This is a hard one for me to post because Sasha has Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and is in stage 4 kidney failure.
The following is for information in case some of you may go through this in the future or have gone through it in the past.
Dogs and cats have kidney function and structure very similar to people. If we are normal at birth, we have about 75% excess kidney function capacity. That’s why people are able to donate a kidney and continue to have a healthy life.
The basic functioning unit of the kidney is the nephron, and we have millions of them between our two kidneys. Life provides insults that can damage the nephrons and “put them out of service.” The major insults are high blood pressure, diabetes, fever, and some infections.
We do fine until we get to the 25% left. At that point there are some medical steps that can be taken to help a little but reversing the damage can’t be done.
The problem is that diagnosing CKD is difficult because our kidney function tests appear normal until we reach that 25% level and waste products start building up in the blood. There are some new tests that show some promise in picking up CKD before that 25% level is reached and lifestyle modifications have a better chance of slowing progress.
Serial blood tests where the same tests are done annually can point to trend changes. Urine samples looking specifically for protein in the urine that shouldn’t be there are suggestive also.
Most dogs and cats don’t show problems until later in life and often other issues cause end of life issues, not kidney disease.
Getting to Sasha, she is just turning 5. CKD is extremely rare in a dog this young, but she had a serious rickettsial infection (Ehrlichiosis) in Turkey before we got her. She was also on the street for over a year and exposed to unknown toxins, infectious agents, etc.
She is gradually fading but is still a happy, albeit much less active, dog. She has no appetite and is losing weight. When she tells us she’s had enough and doesn’t want to go on, we’ll say goodbye. We've probably got days to weeks left with her.
As long as she wants to go for a walk and greets us at the door, we’re good. She’s given more love in her short 5 years than many do in a long lifetime.
Doug
Doug & Sandy
Kaylee
Winnie 6 1/2 year old golden
2008 Southwind 2009 Honda CRV
