Not eating need advise PLEASE

I hope the NutriStat will help your poor dog.
 
For preventing a possible dehydration and putting some calories in him at the same time, another thing that I thought about (and actually used with one of mine) is liquid called Rebound that you can give as is (as a high calorie meal replacement/supplement) or dilute it with water (to entice your pup to drink more).
 
I used it diluted (half & half first then descending quantities of Rebound spread on about 2 weeks) er vet recommandation after a severe bout of coccidia when she was just a pup, I had to give her little quantities to drink lots of times a day (as well as meds) and she drank everything to the last drop every time without throwing up.
 
Good luck. I hope he will feel better soon.

I read some other recommendation on rebound but I can't get it locally tonight and I don't want to wait so we're going to try Tomylyn-Nutri Stat. But I think going forward, I'm going to have to keep some on hand because he will probably be on some low dose of antibiotics to keep the Lyme at bay, for the rest of his life so I'm anticipating eating problems from now on.

Ok, I just got home and Jojo looks terrible. His eyes are sucken into his head and although he can get up an walk, he's very unsteady on his feet. I've called my vets answering service and am waiting to hear back. Anybody else experience this sunken eye issue?

ORIGINAL: samshine

I had a cat who was in renal failure towards the end of her life. The vet showed us how to give IV fluids to our cat at home.

 
Oops, just realized I should have said sub-cutaneous fluids. Comes out of an IV bag, and I was not thinking. The needle is slipped just under the skin.
 
Have they said that his kidney function might improve in time? If not, then unfortunately it might be time to let him go.

Emergency vet. Now. Your dog is really, really sick and if nothing else needs IV fluids quick. ETA here: I don't think your dog's tick disease is under control yet. He's acting like a dog with ehrlichia or babesia, two very similar and deadly tick diseases that often go along with Lyme.

As to the rest, I just found two helpful references. One, I don't believe your vet gave you a long enough course of meds for the tick disease - everything I read says at least six weeks or even more. Two, vitamin B and K supplements can both support wonky digestion and (in the case of the B) also help prevent ammonia buildup.

I just read an article about a Border Terrier that also had renal failure in conjunction with Ehrlichia - I wonder whether your dog might have a form of Erlichia also? These bugs are opportunistic and it's very common to get a couple at the same time - hence the recommendation to really throw the kitchen sink at them. There's two different places you have to send away to, in order to test for everything. Usually vets today don't bother and if they find one via the snap test, they'll just go teh whol enchilada route.

sorry about typos - I'm typinng really fast hoping you'lll see it.

ETA: Link to article:http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ehawkeye87/Ehrlichiosis%20Page.htm#Susan and another excellent one, with references for vets:http://www.minden.com/nowhereelse/canine_tick_disease.htm

On final edit: Good luck and GOD BLESS YOU.

I'm just seeing this thread and I totally agree with Becca about getting the the emergency vet as soon as possible.  Good luck to you and Jojo!

I need to improve my bedside manner. I'm just a bit nervous for your dog, sorry! []

I just re-read the other posts, particularly where you said your dog actually crashed after getting the Lyme vaccine. It is possible that the severe reaction came because he was in fact in a subclinical phase of one of the ricketsials (sp). Testing for Lyme may or may not have uncovered the bug you are dealing with now. So, no guilt necessary.

It really sounds like you are dealing with Ehrlichia or Babesia. There's a new drug for those that is not oral - it's done in a couple of injections. With all the problems you are having with the other drugs you might consider it.

i have a reason that I've been refreshing my knowlege of the rickettsials. I think Ben's picked up yet another - he's been really sick for a couple of days and we'll be going (I hope) to the vet tomorrow if he's not a WHOLE lot better.

i have a reason that I've been refreshing my knowlege of the rickettsials. I think Ben's picked up yet another - he's been really sick for a couple of days and we'll be going (I hope) to the vet tomorrow if he's not a WHOLE lot better.

 
   I hope it's not what you suspect; [sm=crossfingers.gif]

dfr;  There are medications your vet can prescribe that can settle your dog's stomach; there's one that you dissolve in water and squirt in your dog's mouth with a syringe so it's easy to give to a dog who won't eat. I'm sending healing thoughts and hope things go well at the e-vet.

The issue seems to be the effect that these meds will have with a kidney that is only functioning at 25% and the potential interaction with the Enacard he's taking for high bp

The antibiotic should be fine - the wonderful thing about the new drug is the very low rate of side effects and interactions on a long term scale. There is apparently some discomfort from the shot and a few dogs get queasy, but there's some evidence that giving it sub-Q instead of IM will minimize this.

