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

[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!