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My senior dog has kidney cancer. How can I help her kidneys?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Basset Hound | Female | spayed | 9 years and 8 months old | 54 lbs

My 10 yr old female bassett hound is having some problems. She was very lethargic and not eatting or drinking. She is also pooping very liquidie blood. We took her to the vet and they told us he Red Blood Cell count was very high and it most likely due to cancer of her kidneys. She had breast cancer and we had that removed she also go an infection in her uterus and we had to have her spayed a few years ago. I guess my basic question is, Is there anything we can give her to help kidney function?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Leigh, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 26th, 2018

So sorry that Lola is having this problem. IV fluids are usually helpful in cases of kidney disease. The best thing would be to have an abdominal ultrasound done to evaluate her kidneys and determine if she does have kidney cancer. There are other possible causes of a high red blood cell count and bloody diarrhea, like a disease called HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis) so, without more information, it is difficult to know she has kidney cancer. If your vet can not do an abdominal ultrasound then you could take her to an internal medicine specialist and have one done. Hope she feels better soon!

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    Answered By Anna M., DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Hello, and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear about Lola! The most important thing we can do to help the kidneys is to provide lots of fluid to those kidneys. We can't really give enough water orally to make much of a difference, so especially if Lola isn't feeling well, the most important thing you can do is have her hospitalized by your veterinarian with an IV to help hydrate her and flush those kidneys out. Sometimes even one day of hospitalization and IV fluids can make a difference, but often they need several days. This is really important now, especially if her red blood cell levels are up. However, I should be clear that I don't have all the information here. Treatment plans for acute kidney damage (such as when an animal is exposed to a toxin) would be different from chronic kidney damage (which I suspect is what's going on here, if your vet told you it was likely cancer). Chronic kidney damage cannot be cured - there are a number of things we can do to help support the kidneys, such as fluids when needed, prescription diet (your vet likely carries this in their hospital and can talk to you about it), and supportive medications to help control things like nausea. However, if these things are already being done and a patient continues to feel crummy and not want to eat, that's usually when we have a talk about quality of life. One side comment - might be worth asking your vet about HGE or hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. I certainly can't make any diagnosis on a dog I haven't seen and with limited history....but if a dog is having liquid bloody stool and has a very high RBC level, it's worth asking your vet if they might suspect HGE. I hope this helps. Please feel free to request a consultation if you'd like to discuss Lola's care in more detail or if you have follow-up questions. I'm sorry she's not feeling good!

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