It's only "officially" released for treatment of babesia, because the previous drug of choice for that was so toxic. But I've seen references to its use for ehrlichiosis when the dog is having trouble with the oral meds.

It's called Imizol - here's the specific info on its impact on blood chemistry (including kidney values):

Imizol® had no effects, at any dose level, on body temperature, body weight, hematology, other clinical chemistry values or gross pathology.

Here's the full report.

http://www.fda.gov/cvm/FOI/938.htm

Jessie's_mom, thanks - I hope he gets up 100% better tomorrow morning. It;s hard for me to tell how he is really because we're having some hellacioous thunderstorms, for which I'm very grateful (for the rain), but mentally Ben is off looking for his happy place and looks pretty miserable. It's hard to tell whether that's fright or pain.

I've seen all this before, though. We'll have to find out tomorrow.

This dog needs an IV and he probably needs subQ fluids every day (mine had them twice a day and I did it at home).
 
When a dog is in renal failure the toxins shunt to the stomach and they feel SOOOOOOO sick.  They eat something, it makes them sick and they won't eat that thing again. 
 
Ask the vet SPECIFICALLY for reglan -- NOW.  TONIGHT.  The reglan is injectible and it will help settle the stomach.  But if the BP is that high you have got to get the Enacard in him right away.
 
The vet can show you how to do sub-Q fluids at home.  It is like a very primitive version of dialysis but it gives them a whole lot of help stomach-wise.

    Chamomile tea settles the stomach and won't interact with any of the medications; you could add some honey to make it more appealing. If he won't drink it, you could squirt some in his mouth with a syringe or medicine dropper. Slippery elm  is very good for settling the stomach.
     Here's what Callie told me about them when Jessie's stomach was upset;   
 
 For the stomach, however -- I would be adding slippery elm (get it in
powder if you can -- many health stores carry it in bulk) -- about a
heaping teaspoon full with about 1/8 c. of very warm water -- add that to
the dog's dinner OR you can add a bit of broth or such to it and it's
not nasty to convince them to eat it.  Add yogurt -- most anything. 
It's like a gelatin when mixed with water.

It's an anti-inflammatory for the gut -- VERY soothing to the stomach.

Chammomile tea -- ALSO really good (in fact you can add that to the
slippery elm) -- it's a very very mild NSAID but it will also soothe the
stomach a great deal -- chammomile tea alone will help settle an upset
stomachJust make the 'tea' (most any grocery store will carry chammomile tea
-- just get PLAIN chammomile -- not mixed with other stuff) and add the
wet herbs to the dog's food -- those too are very beneficial.
 
     You can find slippery elm at health food stores; hope this helps. Did you take him to the e-vet; sunken eyes are pretty serious. Let us know how he does.

Ok, so we spent a few hours at the animal hospital last night. He got an IV and they showed me how to do sub-q fluids which I'm supposed to do twice a day. He's still only doing so-so. He's very fragile. Ehrlichiosis and Babesia has been ruled out by 3 vets through extensive testing.  I will be back at the vets today and will ask about the Imizol and the Reglan.

If your dog is still symptomatic for infection - high WBC (or low), fever, dehydration, joint pain, neurological problems (slow pupil response, trouble walking, head turned funny), or anything else not fitting the usual MO for simple renal failure, get on your hands and knees and ask the vet to put your dog back on doxycyline at the very least, or the Imazol. It won't hurt, it's not expensive, and "just in case" something has slipped through the cracks, it will make a difference.

Ask where they sent the tests - or whether it was just the SNAP test. This is the leading lab for testing for E. and B.

Dr. I. Kakoma
ATTN: Hemotropic Diseases Laboratory
2836 VMBSB, 2001 S. Lincoln Ave.
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Illinois Urbana, IL 61802
Cell Phone: (217) 766-1019
Office Phone: (217) 333-1859
Fax: (217) 333-0346
E-mail: kakomai@uiuc.edu

Also, one of the country's foremost authorities on tick borne illness in dogs is here in NC (this is how we found out Ben had an oddball disease that no one was testing for at the time - N. risticii). They take telephone consultations, or they did a few years ago when Ben got sick.

Dr. E.B. Brietschwerdt
North Carolina State University
College of Vet Medicine
4700 Hillsborough Rd.
Raleigh, NC 27606

ETA - Good luck!!!