josiejo update

[kalmn]

josie has kidney damage. it is likely going to decrease her lifespan. the vet doesn't know by how much, so we're going to see.

they ran several tests, all of which came back negative, so the diagnosis is immune mediated glomerulonephritis, which i just spelled without having to look it up. go me.

that seems to mean "kidney damage like all the other dogs get kidney damage", rather than "kidneys? what are those doing there?" via the immune system.

she's on special food, she's on blood pressure medication which is supposed to help with not losing protein in her urine as much.

she dances for the special food-- i bring out the can opener and up she goes on her hindlegs sniffing and poking me, and then she eats the entire can's worth, and has been happily eating since it's been introduced earlier this week. this makes me happy. i am hoping to put some weight back on her-- she's down pretty substantially (for a twenty pound dog) from her fighting weight.

the worst of it in the short run is going to be that the special food is expensive ($2usd a day), but she is the sweetest dog i have ever met, and she's worth it. okay, i have to stop writing and go pretend like i'm not crying now.

Comments

[cynthia1960]

hugs for you and skritches for Josie...

[wordweaverlynn]

Sending warm hugs and good health for you both.

(The Internet is an allergy-free zone.)

[vito_excalibur]

I'm so sorry. I wish it had been something lighter. Poor dog.

[firecat]

{hugs}

[kshandra]

Aw, puppy. (Aw, human.) *hugs to you both*

[fjm]

We have the same problem with our kitty. Unlike your dog tho Miss P thinks gravy is fine, but actual *meat*, oh no, it might ruin her perfect figure.

So after a year of $2 sachets of food that she licked at, I had a conversation with the vet: the short version is that as long as they are stablised, and are taking the meds, then the speshul food can be replaced with low salt scraps. For us, this means that if we eat chicken, the cat eats chicken (cue ecstatic cat) which sounds expensive but as a whole chicken costs £5 and she eats about a quarter of a breast, isn't. For dogs--there are several books around re cooking for dogs, and if you cook in bulk and freeze you might be able to bring the cost down considerably.

Good luck with her, and note that our cat is now well past the initial 12 months assesssment.

[bibliofile]

Aw, geez, I'd send pets for you both. At least Josie likes her special food!

[batwrangler]

*hugs*

[mrissa]

I'm sorry, hon. I'm so glad she dances for the food, though. If she hated it, that would be yet another really hard aspect of all of this. At least you get to be Awesome Mom with the Yummy Yummy Food. Sigh. Hugs.

[figment]

Yeah. That's the little silver lining, right? We all get to imagine the adorable Josie-dog dancing for her food. *hugs*

[bcholmes]

Oh, you. *hugs* and belly scratches.

[maize]

*huge hugs* I'm sorry that it turned out to not be something simply repairable. If it helps, we've had cats with problems that were supposed to stop them in their tracks within days and who stayed with us (and stayed active with a good life) for many years beyond what anybody thought possible, and we've had cats (well, still have one) with a condition that requires special food and medication and was supposed to shorten his life dramatically but who is now "an old geezer" by cat standards. We've also had one cat with a condition that did take her from us very quickly, and one cat who did outstay the estimates by a lot, but still left too young, and they both had wonderful lives while they were here and I wouldn't have missed a day of them. It's awful that they ever die at all, but I hope Josie obstinately sticks out way past any prognosis and keeps you wonderful company the whole while.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[lydy]

Good luck with Josie. It's always hard when the pets are ill. At least there are some things you can do.

[merielle]

(((hugs))) Sorry it's not fixable, but glad it's manageable.

[onceupon]

Oh, Josienoodle! I am glad she likes her special food. <3

[aedifica]

I'm so glad she likes her special food! When I had a cat who needed a special diet she wouldn't eat it, and so she didn't get any benefit from it, and so... :-(

[heyfoureyes]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm glad she likes the food and that you can afford it right now.

[(Anonymous)]

(This is hypatia_j)

I'm so sorry to hear this. If you want to get together sometime and talk about having a pet with chronic health problems (or NOT talk about it at all) let me know.

[sraun]

Do you remember Mork? He died of kidney failure - it was hereditary in his case. IIRC, it took around six months. It's one of those things that has a wildly variable effect on lifespan - I hope you get lucky!

[miep]

*hugs* and *skritch*

can one order the prescription food online and save $$?

[kalmn]

sadly, no. one must purchase it from one's vet.