Hemodialysis

The first thing I'll say is you can't do a monetary appeal on here -- it's simply not allowed. 

Sorry -- I know UF does marvelous things (have been there with MANY of my dogs) -- but I honestly think there are things you are not considering.

In order to be immune-suppressed enough to be able to keep an organ not his own, he will have to be on the same type of immune-suppressors they have humans on -- something like cyclosporine or Imuran (azathiaprene).  These are incredibly harsh drugs and honestly there is nothing that will really allow this dog to have a "normal" life.

I've been to Gainesville and am well aware of their capabilities.

I have loved (and lost) a dog to renal failure.

I have also love (and lost) a dog who had immuned-mediated hemolyitic anemia (also treated at UF) who had to take cyclosporine on a daily basis for just 18 months -- and the severe damage it caused to his body was unbelievable (even with the best of care and a lot of support from the Chi Insititute (also at UF) to minimize the damage done by the immune-suppressors.

 First, let me say that I am sorry about your dog's problems.  Have you attempted to use your local media to try to help?  Also, organizations such as imom.org, uan.org and others have emergency funds for pets with life threatening illnesses.  That said, this does not sound like a promising situation, and I doubt you will get much support just on a blog site and on forums without a reputable non-profit or TV station to let people know that your cause is legitimate. 

 Since you have personal experience with the matter. How do you feel about hemodialysis? Griff is currently on his third treatment and he is doing so well. The doctors at gainsville think that they may be able to normalize him on that alone and then we can continue to monitor him for change. But I have to be honest all the vets we've met with have recommended the transplant. They think because he has a littler mate donor, he's small and young that he has a better chance than any other dog that they've performed the procedure on. Their previous studies had all been based on non-related donors, dogs of different breeds and mis-matched size between donor and recipient. Also the ability to have 6/6 littler mate donor will theoretically minimize the amount of immunosuppressants needed. I would like to avoid the surgery all together but they are proposing that it may be his only chance and they are giving him good odds of not only survival but quality of life. Do you feel like this information is misleading?

Thank you for your input. I will not post links to the fund raising site anymore

Long term dialysis is pretty icky and it's difficult to go thru (my own father is being told he may need to do this). 

Any immunosuppressant is a lot "long term".  They are heinously hard on the liver and, actually on the kidneys themselves.  This is also likely to give rise to Cushings Disease and a host of other problems that can and likely will arise.

I don't say any of this lightly.  Billy was one o the most expensive dogs on the planet and my husband and I, altho not at all wealthy, have always been willing to spend whatever we had in order to give our dogs the best quality of life possible.  Often we have spent an equal amount of money to whatever extreme expenses we had with regular vets just on alternative methods to try and keep the body relatively safe from side effects.

You might want to check out the super long IMHA thread on this site simply to prepare yourself for the kinds of things that can occur with a dog who is historically going to be immune-suppressed, and the side-effects they suffer (and they are MANY at times).

My husband and I actually considered a transplant with a prior cocker -- he'd had chemo for cancer and it damaged his kidneys.  But we felt the success rate was so terribly iffy, and that it was likely not a fair trade-off for him despite the fact he was an incredible therapy dog who preferred being with kids in a hospital setting to eating, drinking and living in general.  He *lived* to love those kids.  If we could have extended his life we would have done so.

Given that this has attacked a dog so very very young, I would honestly tell you to be extremely guarded and careful.  "normal life" -- I find that hard to believe.  And getting a kidney from a sibling?  I would honestly have to wonder how well bred these dogs are in truth and how 'good' that kidney may be in reality.  It is a fair question for you to put to the vets. 

It'slikely not a risk I would pursue even given my background in caring for the sick dogs we tend to rescue.  I love my dogs and generally don't ever put a price tag on their care -- but this would be more than I would ask. I know too much about the long term side-effects of the drugs involved, I guess.

 And as far as raising money is concerned?  People tend to be great about helping a dog who was the victim of an accident or abuse -- but with experimental surgery?  I'm not at all sure people would be willing to help someone pay for a procedure on a dog that they wouldn't feel they could give their own. I may be wrong.

I'm sure you love this dog dearly and I know we're talking life and death here.  I did, in fact, just lose Billy a month ago.  We spent more on his care than what you're talking about over the course of 5 years -- but it was in response to an illness and in smaller, but consistent increments and vet visits -- it wasn't embarking on a life-time of care with a dog who may not be equal to dealing with the side effects long term.  Don't fool yourself -- you can't merely say once we get the surgery over that's all we will need to spend.  This will be a dog very very likely to have an extremely intense and expensive future medically.  Even with just *one* kidney it will be a constant challenge because he will already be at 50% capacity so even normal aging will take a far far greater toll than normal.

I'm not trying to flat out discourage you, but very often it is difficult for someone without a medical background to really understand what sort of ramifications this sort of surgery/medicine may have for this dog's entire life.

I agree with Callie.  I understand that when you love a pet you want to do everything in your power to save it but that's not always in the dog's best interest.   I always try and examine my motives when it comes to extreme medical care for a pet.