My YORF handle is my dog's name. Snuggles will be 11 years old in July.
He suddenly stopped eating his food a week ago, took him to the vet, vet said he's older now, he's finicky, try this soft canned food.
He ate a little,
Back to the vet today for blood and urine testing, results came back..............like a kick in the gut..........
His kidneys are failing, calcium's through the roof............
Nothing we can do but try and make him comfortable, we are taking him to the vet today for IV fluids to try and help.
We've had him since he was 6 weeks old.
He is a good boy

Man, that hurts. My sympathy to you and family. It hurts to lose a pet when you have had them for a long time.

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Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

Mark,
Cindy and I have been there with her late dachund and now our cats. I saw the comments on TRF and agree that you have to go with what the vet suggests. If you can, it does not hurt to get a second opinion. One of Cindy's co-workers was told to put her dog down because he had lost control of his hind legs. I was helping her carry him down and back up to her third floor apartment. A second vet recommended acupunture which has helped and allows the dog to at least stand now. The friend returned to her native Hawaii for the summer and Cindy gets pictures of the dog playing at the beach.

Best of luck.

Chas
(I have new D12-0's now...still owe you)

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Charles Russell, MSgt,USAF (ret.)
NAR 9790, Lvl 1
SAM "Balls Three"

I feel for you; very sad.
Had to take my ten year old Cocker Spaniel to the vet today for surgery to remove some cysts and warts.
Can't imagine being without her.
Was the best thing to come from being married...got her 4 months after the wedding as a 6wk old pup too.
She has outlasted the marriage !

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Very sorry bro.
Be strong.

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Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Boy, do I understand!

I lost my best friend and constant companion of 18 years 5 months 4 weeks ago. Oliver my Jack Russel Terrier.

He died in my arms of congestive heart failure.

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"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

My dog is getting on, but healthy so far. I dread the day when she starts to go downhill.

The hardest part about owning a pet is deciding when It Is Time.

My family let our old cat Ziggy drag on to the bitter end of kidney failure, and it was awful. I'm glad I wasn't around that last day and night. By the time it was apparent he was in agony it was too late to go to a vet to have him put down.

Plan ahead.

Update..........
vet gave me lactated ringers IV bags and instructions for use.
I give him 200 ml/day over the weekend.
Main thing is to get him to eat. It's gonna be a long weekend
Object is to get him more comfortable.
That's all we can do.
Thanks go out to all of you .It means a LOT!!!!!!!!!
Mark T

I lost my dog, Herbie, to chronic renal failure in early January. If you want to make a big difference for Snuggle's comfort and longevity, try some of the renal failure diets that can bee found on the internet. You'll have to cook your dog's food but, if you're anything like me, that shouldn't be a big problem. I would normally make up a batch that would last about 3 days.

There are several recipes at http://www.gloryridge.com/kdrecipes.htm but there are others. You'll find that you need to vary the recipe that you use from time to time as your dog's taste for it varies.

Herbie live a good life for an additional year beyond what we were told he had left.

Ultimately, you can't win this battle but you can give Snuggles more quality time with you and your family. Best of luck to you.

Mario

Losing a dog is a hard thing to do. My rescue mutt Buster lived to be 14 or 15 based upon the fact that we had him 12 years and the guess was one or two. He was the kind of dog that never asked a **** thing of you except to rub his ears and belly. He wore an electric fence collar which he ignore with impunity when he wished and would trot around the gold course cart paths becoming known to all the players and staff alike. He never pooped in anyone elses yard, never took a bite out of anyone, and would bark to wake the dead if there was a knock on the door.

He developed remarkable ascites in March and his belly swelled incredibly. The emergency vet thought that it was initially a torsion so there was a whirlwind or proposed tests and imaging to find out that there were masses on the liver and kidneys. The last six weeks were hard. This was a tough little dog that lucked into a life of relative luxury. He could eat anything without any problems and would trot around the neighbourhood as if he owned the place - which I suppose he did. But now his appetite was gone, he waddled because of the swelling, and he slept only an hour or so.

As the ascites became worse, and no one would drain without having an ultrasound and anesthesia (which everyone gave a 50/50 shot of survival) his mobility became impossible and his quality of life dropped to zero. Taking him to the vet that last day was a very long drive. He laid there in the table and allowed anyone to do anything they wanted to him. The last prognosis was the deal breaker. His kidneys were shutting down and the liver was starting to produce jaundice. He would not have very much time left and it would be increasingly painful for him. She recommended euthanasia for Buster and although the selfish part of me wanted to keep him around a little longer, I looked at him and just wanted the pain to end.

You all know what the process is like. You stroke his head and drop down to put your head at his eye line. You rub his ears and talk to him gently. Telling him what a good dog he is and how much you love him. There is a needle in his vein with a little saline running in and the vet asks if you are ready. I am a tough guy that has been through quite a bit of sordid events in my time, but this was possibly the hardest decision to take and painful event to watch. You look into his eyes and rub his ears. You try and not see the scruffy multi-colored terrier mix that looked through a set of bars 12 years ago and just begged you to take him home. You think about every picture you have of him, every evening on the lawn running with the children, every UPS driver that would tell you "Buster is down at the tee box". But mainly you just look at him. The vet tells you that it is done but you still keep rubbing his head and talking to him. After a minute she tells you that the heartbeat is gone. Buster is off running fairways in the sky.

There are some that say a soul will always come back to you. There are some that say the bond formed between a man and his dog will persist through many animals. There are others who will tell you that you simply select another dog that reminds you of the previous one. Whichever is right, there is another dog out there that will eventually take the pace of snuggles. It will not replace the original, but the doggy shaped hole will find a close fit. Should you have any doubts on that point, ask me about Benny.

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Gravity is a harsh mistress
SAM 002
NAR 91005
"The complexity of living is eminently favored to the simplicity of not."