge on May 26 while she still has some good days with me. Idk if it’s her eyesight going or her cognitive skills but she is getting more confused and lost lately. 
Once across at the rainbow bridge she won’t be alone if there is an afterlife she will be with my dad, her best friend and favorite cousin, and of course all of her playmates. 
 

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I am so sorry to hear this. I know that you will make her last days as wonderful for her as possible, just as you have done for her life before this.

It is so hard to let go. I wish you good days with your lovely Cressa while she is still here.    Sending her a little gentle petting......

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