doggie dog

A lot of our guilt over ticks has been alleviated. While Jericho has had Lyme, he may not have Lyme nephritis. Or he may. What's weird? Our vet was curious and (at no charge to us, just his own curiousity),did an ultrasound of Jericho's kidneys. He only has one. Well, he has two, but the second is tiny and probably non-functional.

Nobody ever caught this. We're Jericho's third owners (not counting the rescue he was at) . . . he's always been a thirsty dog, but never lethargic or a poor eater. The rescue had him thoroughly evaluated for diabetes because of his thirst, but apparently dog kidney function tests are very specific and he never met the criteria.

So the vet said we can just take it easy and see how he is tomorrow. I think we'll bring him home tonight. He won't sleep at the ER vet and I think rest is more important than IV fluids at this point. What's the point of getting IV fluids and meds if you don't sleep and rest? I think comfort and a safe space could really help him right now. If he throws a clot in his state, it's not like drastic measures are going to save him for any length of time, right?

Jerry's home!

Jericho walked in the door and went straight to the kitchen, demanding water. He drank quite a bit, so we're waiting to see if it was too much, too fast. He refused to eat or drink for the vet today, but that could be stubborness and depression as much as illness. He's alert, tail is wagging and he's gotten up and down off the couch with no assistance.

He's turned down both cream cheese and monterey jack, so we'll have to make him take his prednisone the hard way.

I'm going to go buy some short-grain sticky white rice--lowest phosporus count of the rices. The vet doesn't really care that he's on a kidney-friendly diet, he just wants him to eat something. He turned his nose up at kibble and pumpkin, so I'm going to go get some food and try feeding him something special. If he won't eat, he won't eat. He does know best right now, I imagine, and nothing tastes nor smells right when the kidneys are malfunctioning.

I'm loathe to leave, but I want to get goodies for my baby dog.

He is going to die. And it will be kidney failure (or euthanasia). There's no question about that, the only determination will be when and it's still too soon to tell whether he will survive this bout. Day by day.

Oh, my sweet doggie has closed his eyes to rest. This is very good.