Accepted Answer

Hello,

Congratulations on having a 15 year old large breed dog. These tablets are indeed t help kidney function, for the most part.

The kidneys have an important job in the body. They are responsible for getting rid of things that should no longer be in the body and keeping things in that should remain. For example, your dog needs his protein, but failing kidneys often let protein slip through. You dog needs to get rid of building urea, but may keep it in failure.

The kidneys do a great job of having the body help it compensate when failure first starts and we don't see any outward signs that there is a problem. By the time symptoms appear, 75% of kidney cells have been affected. This sounds severe, and is, but remember the body can live with just one kidney (50%), so we aim to help the kidneys the best we can at this point. If symtoms (increased drinking/increased urinating, nausea, neurologic) have not appeared, then it is just that the kidney values on the blood work (BUN, creatinine) and urine (specific gravity) are higher than they should be and we are being preemptive and treating to stop the progression.

If the kidney values (creatinine, BUN) are significantly high, we often hospitalize the pet and start intense IV fluid therapy to give the kidneys a boost and help it flush out the toxins that are building. This can often be completed in 3-5 days. Once levels are lower, we usually start a low protein diet and recommend both encouraging water intake at home, as well as possibly giving subcutaneous (under the skin) fluids at home which we teach owners to do easily. This helps keep the animal hydrated and flushed, the best chances at keeping the kidneys working properly. There's unfortunately no way of knowing how long an animal will live with this condition, but some people have remarkable results. In chronic kidney failure (usually seen in older dogs), it really depends on what the levels are (you need to ask your vet) and if symptoms have started. With your dog, don't write this off as a death sentence if your vet feels his kidney values aren't extremely high; there can be hope, and only you can judge what his quality of life is with this condition. Some older dogs live another couple of years with the right supplements, diet and fluid intake. You definitely want to encourage water intake and talk to your vet to see if fluids under the skin are needed at this time; or your vet may just be proactive in keeping the kidneys under control... values may not be very high at all.

Please let me know if I can answer anything further, and I wish you and your dog nothing but the best.

Christine

Expert:	ChristineLVT
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Answered:	7/3/2009

Certified Veterinary Technician

Licensed veterinary technician (B.S. Mercy College), 10 yrs in animal medicine and training