Even my dog is at risk

[Jannie]

I own two Wheaten Terrier dogs, Molly and Wally. They are my babies. Molly is 4 and Wally is six.  I did some research on dogs before I got them.I wanted a medium size, fun-loving, easy-to-discipline family  dog that's non-allergenic because my older daughter has asthma.  But- get this-Wheatens are genetically dispositioned to get PKD, similar to PKD in humans. Gosh, I can't get away from it. Everywhere I turn kidney disease smacks me in the face! OOps, sorry I posted this. I figured talking about my dogs is off-topic. I didn't mean to obsess about dialysis. Moderator, please forgive me, mea maxima culpa, and put this in the proper forum. Again, sorry!





EDITED: Moved to proper section, Dialysis General Discussion - Sluff/ Admin

[stauffenberg]

Kidney disease seems to have haunted my own life as well, quite apart from my having eventually developed it myself.  From ages 3 to 7, I had recurrent nightmares about being chased around the house by robots on wheels, and no matter where I would go, even outside, I realized I could never escape them.  Although at the time I had these nightmares dialysis machines did not even look as they do now, when I saw my first modern dialysis machines in the 1980s, I was stunned to recognize in these metal boxes on rollers, with their face-like screens, the exact image of the 'robots' I had seen as a child in my dreams.

When I was in my teens I had a dachshund which my father -- a raving lunatic -- beat repeatedly across the back with his belt because he thought the dog was 'defying him' every time it failed to learn quickly enough any of the absurd rules he kept making for how the dog had to behave in the house.  The poor dog died after less than a year of this brutality from what the veterinarian described as 'traumatic kidney failure,' and you can guess the cause.

In the 1980s as a student I was given a project to conduct a statistical survey of a dialysis unit, where I examined patient records and assembled data on cause of death, life expectancy, correlation between potassium levels pre-dialysis and morbidity, etc.  This involved me spending a lot of time in the dialysis unit, where I could not believe the failure of modern medicine to do anything for these people in the clinic, which reminded me of photos I had seen of the massive iron lung clinics in hospitals after the polio epidemic of the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Then in 1996 I developed renal failure myself, and for the first sign I felt I could see what all these prodromal symbols had been pointing toward.

[Jannie]

Wow1 all those things are spooky, Stauffenberg.  My connection with kidney disease began in 1979, when I began working at Social Security in the Renal Medicare unit. I talked to so many people with dialysis.  And some with transplants.  Then in 2001 I was diagnosed with kidney disease myself.  I started dialysis in August 2007. i seem to be obsessed with kidneys. All I think about is dialysis. How are my blood tests? Did I take my medications properly today? How am I doing on the transplant list? How long since my last treatment? How long till my next treatment?  I watched Star Trek Voyager last week and the episode was about aliens stealing organs from humans.  Then two of the Star Trek characters were involved in a lung transplant operation. And the list goes on . . .

[paddbear0000]

Kidney failure is very common in dogs. I saw it all the time when I worked as a vet assistant. Grapes and raisins are a HUGE cause of kidney failure for them. They are toxic to dogs.

I watched Star Trek Voyager last week and the episode was about aliens stealing organs from humans.  Then two of the Star Trek characters were involved in a lung transplant operation. And the list goes on . . .

Last night, I saw an episode of Family Guy that had Osama Bin Laden with his dialysis machine!

[Sunny]

I've had kidney disease for seven years now. Last year my 14 yr old cat, Sunny, was diagnosed with kidney disease. I thought it was the weirdest thing my cat ended up with kidney disease. Her vet says if a cat gets old enough, renal failure is common. People joke it's her sympathy toward me that caused it.

[paddbear0000]

I've had kidney disease for seven years now. Last year my 14 yr old cat, Sunny, was diagnosed with kidney disease. I thought it was the weirdest thing my cat ended up with kidney disease. Her vet says if a cat gets old enough, renal failure is common. People joke it's her sympathy toward me that caused it.

Yeah, both of my 22 year old cats died from it and they weren't related. A big tip off that cats may have renal failure, is their claws get really big, fragile and really thick, especially the middle toes. We were constantly finding their nails broken off all over the floor. Weight loss is also a big clue.

[2_DallasCowboys]

Our 14 yr old Shih tzu Sambuca
was diagnosed with kidney failure last year.
Our vet, whom we have used since 1989,
really hated to to Les the news.
She was given antibiotics and is also on
Science Diet KD food, is almost is acting like
a pup again!  Her improvement IMHO was our
vet's quickly doing blood work on her.
She is my husband's lil girl, and we are so
happy she is still going strong

Anne

[Jannie]

i have a female cat who is 15, pretty old for a cat. She has kitty CRF. She takes medication for kidneys,liver and thyroid and eats well . But she is quite skinny. I had a cat that died of CRF at age 17. Hope this cat beats that record. I have heard of a cat 22 years old.

[paddbear0000]

One of my college roommate's cats was 29 when it died (of kidney failure)!

[goofynina]

Our 14 yr old Shih tzu Sambuca
was diagnosed with kidney failure last year.
Our vet, whom we have used since 1989,
really hated to to Les the news.
She was given antibiotics and is also on
Science Diet KD food, is almost is acting like
a pup again!  Her improvement IMHO was our
vet's quickly doing blood work on her.
She is my husband's lil girl, and we are so
happy she is still going strong

Anne

Hmmmm, think i am gonna try that, lol, hey, its worth a shot, i would love to feel like a "puppy" again 

[mcjane]

Most of my cats live to 18 & over & almost all of them die of kidney failure.  I do something like peritoneal dialysis on them when they start to go into kidney failure & it keeps them alive & healthy for almost another year. All it is is giving them subQ Lactated Ringers, about 200 to 400 CC daily. Of course you don't & can't drain, but the fluids help to flush toxins & hydrate. My vet taught me how to do it.

University of Pennsylvania Vet Hospital now does kidney transplants on cats. Very expensive though, over 10.000
A very nice stipulation is if you opt for a transplant for your cat you also have to adopt the donor cat.
Their donor cats are shelter cats & strays that are brought it so they get a new home. A win, win situation.

stauffenberg,  How could a grown man beat a poor defenseless little dog enough to make it suffer & die. What kind of a person does something like that. It's sickens me.
I'm sorry you had to go through that with a man who is supposed to love & protect his family & family includes pets.

[kidney4traci]

stauffenberg that is a very, very sad story!  I am sorry to hear you went through that.  Between the nightmares and your dad, I am at a loss of words, but glad you can talk about it.  Pets are meant to give you love and I hope you can find that now for yourself.  Do you have a dog or cat now? 

[stauffenberg]

I now own two miniature dachshunds, and perhaps out of overcompensation for the things that I witnessed in the past, I act as if I were the dogs' butler, and do everything I can for them.

I used to think that my recurring nightmares as a child about robots expressed my fear of my father, who was a scientist, so robots might be an apposite symbol for him, but after I saw my first dialysis machine and was overwhelmed with the similarity with my dream robots, I began to think something more mystical was going on.