Kidney issues suck

Ruby came to me with underdeveloped kidneys which were found with 3 separate ultrasounds.. however, 5 vets cant fully diagnose exactly what is wrong with her kidneys unless they do a kidney biopsy, which one of the side effects is kidney failure and death. i just cant get myself to have her go thru this procedure, as its too risky.. she has bloodwork done frequently to see what her BUN/Creatinine levels and urea nitrogen levels are..

her bun/creatinine was 33 on 1/05/09
her urea nitrogen was 46 on 01/05/09
urine specific gravity was 1.019 on 01/05/09
her PH was 5.5 on 01/05/09

her bun/creatinine was 39 on 5/01/08
her urea nitrogen was 31 on 5/01/08
urine specific gravity was 1.012 on 4/18/08
PH was 5 on 4/18/08


the normal range for these figures are:

urea nitrogen 6-25 normal range
bun/creatinine 4-27 normal range
PH 5.5 -7.0 normal range
specific gravity 1.015-1.050 normal range

since she is on a raw diet, we also have to have a nutritionalist look at her diet and make sure its compatible for a dog with kidney issues, even though we dont know exactly what type of kidney issues she has ..

this poor pup has had health problem after health problem since the day i got her in April 2008... and she is just a year old..

I wont even go into the cost of her medical bills to date that i have spent...

so next week we are going to discuss with the vet to do a day of sub Q fluids, and to take blood before the fluids to get a reading on her BUN levels and then more blood after the fluids are finished to see if the Sub Q fluids makes a difference, as dogs with kidney issues MUST stay hydrated in order for the kidneys to not strain to work..

Taken from http://www.thrivingpets.com/conditions/Renal.php

Below is a list of the most critical values for kidney patients:-
BUN- Creatinine / CREA- Phosphorus / PHOS / P / Pi- Calcium / Ca- Potassium / Potas / K- Hematocrit / HCT- Parathyroid Hormone / PTH

Tonights dinner

consisted of a turkey wing, ground turkey and bone, flaxseed oil, olive oil, bee pollen and vitamin E.. the itching is at an all time low, its still there, but barely now..

pork n turkey is GOOD!!

So ruby has been getting pork for her food trial, and did turkey as well.. so far, she is doing very well on the pork and turkey.. last night i introduced 2 pieces of beef , so far so good... i also bought 2 humidifiers to put some moisture into the house to see if that helps too, as our heat is forced hot air,which is very dry... last night was minimal itching, but she did chew on her one rear foot for a little bit until i caught her and told her to stop.... she also got just pork, turkey & bone, and beef , no supplements, no oils....

No atopica

so i decided to not do the atopica treatment with ruby right now, due to her malformed kidneys i dont want to take any chances, we are still doing a food trial, tonight she got a turkey wing and pork, no supplements at all.. just good ol' meat... her itching has decreased tremendously since i took her off chicken, and put a gate and table in front of the heating vent down stairs ,as she used to lay right on top of the vent to feel the heat, then scratch like crazy after... we are going to continue the food trial, beef is next on the list. if i can get the scratching down to barely nothing i will be a happy camper..

Atopica Treatment

So i have been researching the Atopica treatment for rubys allergies.. while i know of some folks who are using it on their dogs, i am not yet sure to use it on her.. it is an IMMUNE SUPPRESSANT.. which would weaken her immune system even more then what it is now.. and with her underdeveloped kidneys which are still not developing, i am not sure i want to try the pills...

her BUN and creatinine levels are still high due to her kidneys not developing, so doing any kind of chemical treatment is very questionable

one of the side effects is renal failure/disease so i really dont want to go down that route...

the holistic vet wants to put her on some homeopathic remedies instead, Renafood, renatrophin, renapath and Kidney Tone .. all natural remedies that have no chemicals in them to help boost her kidney functions.. so i am researching them right now.. http://www.standardprocess.com/ has the renafood, renatrophin so i was able to read those ingredients.. the other 2 remedies i am trying to locate a website for them..

