ok, this has nothing to do with my labs; it's about my 1.5 year old German Shepherd I had to put to sleep yesterday. She had severe ED so was spayed end of July. Few days after being spayed developed massive amounts of blood in urine. Vet gave antibiotics, it went away. A week later she had lost 5 pounds and refused to eat. Next week, still not eating, had blood work done. Severe Kidney failure were her results. Vet ran many many tests, kept her at the clinic on IV fluids fo two weeks with no improvement. My vet could not find a cause. Vet sent me to a specialist. He too could find no cause. This past week we brought her home as the vets, specialist, and all others working on her case felt it would be best if she were comfortable in her own suroundings. This weekend her levels shot so high that she could do nothing anymore, would stand up, or anything. It was quite obvious that she felt terrible. We had her put down on Sunday. My question is, has anyone experianced a case like this before?? I know it is too late now as she is gone, but I just need to know. I had four vets, and two specialists working on her case and no one could find a reason why both of her kidneys failed so severly at once and at such a young age.

A thought that the vet had was a blood clot formed during the spay went to a kidney, but that theory was quickly ruled out since both kidneys were severly damaged. Any input on this is greatly apprecaited.

-E.

SO sorry for your loss...there will always be a bruise on your heart for your lovely girl...

Did they rule out anesthetic complications or reactions to any of the drugs during the procedure? Or any severe hypotension during the procedure? (severe and/or prolonged hypotension can lead to peri-operative kidney failure...at least in humans....) What antibiotics (if any) did she receive peri operatively? some Abx. are nephrotoxic...

what were you feeding her? Any chance she received any of the melamine tainted food or treats?

Again, sorry for the loss of your young girl...

gcb

Did they take notice if her kidneys were smaller than normal or not? Don't know if they would tell you that or not or if the specialists would know sinse they were damaged so badly. I heard that dogs with smaller than normal kidneys have problems when anestisized. So sorry for your loss :{
Aloha,
jackie

Was she given any pain meds? Rimadyl or Baytril? Both of these can cause liver failure and more often then we know or hear about it. In the past few years I've gotten more and more phone calls from people who have lost dogs in a similiar manner after a surgery or injury to mostly the Rimadyl ,Labs tend to not do well with this drug but I also understand Shephards dont do well with Baytril. I was actually able to save a puppy of mine with a family when within 24hrs after starting the drug he was acting funny. Thank God the family called me because it was a weekend and their vet could not be reached I had them immediately take the pup off the drug. Took him a few days to recover from only 2 doses. I now give all my new puppy parents clear instructions to avoid this drug.

Maybe the operation and the kidney failure were not related.She may have been in the early stages of it when she was operated on. I had a bitch that went into kidney failure and refused to eat also. They ultimately found out that the reason was Lyme disease.

So sorry to hear this. Have you tested for tick born illnesses? Specifially Lymes?

hi,
Thankyou.

They did rule out any complications to anethesia. She had all of the pre anthetic blood work and she had been under the same anthesia twice before for xrays. She got clavamox for the blood in the urine as they thought it was a UTA.

As far as food, she was eating high standard adult formula when she would eat it. She was picking having come from a raw diet before I got her. When she wouldn't eat the dog food she would get fried hamburger or boiled chicken. She wouldn't eat any kind of treat. Thanks for your input.
-E.

Hi Jackie,
Thanks for your reply. We had numerous ultrasounds done to check for progress while she was at the vet. Her kidneys were not smaller than normal. The specialists said they were inflammed, but not smaller than normal. Thankyou.
-E.

Hi Barbara,
No, she was not given any pain meds whatsoever. I will keep what you said in mind though for the future.
-E.

Thank you.

Yes she was tested for everything. She did test positive for lyme, but she has in the past and it's never effected her. She was treated with Doxy. back in March and that took care of it, but she tested positive again after all of this took place. I did run this by the vets and the specialists and they felt that this was not caused by lyme. They are not 100%, but that was just their feeling of the whole thing. I wish I had a sure answer. I think it might make me feel better if i knew the cause.

-E.

Were Lepto titers run?

yes, she came back negative for lepto. That is what they thought it was as she was showing all of those symptoms.
-E.

Sorry, but I would sure be thinking it was Lyme, as she tested posiive for it.It would make me think that her ED was actually caused by undiagnosed Lyme too.The bitch of mine that passed away was also lame for a period and it wasn't until after her kidneys started to fail that they HAD to admit that the cause of both her limping and kidney failure was Lyme. She also tested positive for it.

Lyme can wreak havoc with the kidneys, glomerular nephritis etc.

barb

Last November I lost a bitch to Lyme nephritis in a situation that was eerily similar to that of breeder6. My vet thought my girl's lameness was from arthritis. By the time he figured it out, the disease had destroyed her kidneys. It broke my heart.

My condolances on the loss of your GS.

Barb

How long did you treat her with Doxy back in March ? You have to leave them on it for over 3 weeks, more like a month. I would sure be afraid it was lyme also. There are so many other tick diseases, depending on what part of the country you are in. They can cause so many different affects.

She was on the doxy for 30 days. She came back negative for any other tick born diseases. The vet and the specialists did not write lyme off as the cause, but they felt her lyme levels were too low to be the cause. No one can seem to figure it out.

Vets were positive it was Lepto as she had every symptom; renal failure, depression, lethargy, anorexia, vomiting, dehydration, ulcerations, and blood in urine. Also shepeherds are at an icreased risk of developing Lepto. I don't know what to think.

-E.

Get yourself a copy of this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Everything-About-Disease-Tick-Borne-Disorders/dp/0471407933/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/104-7814395-9670351?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188958626&sr=8-3

Just because you are treated for Lyme for 30 days does NOT mean that you are cured. I have a girl here that was treated with Doxy for 8 weeks several times but was not able to get rid of the infection. Unfortunatly, there are no vets here in Mich that know how to treat Lymes. She has been to at least 8 different vets. I have since shared the info I have learned with one of my vets and she has agreed that it is best to leave her on Doxy indefinatly. And the scary part is that she never tested positive (even on the C6 test) for Lymes.

They also said my girls lyme levels were too low and it must be lepto. In the end they agreed it had to have been lyme. (she also had been treated for lyme)

My thoughts are that by the time she was diagnosed with lyme and ultimately treated, the disease had already done permanant damage to her kidneys.