Rosie weighed 51 pounds when we went to have our check up. She is HW free, normal thyroid, had hooks and was also diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure which means Rosie is in for a lifetime of special diets, lots of vitamins and supplements and as things go downhill she will eventually require subQ fluids on a daily basis.

CRF causes nausea so they refuse to eat, which is why so many kidney failure dogs are so thin. Another thing that is of utmost importance with a renal dog is to keep the phosphate count as low as possible so that means very specialized diet for each individual dog in addition to a slew of vitamins and supplements specific to renal dogs.

Rosie's BUN was 82 (normal being 25), creatnine was 5.0 (normal being 1.6) and her phos count was 6.1 (normal being 2.5-6.0)

Doc gave Rosie a B12 injection and fluids two days after we got these high readings and they dropped a little bit but not enough to make a difference. BUN has remained at 70, creatnine dropped to 4.6 then 4.3 the last time and the phos is still 6.1, which sucks.

But....the good news is she gained 8 pounds in those two weeks so we are doing the happy dance about that!

Rosie ate 4 cups of chicken and rice all on her own twice today for a grand total of 8 cups of food in one day!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! She still managed to eat around half of her pills so she still got her raw hamburger balls with her pills stuffed in there for dessert, lol. But that is ok, she ate on her own and that is a major break through!

Rosie's ultrasound today shows that she only has one functioning kidney. Her right kidney is tiny and non-functioning, basically non-existent. Her left kidney is larger but does not have the normal architecture so her two vets (regular and specialist) believe this is congenital. This means she will never get better and ultimately this horrible disease will take her life. This also means her high BUN, creatnine and phos numbers ARE probably normal for her (under the circumstances) and will probably never be in the normal ranges.

Rosie will live with this the rest of her life so this makes her a high maintenance girl to say the very least. This is not a cheap diseases, not is it an easy one. CRF dogs require special diet and loads of vitamins and fluids under the skin for in order to be able to have a life worth living. Rosie is a very happy go lucky girl and has a great outlook on life, inspite of being dumped in the shelter because of her kidney deformity and special needs. She doesn't know anything is wrong so we will just have a good time, enjoy having her around and we won't tell her she doesn't feel good.

Rosie jumping up the trees after squirrels

If you have a dog with renal disease or would like to learn more about this insidious disease join the K9Kidneys List. They are an invaluable source of knowledge, resources and support. Rosie wouldn't be where she is today without their wonderful help and suport.

Sweet Rosie lost her battle with chronic renal failure July 5, 2003 after a year and three months of living here in Land of the Giants. She had a great year and three months with us and lived a relatively normal life inspite of the this insidious disease. She ate on her own most of the time, only had to have fluids 2-3 times a week so we were lucky compared to most kidney dogs.

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