pork is good

so far ruby is doing very well on the pork. minimal itching, no hives.. 2 more weeks to go on pork, then we add a different protein.. so far turkey and pork are the best for her.

pork so far so good...

today is day 3 of pork for ruby.. her itching is minimal, and i think alot of it has to do with habit as well.. i am redirecting her every time i see she is going to scratch and trying to keep her busy. she has some loose stools, but i am adding slippery elm pills to help with that and if that doesnt work some turkey wings will be added.. 3 more weeks of pork, then we move on to beef.. I am going to the vet tomorrow to inquire about the atopica treatment as well, to see if its worth it for her or to keep doing what i am doing now..

Started Pork

so yesterday ruby started her pork food trial. still itching, but not as bad, and i am wondering if its now due to habit rather then an actual allergy issue, or a small allergy issue and itching by habit as well. 3 more weeks of pork to see how she does. I also am researching http://www.us.atopica.com/treating/surveyresults.shtml to see if maybe that will work for her as well, but the pills are SUPER expensive, $60 for 15 of them.... i am going to ask my vet about them as well.

Ruby got pork with a turkey wing tonight so that her poop gets solid again, no bone = loose poop..

Another Score!!

Shoprite has pork shoulder on sale for .99 a lb.. so miss ruby roo now has 18 lbs of pork shoulder in addition to her pork leg for her food trial.. all the food has been cut up,and the shoulder bones are bagged and being frozen .. the pork bone will make a great chewing/dinner for her one night.. buying pork at the supermarket is not advisable as they rarely have sales.. the best place to get pork is from a co op supplier, i just found out my new supplier can give me pork picnics for .57 a lb....

Itching at bedtime

So last night Ruby got pork for dinner.. she itched twice not too bad after, but the worst part was at bedtime.. once she got into bed she itched for a long time , woke up and itched later on, and then this morning itched like mad... the new comforter i have on the bed was not washed in allergy free detergent, so i am going to wash it today hoping that was the problem...

pork dinner

tonight ruby got pork for dinner, olive oil, flaxseed oil, coconut oil, salmon oil, and prozyme. so far , she only itched twice, which is a HUGE improvement.. the next 3 weeks will tell if being on pork is better then the turkey for her..

Mmmmm Pork...

got a pretty good deal at the supermarket today, 20 lbs of pork for $20.... pork is very expensive, but this was fantastic... ruby is going to be going on pork now for her food trial, its been 3 weeks on turkey, and still itching....

i think she is looking forward to pork...

i am going to go back to the store next week to see if they have more, this was the only one left in the store. if they have more for $1 a lb, i am picking up as many as i can... 20 lbs will feed her for 20 days...

Time to switch

well, ruby has been on turkey for 3 weeks now and is still itching.. so we are now going to switch to pork to see how that goes.. i am waiting for the vet to schedule the bicom treatment to see what foods she is allergic to and to see if its the water we have, as we have well water and have to treat it with soda ash and bleach in a treatment system, so maybe its the water. in the meantime i am going to give all the dogs bottled water to drink to see if that makes a difference. since ruby drinks out of all the dog bowls its easier to just do all the bowls ..

Oils

So last night ruby got half a teaspoon of flaxseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil and salmon oil in her food. I also greased her down with coconut oil to help moisturize her skin that is very dry.. tonight she got the same oils, and was greased down again..her itching has decreased a bit as well.. rufus thinks she smells yummy and tries to lick the coconut oil off her, so to keep them separated is a bit of a challenge, but its being done for a few hours after i apply the coconut oil.. she will get the oils in her breakfast and dinner and hopefully this will also help her skin since its so dry..

the coconut oil is Virgin coconut oil, and is a white color when dry. once it melts, its a clear liquid that rubs on easily. the flaxseed is cold pressed, and must be refrigerated. the olive oil is extra virgin olive oil.

