There are a ton of options so I can't say what yours might be compared to mine but there's no fix for it. Unfortunately about 6 weeks after she was diagnosed she passed away but her disease was really aggressive. 5x above normal readings in only 10 months between vet visits and blood work, she almost made it to 10yrs old. Don't lose sleep and definitely stay away from google because that just sends you down a path of shit. Wait to see what they say tomorrow, he could just have an infection and be fine.
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- Thread starter Sprayin
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Sprayin there is also a chance he just has a kidney infection and some antibiotics will get him back to his old self. So vet will likely do a urine sample along with the blood work. It's another good diagnostic tool. Normally they can give you an idea in 24 hours, but to be sure they'll want to let the culture grow for 48-72 hours at a minimum. That will give more accurate results.
Both Kidney and Liver issues can present as increased water intake. Both issues are clear as day on a Geriatric panel. At 14 it's time to get one anyways just to spot issues before they do become issues. Cats are far more prone to Kidney issues than dogs.
My cat was diagnosed with kidney failure, and I think we treated him with subcutaneous fluids for about 2-3 years, it really did help him a lot. But it was very nerve-racking to do it for the first week, I probably cried and upset my cat more than the needle upset him. It can be managed, and the deterioration can be slowed down, but not stopped.
My cat was diagnosed with kidney failure, and I think we treated him with subcutaneous fluids for about 2-3 years, it really did help him a lot. But it was very nerve-racking to do it for the first week, I probably cried and upset my cat more than the needle upset him. It can be managed, and the deterioration can be slowed down, but not stopped.
Blood work came back normal, so no kidney issues. He has a UTI. Treating with antibiotics. He was on an antibiotic like 3-4 weeks ago which isn't good for this issue. So a different antibiotic he goes on. He has some lumps near his junk, she pulled some pus out of it and said we can talk to an oncologist if we want to test it for cancer, but at his age it's not super unusual to have that.
I just had to put down one of my ShihTzus at 11 years old about 2 weeks ago. A few months ago she started peeing in the house pretty often and couldn't hold it for very long. Then we noticed it seemed like she was struggling to pee. She would stay squatted sometimes for over a minute at a time like she was trying to force it out. We thought she had a bladder stone. Turned out it was bladder cancer. We put her on drugs that would slow it down and keep her comfortable for awhile because she was still energetic and didn't show signs of any pain or discomfort. Finally it got to the point where she had a lot of blood in her urine and she started having trouble walking.
Over the past 6 years, all 3 of our large senior dogs deteriorated significantly as they each were about 13 years old. It was difficult to weigh quality of extended life with expensive care vs the right time to make the difficult yet humane decision. Do what you can to make their life the longest and most rewarding possible, but understand that at some point, it's time to let them go. That's the burden we bear as responsible pet owners but also the kick in the heart that we get in exchange for all the love, loyalty, and companionship they provide over their relatively short lifespan. 
I'm feeling much better after going to the vet. I had all the tests done, and they were pretty sure he'd be fine. I'm sure it'll take a couple days to kick in. He's just still acting a bit weird. We were at the vet for 4 hours and they poked and prodded him with all sorts of stuff. He's super stressed. Slept all day. Probably just didn't wanna get up out of bed.
The pills are making him nauseous and he doesn't want to eat, but the pills say to take with food. Which he won't eat. He takes the pills with treats at least. Poor guy.
Yeah we were doing cheese. I got some chicken this time. I got him some chicken in a bowl type of thing to see if he will scarf that down and he really hasn't eaten anything of substance in 2 days.
sorry to hear this. Hopefully you can get the meds down and he's feeling better soon. When our senior had kidney issues, we were given a bunch of meds, but most of it required food. She would barely eat anything except pumpkin puree and some cheese, we were also putting clear Pedialyte in her water bowl. Its such a helpless feeling
Thats what happened with mine that I had to put down early.... She was only 6 going on 7 if memory serves.
Started her on steroids and she seemed to be doing great, and as soon as we tapered off them she went downhill in a hurry....
Was literally one of the hardest days of my life taking her in.
He ate the chicken veggie bowl thing I got him. And took the pills. Hopefully now that he has some food in him he won't get sick.
We have used that before. When we had our cat, she'd be on Zeniquin, every day. It was in an attempt to keep her kidneys from deteriorating worse than they already were. But when they're on antibiotics for long periods it increases the risk of picking up other infections, since the body's immune system is being compromised. About every 3-4 months she would get a UTI or bladder infection, and we have to switch to Clavacillin, or just Amoxycillian, but neither of those would target her kidneys and the disease. So we'd lose ground and her kidneys would get worse. Best we could do was make sure she had a good quality of life. And right up until the last 2-3 days, she did. We probably did more for her than most would. But at only two years of age when diagnosed we felt she never got a chance to live a good life, so we provided that. We still feel that she never really got a chance.
Just glad we have her brother to help keep her in our daily thoughts.
Just glad we have her brother to help keep her in our daily thoughts.
And they gave him Gabapentin for the pain. And I just Googled it and it says a common side effect in dogs is loss of coordination. Wow that's a sigh of relief. I thought he was losing it.
I expected the sleeping. It's the crooked walking and not keeping himself up that was scaring me.
Yeah they have them in random spots. The girl is getting them too. They don't seem to bug them.
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