Hi there,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I apologise as this is a pretty long story, but please bear with me.

I brought my 6 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel home at the beginning of May this year. Within a week or so, he started to get very weak, was vomitting, had diarriaha (or however you spell it) and was off his food. We took him to the vets who kept saying bring him back in a couple of days if he is still like this. After 2 weeks, he could hardly walk so we took him to another vets who immediately told us they were taking him in to put him on a drip. He was so ill, they suspected parvo. It turns out that it wasnt parvo, an infection of some kind. He is now, as you can imagine fairly small, as he has so much catching up to do, but nevertheless he is such a happy, clever wee soul.

Now 6 months old, i took him back to the same vets that he was treated, to get him wormed. The told me they were concerned with his size, so they took some bloods. They have now told me that he has a kidney problem that he has had all his life, and that is why he doenst appear ill, cos he has had to cope with it from day one. Also, the vets was concerned about one of the blood tests as it came back with a different result from what she would have expected from kidney or liver problems, so she disregarded it. Sounds a bit sus!

I spoke to the breeder, who was very angry as all his puppies get liver and kidney checks before they go to their owners. (He also phoned up the vets, to have a go). The vets just protected themselves though and shunned him away.

Anyway, i was given a special diet to put him on for dogs at the start of chronic renal failure and told to take him back in 6 weeks for more blood tests. However, if he hasnt had it since he was born, where did he get it from. The breeder suggested that it may have been caused by the drugs he was given when he was ill. They were: AQUPHARM, SYNULOX and METACAM. Although the vets wouldnt confirm this.

The breeder has also said that if there was something wrong with his kidney, no matter how bad, he would show more symptons. He seems absolutely fine and i can see he is growing.

The vets told us he wouldnt live to see 3 years old, but to look at him, you wouldnt believe it.

I havent put him on the diet yet, as he isnt that keen on biscuits, and i would rather he ate somthing than not at all.

I am so confused, i am taking him to another vets tommorow, as the breeder suggested for a general check up. He said i wasnt to mention what the other vets said was wrong and to wait and see if they go down that path.

The breeder is very angry and i am fairly upset.

Any comments or advice would be so much appreciated.

Sorry again for the lenghty discription

Hanna

I would not waste the time, but insist on a referal to a specialist. The vet would look very silly if there was nothing at all wrong with the kidneys. You are entitled to ask for referal, and it is in the pups best interests.

Well, the vet asked if we wanted him referred to the Royal Dick Vetenary Hospital in Edinburgh, but they said they would do the same tests and probably come to the same conclusion. And to be honest i think all these needles are not helping him.

The breeder said that if we took him to a different vet and kept quiet, they would come to their own conclusions. Obviously if they start talking about kidney probs and blood tests, i reckon we would have to own up.

Its really hard to know what to do for the best

In my humble opinion you need a specialists opinion either way, either to rule out kidney problems, or to give the best options for management.

Hanna, I don't think there is anything to be gained from taking your dog to another vet practice, and if you do so without the new vet having the full history, test results etc. you put the new vet in an impossible position. Yes, they will do many of the same tests at the Dick, but they have resources and specialist experience not available to local vets. As Barbara (brainless) says, you need to find out what's going on. If the news is bad, at least you know. Otherwise - and hopefully - you need the best advice going on how to treat and manage your pup. If its of any help, I can ask my own vets of 14 years (in whom I have enormous faith) who they think is best at the Dick for this sort of referral.

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply. Your offer would be much appreciated.
I am taking the dog to a vets tomorrow as i treated him for fleas an week ago, and he just keeps biting the top of his legs and is making the skin red.

But i will look into the Dick Hospital. So do i have to make an appointment? I am also guessing that i will have to go back to my vets and ask ffor a referral, when i was kind of hoping that i wouldnt have to go back. I am getting to be very sceptical of vets from my experiences.

Hanna

Hi Hanna

Kidney problems do not always show up.

A few months ago I appealed for blood donors on this board to help a dobermann with a blood disorder who was bleeding. This was masking another problem and it turned out she had very small kidneys - if I remember correctly one was about the size of a cats and the other three-quarters the normal size - she was four years old and had never shown any sign of problems till a few weeks before she died.

Her kidney size was discovered for sure by a specialist doing an ultrasound of them after blood and other tests had given some idea there was a problem but not what it was.

Christine

Ok, so now i am really worried.

So what you are saying is that although he looks fine, he may not be.

Hanna

Hanna, yes that could be the case. The Dick normally only takes secondary referrals, so you need to ask your vet to make an appointment. I've been through a few departments in the Dick over the years, and have heard reports from friends about others. The staff there are very competent, kindly and helpful, so imo your biggest problem will be getting your car parked :-). I have to see my vets early next week anyway, so if you would like me to ask who they would recommend its no bother. I'm in the Scottish Borders and if I can help in any way e-mail me at sight.hounds@virgin.net.

