Just a little update on how Maggie is doing…last update was that her kidney values were getting worse and we were keeping her on Prednisone even though it appears as though she doesn’t have “Atypical Addisons”…two reasons…and the biggest reason..is she has improved DRAMATICALLY in her appetite since being on it. The other reason is maybe, just maybe it might still be Atypical Addisons(therefore she would NEED the Pred)…we’ll find out after the next round of blood work that we’ll do next month. Maybe there just wasn’t enough time(1 week) in between starting the Pred and the blood work to help? Who knows but what I DO know is her eating has improved 110%…so much so, we have backed her off a bit on the Pred. After the next check, maybe we’ll drop her even more or maybe move to other treatments for her such as Chinese herbs for her kidneys and a natural coritisone for appetite stimulant. We’ll see…
In the meantime, I am VERY much enjoying watching her eat these days! What a relief to be able to get food into her and not hold my breath to see if she might eat or not. I can now count on the fact she will eat AND I can get good foods into her to help with her kidney disease. One of her all time favorites is raw beef…which happens to be one of the lower phosphorus meats and also may be helping with her anemia. With that, she gets premixes such as Urban Wolf or Honest Kitchen Preference or Wysong Call of the Wild. She also gets raw buffalo rotating with the beef but seems to prefer beef.
Still doing daily subQ fluids – from 200-300 mls per day. She’s such a good patient for me and most times very patient with me! She is still getting Standard Process Renafood, Azodyl and Epakitin for her kidneys…and hopefully those may be helping with her BUN and CREA numbers now that she’s eating better and I can get them into her better.
I know Pred isn’t the “typical” treatment at all for kidney disease BUT it sure does help in the eating department! We’ll see if we keep her on it as time goes on…
Today, we took her for a ride in the woods and a cookout. She got a hot dog – not a “kidney friendly” food BUT it was a beef hot dog without nitrates! Does that count? Maggie thinks it does…hey, it was beef, she says! 🙂 And cheese too…yum!
Most times she looks pretty darn good to me and her coat is improving and her weight better. I don’t want her to get too heavy, though, due to three-legged-ness… She has lost quite a bit of muscling so now I have not only have to help her up the ramp(which has been like that for a LONG time) but now I have to help her down as well…not strong enough to hold herself most times without mis-stepping. Her breath is quite bad at times(kidneys) and her nose gets dry, so I put a cream on it but, all in all, given the fact she’s 13+ years old, only 3 legs due to cancer and has kidney disease…I’d say she’s not doing too badly right now! You, Miss Maggie, are one tough dog!
Happy girl waiting for her hot dog!
Papa, PLEAZE hurry up with my hot dog!
Oh it smells sooo good! Gimme now!
I think her movement is pretty darn good in this video..especially after having stood up most of the time in the Jeep for miles before stopping… her hearing is getting worse…often times, she has to be looking at me to respond to hand movements rather than voice…(or maybe it’s that selective hearing thing?)
Well..that’s all I can update on Maggie right now…until the next blood work…
‘Til then, Maggie says she’ll keep on hoppin’!
Tracy & Maggie