My senior dog has kidney disease and won't eat. Is there hope?

Question

Hi. I have a 15.5 y/o Coton who has had kidney disease for over a year. I recently brought her to her vet for lethargy, lack of appetite & walking funny/off balance. Her bw was not good. BUN 154, phos 9.6, creatinine 5.2 & SDMA 65. The only thing she will eat is Old Mother Hubbard treats. I’ve tried everything to get her to eat. She will drink water. Occasionally vomits bile. Very constipated. I’m Not ready to put her to sleep unless I know there is no hope. Any advice is appreciated. Pet's info: Dog | Coton de Tulear | Female | spayed | 15 years and 6 months old | 9 lbs

Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) · Accepted Answer

I am so sorry to hear about Lola. It is so hard with senior pets to know when it's time to say goodbye. I know how hard it is as I lost my 15 and a half year old guy last year. The blood work values you report are very concerning. The question is if there is something that has acutely changed to make her become a lot worse, or is this simply progression of underlying chronic kidney disease. There are other disease processes that can complicate chronic kidney disease like infection, pancreatitis, high bood pressure, infectious diseases, etc. Really what your pet needs is to be hospitalized with intravenous fluids, supportive care (anti nausea medications, etc.), and to try to figure out if there's an underlying problem exacerbating the kidney disease. This will require more tests such as an abdominal ultrasound, urine culture, and potentially other things as dictated by the case. I would not give up hope until trying these things because you won't know if this will help her until you try. The opposite would be true if a pet in this situation were hospitalized for two to three days and there was no improvement in the blood work or symptoms. Then, if all the treatment options are exhausted, and the pet has poor quality of life a different decision may be reached. As dogs do not tolerate chronic kidney disease as well as cats being diagnosed for a year without progression is excellent. Sometimes having a consultation with an internal medicine specialist can really help. Your family vet would likely be able to provide a referral if you and he or she thinks this would be a valuable step. I hope this helps and that Lola feels better soon. Thank you for using pet coach.

My senior dog has kidney disease and won't eat. Is there hope?

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