# Dog has kidney failure, how long can he live?



## tuckersmomma (Mar 16, 2007)

Hello everyone, I am very new to this. But I have been a dog lover all my life and dog owner for 9 1/2 yrs. I just found out (literally 10mins ago) that my beloved dog Tucker has kidney failure. Our vet said he has a rare case they don't see often, and of course she rattled off the name and I couldn't catch it. She told us we could put him on prescription food and blood pressure meds then he would have to be monitored. I asked her straight out what she thought was best, if he would have a good quality of life or would this just drag it out. She told me that she gave it a month or two on the food & meds, but it is different in every case.

My question to all of you is have you had a pet w/ this and did you do treatment and how long did your pet live? Tucker seems to be fine other wise, he still plays a bit, likes to run around outside. He has become the "grumpy old man"  but we just chalked that up to his age.
So anyone with any info or story of your own would be appreciated. I am just in shock that he is not doing well, I feel awful like I let him down not finding this sooner. Though the vet said most times when they discover it in pets it is at this stage, so I couldn't have done anything different. I feel like I could have though.
Any way enough rattling on I just need some help.
Thank you all for letting me jump in here.
Melissa


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## Lorina (Jul 1, 2006)

I'm sorry you & Tucker are going through this.

I work for a vet, and I've seen some pets do fantastic on diet, medication and fluid treatments, and some that don't respond well. I know some pets who've been on prescription diets for kidney failure for more than the past three years I've been working for the vet.

When your vet said, "a month or two," did she mean "Let's see how things go on the food and meds, and retest the bloodwork in a month or two?" or that Tucker only has a month or two? 

If Tucker isn't acting sick at all, if he's eating and drinking and not vomiting or being all mopey and down and out, that bodes a lot better for him than dogs that are diagnosed when they're already showing symptoms.

My cat lived a very happy and active year and a half after diagnosis with kidney failure, and it was actually heart failure that took her life. She responded very well to treatment for the kidneys; they were functioning nearly normal by the end.


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## tuckersmomma (Mar 16, 2007)

Lorina Thank you sooooo much for a response. This gives me hope. And your question on what she meant, to be honest I am not sure either. The question I asked was how long do you think he has w/meds & food she said a month or two. I asked do you mean w/out and she said no but every animal is different. The good news is he is "normal" other wise, he eats the same, drinks more of course but is just the same other wise. He has gotten "grumpier" but she did say that could be because of not feeling well with the failure.
I guess we need to weigh our options and see what the best out come for him would be. I don't want to keep him alive for us, if he is not feeling well and will lose quality of life. He was our first baby, we now have a 3yr old but he will always be our first. And it is going to hurt when he is gone. Thank you again for your reply it helps to hear success.


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