One Fine Acre - 2023 4H Steer Project Update

OneFineAcre

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I didn't get really good news this afternoon. Her blood work hasn't showed any improvement in kidney function.
So I told the vet that I could afford to continue treatment so put that thought aside.
But at this point was I doing it to make myself feel better at Angel's expense ?
She told me that if I could afford to do it, then I should give it a few more days. Even though there has been no improvement in her blood work there has been some positive signs. First, she seemed generally happy to be at home this morning. She is also drinking water on her own and eating. She ate about 8 ounces of canned chicken for breakfast. She also urinated a good amount right before I took her back to the vet. Her urine was not dark. The vet also said that animals in end stage renal failure develop a distinct odor that Angel doesn't have.
When I told her that I wanted to treat her for a few more days vet said she was glad that I made that decision.

We've talked to our goat vet who is also a friend and even though he doesn't normally treat dogs, he said that if she didn't get better he would come to our house and put her down for us. So, if it comes to that I can bring her back home and let her hopefully have a couple of good days on the couch not in a vet's office kennel.
 

OneFineAcre

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Oh no... I know you were hoping for better news. It sure sounds like Angel hasn't given up yet so I'm glad you haven't either. Maybe a couple days will help her. If not, you have an exit strategy that will be best for her. So sorry all of ya'll are going through this. :hugs

Our friend/goat vet said he would have been surprised if her blood work improved in such a short time. He said he thought it would take 5-7 days of fluids. So, hopefully we'll see something in a few days. I sure hope so. I love that dog. :love
 

farmerjan

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I am so sorry to hear about the Lyme. I was farm sitting for a guy who retired and was going to "be a farmer". He was a nice older man, VERY VERY SMART, like brilliant near genius type smart. Was as "dense as a rock" when it came to animals and simple things like how to herd sheep along a fence when you wanted them to go through a gate instead of coming at them from the middle and they go in 2 different directions.... etc, and etc. He got 2 Marema pups to be guardians of 6 sheep. They grew up, did not stay in the fences, the dogs wound up chasing and killing a few of the lambs, the sheep slowly got sick from worms, because he didn't think they should be wormed; because the sheep in yugoslavia he saw weren't wormed when he was studying tree rings to try to "recreate" some past records that were destroyed by communist gov'ts... he worked with a university and went all over the world and was very knowledgeable about things like that.
So anyway, he had a place in Alaska that he liked to go to so I became the farm sitter. He also went to visit some colleagues at times and I was watching the dogs and noticed that one was not eating much and was lethergic; and after 2 weeks he had come back, and was getting ready to go to Alaska and I told him point blank that if he didn't take the dog to the vet I would because he didn't think the dog was really that sick. So he did, and he had Lyme Disease. It was pretty bad but we put him on a treatment regimen and it took about 2 weeks and he started to eat better and S_L_O_W_L_Y got better. He is still going now. Turns out the owner also had Lyme and he went on a treatment schedule too. I don't think he ever fully recovered as they say you can have re-occurances. My son was diagnosed and has flareups. My mom got it in Ct and had constant flareups for 6-7 years.

So don't get in too much of a hurry for instant results. If she is eating some, and drinking and peeing, then her kidneys are functioning to some degree. It is a long slow recovery period and you will fight it for months if not years with some flareups. But aside from some aches and pains and sometimes more lethargic behavior, most dogs that I have seen do okay if they have not reached the end stage. It doesn't sound like she has.
You will know when she is not having good quality of life. She may not have quite as much energy for awhile, but it sounds like she is on the mend to whatever capacity her kidneys may continue to function.
 

OneFineAcre

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I spoke with the vet this morning and it was not good news. Her blood work has not improved and she didn't have a really good day yesterday. They are going to wean her from the IV fluids today and I'm going to bring her home this afternoon. They are going to send some fluids with us that we can give some sub q for a couple of days. She said we might want to make arrangements for Friday.
 

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