Diary of Gracie's Canine Renal Failure - 6

Continuing today with Mary’s journal about our dog Gracie’s canine renal failure.

April 1
The test results are back. Gracie’s BUN is down to 79 and creatinine is down to 3.6, both very good numbers. Her phosphate numbers are also down, to 6, which is within normal range but the vet wants to bring it down to 4 or 4.5. ALT is 136. The vet has taken Gracie off the carafate and put her on AlternaGel (a phosphate blocker), which can be ordered OTC at the pharmacy. She gets 7 ml 3Xs a day (2100mg). She’s also now on Calcitriol – 1 ml 2Xs a week. That has to be obtained through a compounding pharmacy (I use Wedgewood Pharmacy 1-800-331-8272 and the Calcitriol is $90 for a three month supply, plus $10 shipping.) Gracie is now on 500ml of fluids every other day but her other meds are the same.

May 6
Blood and urine checked again today. Gracie’s lost a pound, unfortunately. But, she seems interested in food. She gets a cup of brown rice in the morning and evening with 1 ounce of grilled turkey pattie (she loves it grilled), ½ of a very finely crumpled hard-boiled egg, and, as incentives, a ½ to 1 crushed Iams weight-control dog biscuit, ½ a crumpled Greenie pill pocket hidden in the rice, and as a plate-cleaner, some torn pieces of baguette not to exceed the nutritional amount in the original Hills recipe. She also gets no more than a teaspoon of turkey baby food either slathered on the bottom of the bowl or mixed with warm water to create a sauce. Normally, she would get 2 ounces of grilled turkey per meal but I’ve reduced the amount slightly because of the protein-based incentives. She also gets about a ½ cup of rice and maybe ½ ounce grilled turkey with some of the incentives as a small mid-day meal.

Feeding and fluids can take up to an hour in the morning to administer. Also, I have to allow time during the week to cook her food.