Thanks to Gidgetgirl and Don for the comments yesterday, inquiring after Gracie's condition and canine renal failure in general. At the moment, Gracie is doing well - her condition is fairly well stabilized. But, it's always worth remembering, she is 14 now, not the puppy or even the "athlete" she and all border collies tend to be until they are 11 or 12. The breed typically is used to tend sheep from about age 3 to age 8 or 9, then retire to an active and inquisitive life on the farm.
Mary is in charge of the food and med program, and I help out on nights when Mary is teaching at U of Md, as well as for the morning program of subcutaneous fluids - we showed a picture of this in the last "Canine Renal" post. After a month of administering this on a daily basis, the vet found that her protein numbers had improved and we went to every other day. I should note that the vet was skeptical of the effectiveness of this therapy for a dog Gracie's size - this may be good news for Gidgetgirl's Yorkie, but I don't know for sure.
There are also several accompanying meds, one of which settles the stomach, and there are painkillers and the like. These are fairly normal "senior" prescriptions - Sofie, now at least 15, has been on these for years. In any case, during this process, although there has been a net weight loss, Gracie's energy has returned and she has even gained back four pounds.
On the food front, getting her to eat remains a daily challenge. The core ingredients of the diet are chicken and brown rice; Mary measures portions and checks ingredients very carefully to make sure we are meeting recommended nutrient levels. She checked with both our vet and a consulting holistic vet on how to prepare something Gracie could and would eat after the presecription canned food was a disaster.
Also, the food gets incentivized - we use chicken broth for this, and have to supplement with treats, and even chicken or turkey baby food. Gracie also likes bread, and our vet said that's okay - the most important thing is to get them to eat. The vet has recommended some veggies too - carrots and the like, but Grace has never been a big eater of these things (Sofie, not in renal failure and also known by the name "call me anything but late for dinner", has been known to eat a full bowl of green beans, by the way ... not recommended, also by the way).
The vet said that the problem causing the unappetizing aspects of the canned food is the source of proteins in it - they are grain glutens when the dog is instinctively looking for meat proteins. You'd think that the makers of this stuff would figure that out - especially at upwards of $2 a can - and many dogs won't eat it.
Mary may post more details in the future, but for now, suffice it to say that this is a process takes a lot of patience - we can definitely identify with those frustrations. It also has been and remains an expensive journey. Our vet reminded us that 80% of the expense of owning a pet occurs in the last two years of their life (soapbox moment: this is something all responsible pet owners should be thinking about before they give up their ten year old family dog to the shelter...it's not humane treatment to the animal, nor reasonable to think that someone else is going to take the situation on).
We still consider ourselves lucky to have her, and it's great to see how she has responded. We also consider ourselves very fortunate to be able to do this with the economy in its current state.
I'll keep you posted.
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