Turkey /Pork

so tonight ruby got turkey/pork, prozyme, coconut oil, olive oil, cold pressed flaxseed oil, slippery elm in her food. the oils are to help lubricate her dry coat to help alleviate the itching, so we will see how it goes.. so far since greasing her with the virgin coconut oil she is itching a little bit less.. smells delicious too... i also blocked the heating vent so she cant lay right on top of the heat when it comes out to help also, as once she heats up her skin she itches more as well.

Back from the vet...

back from the vet, was there for almost 2 hours.. $585 later, ruby is a candidate for the bicom , which they are going to call me when they can set up her first treatment. we are to continue the food trial, and keep a log on how she does. they took more blood, urine work, and i should have the results in 2 weeks, as some of the tests were being sent to michigan. they also took blood for a thyroid test, but a different one then the one she had last year.. i can only imagine what the bicom will cost, as she will probably need more then one treatment, as each treatment tests for different stuff. we are doing the food one first, then the airborne allergy next , and then i have to bring all her food/supplements/water for the next one.. http://www.bicom2000.org/

so tonight she got pork shoulder. at the vets she got 3 pieces of freeze dried chicken and by 6pm she was itching all over, to the point i had to give her an allergy pill from the vets office to help her calm down.. so we now know any kind of chicken in any form is OUT for Good.. hopefully the pork will show a much better reaction then the turkey , i am trying for no itching at all.. food trials are sooo much fun, no supplements, nothing but the food for a few weeks to see how she does.. then we add another protein in to see how the next one does, we still have to do beef, venison, elk, buffalo, fish, lamb and any other exotics i can get to find what works for her...

itching thru the night last night

i barely slept. ruby had me up most of the night. she itched/scratched/chewed almost all night.. she went from her crate to our bed to her crate to our bed itching/scratching/chewing most of the night. all she got for dinner was ground turkey, salmon oil, acidophilus powder, and a teaspoon of beef/green tripe mix. .... i am thinking the beef/green tripe mix is what set her off last night.... one more day before we see the new vet... i have got to get some relief for her.... she is either OCD on the itching stuff, and has nothing wrong, or she has something wrong to validate the itching... we had company over yesterday, she didnt itch once while they were here.. she ate dinner at 5:30, got the teaspoon of tripe/beef mix, and didnt itch until the company left at 9pm... once they left, it was weird, she started itching then... could it be the forced hot air heat we have? could it be some sort of OCD behavior? could it be a stress factor the itching? could she be bored? if we are out and about doing things she doenst itch
AT ALL... keep her busy, no itching.. allow down time and relaxation, itching immediately starts.... as far as her hives, she is obviously allergic to something, i do know that if she has milk bone or any type of dry biscuits /treats her chest area breaks out in hives, so there is a food allergy there somewhere. i dont know.. all i know is 4 vets so far cant find out why she is itching like this, and i am out of money.. I hope this holistic vet can find out what is going on.

chewing foot

so, tonight ruby got a teaspoon of beef/green tripe in her ground turkey w/ bone. a few hours later, 3 to be exact, she started chewing her foot and itching like crazy once our company left.. while the company was here it kept her busy, once they left, the chewing of her rear right foot began, along with more itching then normal.. so, no more beef/green tripe mix...

Itching less

So Ruby is itching much less on turkey then chicken.. this morning she got ground turkey for breakfast nothing else.. hopefully on monday the new vet will help us figure out what is wrong. i was thinking that maybe her immune system is battling demodex mange, as she has 2 spots on her back that have no fur, and that maybe the demodex is not coming out but underlying.. who knows. i am grasping at straws at this point. monday cant come fast enough LOL..

Pork n turkey

tonight ruby got pork and turkey , salmon oil, and acidophilus powder. scratching is at a minimum, but still scratching.. a few more days until her new vet visit.. at least she isnt scratching like crazy anymore.

Still Itching.. ugh

so ground turkey and a turkey wing for dinner yesterday as it was Rubys 1st birthday. she itched more then normal, and all she got was the turkey and some salmon oil. that was it.. she woke up a few times scratching during the night as well.. we see the new holistic vet monday, 4 more days....