My little Maggie Bear!!

[Brandi]

(((((hug)))))) to you ! It is hard when the kidney and liver are giving out. I have gone through this myself with a furry friend. it was hard but all they wanted to do to her to keep her alive was to much. Yet she was 18 yrs old so as you can understand she was very old and I didn't want to keep her around just for us. I thought that was being selfish. I hope your furry friend let's you know when enough is enough. Ours did and i respected that and let her go. But your is still young so things could be much different for you then it was for us. Good luck and thank you for keeping us so posted.

[sundial]

My first gsd died just 3 days after her last frisbee toss. She let me know when she was ready to go. I had the greatest sense of peace when we spent the last hour together. I will always be thankful for that.

[jesvetmed]

AGGIE: I really hope your hubby's friend was able to help you guys figure some things out. It's hard for us as vets to give up, too. And we hate to push you there if there is even a small chance that things could come out ok.

If you need any clarification on anything, feel free to ask me -- I can do my best to answer your questions, as a DVM but "not YOUR DVM"... it's always much easier from the outside of the situation.

Otherwise, just know my thoughts are with you guys. However it goes, you know you will make the right decisions for Maggie. Hang in there.
Jes

[Aggie_Ama]

Jes- Our friend concurred with our vet which made us feel more confident. He said the same thing as you, unless he knows there is nothing he can do he always gives the option. He himself had to recommend an owner put their schnauzer/lhasa to sleep yesterday and he said it really stunk for him.

See our vet's office has grown and the founder is the one we have always seen but Maggie got assigned to a newer guy Friday so it was a little stressful with her being so sick. With my husband's buddy saying the same opinion as the vet it made us more confident in the new vet. Didn't hurt to warm us up the new vet is a proud product of the Aggie Vet School, the founder of the practice is not an Aggie.

Maggie's levels (BUN, CREA and PHOS for those who know about these things) are still elevated the BUN is 3x the normal value but we are giving her two more days to try to bring them down. The vet said he put her at about 35-40% chance given her levels. He said we weren't at "a shot in the dark" she would improve but we need to keep realistic expectations. She did pig out while we were there so that is an improvement. We will just see what happens when they pull the blood values tomorrow, if they are still not dropping it likely means she cannot be sustained off the IV and we will have to discuss putting her to sleep which stinks because on the IV she is our normal little bear but I know she was very sick without it. Thanks for all the warm vibes and support, I just wish our kiddos didn't have to go through so much!

[ClockworkOrange]

Thanks for the update Aggie.

Please whisper to her, that people the other side of the world are sending her lots of love and good wishes.

Am thinking of you too.


Clock

[badger]

that's so crap you all have to go through this (including Maggie, of course!)

So many of us here have gone through similar things and obviously have so much empathy for you.

I know no words made me feel better when my puppy died. It hurts like hell, and will for a very long time afterwards, but know that if/when Maggie needs to go and you've had time to grieve, your heart will open for another Maggie who needs you!

[Blueberry]

I wonder if you could do fluid injections at home? Sometimes that's a possibility (and not something animals mind too much). Just a thought.

Continued hugs and healing thoughts...

CA

[crazydoglady]

Just wanted to say you're in my thoughts. I grew up with schnauzers (and actually had one named Maggie, in fact) - they're great little dogs!

Coming from a veterinary perspective - I work part-time as a vet tech while in grad school, and we have A LOT of clients who give subcutaneous fluids to their pets at home. It really isn't hard to do, or a big deal, but it helps the animals a lot.

[Aggie_Ama]

Well as you all said our little guys and gals can be their own miracle workers. The vet called this morning and said her numbers improved "significantly" and she needs to go home then come back next week to pull a blood panel again. They are still guarded on her condition and how long she could go before relapsing but think she may have bought herself more time. I am headed to go get my little bear!

[divingbiker]

That's fantastic!

[OakLeaf]

Yay! I'm so glad!

[Selkie]

A fantastic end to the year for you. Hope she continues to improve.

[Aggie_Ama]

We are trying diet first, the vet said her levels are still elevated but not like they were. The only one I remember is BUN is now at 38 they want it at 27 max but it was at 96 Monday.

She now gets canned Science Diet KD which is angering Heidi because she still gets dry CD. The vet did say if diet wasn't enough but she wasn't into hardcore failure subcutaneous fluids might be recommended. I didn't even ask about those but he supplied that.

Jes- They are treating her for Lepto just in case. He said the blood pathology test for it is pretty expensive so we would just treat but not test. It was funny, I forgot to ask him about Lepto he just prescribed the treatment plan. He has won my confidence.

Maggie is home and way better now, hopefully this is how she will stay.

[salsabike]

Ah, how nice.

A number of us have given subcu fluids to our animals for long periods of time and it can keep them happy and going for quite a while. So just know that this can be done and work...not forever, but for a goodly amount of time depending on what's happening with the individual.

I'm glad Maggie's back. This stuff matters!

[divingbiker]

She now gets canned Science Diet KD ...

Here's a hint if you want to give Maggie some treats that are still kidney-friendly. Slice the can of k/d down the middle and slide it out of the can. Then slice each half into thin slices and put them on a paper plate. Cook them on high in the microwave for about 10 minutes, or until they're crispy. They go from done to burned very quickly. Stinks to high heaven also.

One of my dogs lived with kidney disease for 6 years before I lost him in June. He loved the k/d treats.