Edited: sometimes my vets refer to Glasgow or to another specialist clinic. It just depends on who they feel is best for the problem in hand, so if you e-mail me let me know if that would be OK.

I'm sorry to hear about this pup and hope you get to the Dick or some other specilist and get to the bottom of the problem and more importent the correct advice on his treatment.

May I ask if any one knows if this could cause kidney failure, the pup involved had infection & was dehydrated, I know that both conditions can cause liver/kidney damage, do you think this may be what has happened, if so would there be hope of. 1 regeneration or 2/ the condition will not get any worse. This is just my thought and I am in no way advising on this case but would be interested in others thoughts.

Jackie

Hi there Sharon and everyone else who has left a post regarding the pup,

Thanks for your posts. I decided to bite the bullet and go back to the original vets today, for Riley's scratching. We are having a bit of a battle with the old fleas!

I had a chat with the vet about his previous test and noticed that on the computer screen it said...renal failure? So i questioned what i had been told.

Basically they are not sure what it is, and hope that the high levels that the blood tests read were a one off, and that they will rerun the tests in another 4 weeks. It may be that his previous infection has caused this and it may be fine, but the vet told us that if the tests came back indicating renal failure, he would sit us down and have a long discussion about Riley's future. He also felt Riley and said that his Kidneys seemed very small, but hopefully they will grow.

There is also the option of surgery depending on what the results say.

Fingers crossed and i will post as soon as i know more.

From me and Riley, thanks.

So sorry to read of the problems with Riley, but so glad that he has such a caring owner.

Hope all goes well,

Thinking of you

Joyce

Hi Joyce,

Thanks for such a lovely post.

People really make a difference at times like this.

Thanks again

Hanna + Riley

Hi Hanna, by any chance did the illness appear after he had his first vaccination?
Gwen

Hi there,

Yes it did, after his second vaccination which he was given about a week or so after we got him. The vet we were seeing at the time said it was unlikely to be a reaction to the vaccination. However, it was almost immediate as he whined all night long as if he was in pain and went downhill from there.

Hanna

Hi Hanna,here is a link that will give you a bit of info on vaccinations & auto immune systems.
http://www.golden-retriever.com/dodds.html

Vaccinations can ONLY be given to HEALTHY animals & NOT to any that are suspected of being unhealthy or not well. Sorry to hear about your pup.
Christine, Spain

hi i just thought u should know when 4 of my pups cought gastorenterites (soz about spelling) they went down hill very quick with water poo, i took them to the vet and they had 2 injections and a course of antibiotics it cleared up in no time. lani another pup cought it again and with in 3 hours she could not stand and had lost weight so quick so i took her back to the vet who repeated what she had the first time jabs and so on. pups are just like us, what happens if we get dehydrated ours organs start to fail.
what i am geting at if the vet doesnt act on dehydration quick, the pups kidneys start to pack in. i can not understand why ur vet did not treat the pup the first time round when the weight loss was obvious. pups catch infection very easily even if they have not left your garden, my pups cought it from my childrens feet after my kids had been playing in the field.

i hope u do get to the bottom of it and i hope the pups ok, if the pup goes off its food give plenty of scrambled egg, i went through loads of eggs with lani.

debbie

Hi there,

thanks for your post.

my pup does not appear to be physically ill (apart from the vets saying there is something perhaps wrong with his kidneys) so i do not need to feed him anything special like eggs. I have got some food from the vets to give him however. His is not off his food either, and as i already mentioned in an earlier post, he couldnt seem more happier, as he is a typical cheeky pup!

Thanks for your advice, but the serious illness he suffered was several months back, and we managed to get him through.

You are probably right about the dehydration. If, his next bloods come back as showing renal failure, and dehydration from his previous illness is the cause, i shall be putting in an official complaint about the first vet.

Until these tests are done in 4 weeks, there is little we can do but wait (and hope).

Regards

Hanna

Hi Hanna

it seems very young for your pup to have been vaccinated.... that is if I read your post correctly. you got your pup at 6weeks and he had his second jab about a week or so later... I dont know that much but my breeder wouldnt let me have my pup till he was 8 weeks and my vet wouldnt give his first innoculation till we had settled him at home for a week then he had his second jab at 11weeks old.
I don't know what effect if any his age would have, someone on here probably knows more

Good luck hanna I hope it all works out well and is treatable

kitty

Hanna, hope you get it sorted & fingers crossed for Riley. Do please keep us posted.