It was the second week of October that he had the ultrasound, and the confirmation of the disease was all too visible on the screen. His kidneys were almost not there: there was water where there should have been mass. Seeing this and hearing it described was like a death sentence being handed to me for my adorable four-month old pup. I remember holding him in my lap and simply trying to hold myself together: I don’t cry in public but I could feel everything retract inside me into a protective mode, protective of him, of me. But there was no protection to be had. He would die from lack of kidneys, and all we could do would be to manage his diet and give him supplements to help what little kidneys he had do the job they were meant to do. It would only buy a little time.
Yet he seemed like a puppy of that age would, playful with a good appetite, eating rabbit droppings in the yard with gusto. He and Nocci could graze for hours on them. Since the second seizure in September there had been no more, so I just sort of held my breath, knowing it was only a matter of time before things started to look worse.
Percy’s initial treatment consisted of a low-protein diet with supplements serving to bind phosphates and reduce blood toxins, as well as additional supplements for general health and to address the ancillary issues affecting him. Please see the treatment posts for details.
November 6 BUN 128, creatinine 3.4, phosphorus 11.2. In addition his sodium to potassium ratio had dropped from 27 in September (the low end of normal) to 23, just below normal. As a result the following week we did a test for Cushing’s, just in case, but it was negative.
One number would rise, another would go down, but they did not improve significantly.