Some still pics of him

 

New labs done - some new results

Dachuny got a rework of labs done last week, and I just got back the results.  His kidney values look like they are better but one of the liver values are higher and out of range :(  

The only thing I realized later is that I shouldn't feed him soon before the blood draw - it should be when he's been fasted 🤦

At least I'll know for next time.  In the meantime, I've added a liver supplement and increased his thyroid meds by 1.5x.  So will get him checked out again in maybe 2 months or so and see if his number have gotten better.  

It sure feels like a roller coaster of emotions whenever I get results now.  Half the time, I think he's ok, he's doing good and will be around for awhile longer.  Then the other half, I get the panicked, super sad thoughts of he may not be here this time next year.  Then I have to shake myself out of it and remind myself to just stay in the moment, and appreciate every day. 

The good news is the high triglycerides is likely from the recent meal, as well as the elevated BUN, but bc his SDMA and creatinine are low, his kidneys have likely improved from the Rhemannia 11 supplement and new home cooked diet from Dr. Judy Morgan's recipes (arrows in the first image below).  And ofcourse I added the values in a spreadsheet to track it over time since I've been using different labs/vets. Here's his results over the last 6 months. January's labs were just to test thyroid and liver values so it's not a complete set.  Red is high, darker red is very high, blue is low.  That crazy high Cystatin B could have been an early marker for kidney issues.  I should have started Rhemmania then :(  My vet didn't emphasize it and he is already on so much, so I didn't start it.   

The ticks below - indicate when Denamarin Advanced (liver supplement) was started, as well as when Thyroid meds were started (0.1mg - now increased to 0.15mg)

- T4 2.2 was taken around 4 hours after his morning thyroid pill, so it was a good value

-  T4 1.3 was taken 6 hours after his thyroid pill, so the vet told me this was ok as it fluctuates

- but T4 0.952 is now low again after 4 hours, which means he definitely needs to increase his dose

And here are some pics taken of him the last week.  His allergies are acting up again so I had to trim all his hair on his body close to his skin, which means he gets cold really easily so this is him in his grandpa sweater while his thermal pj's are in the wash. 

HMB

 We took Dachuny to HMB, close to the Mavericks beach.  He did so well, had a spring in his step for most of it, and he still looks back for me when walking with Ron.  It's the sweetest thing to watch them walking together - warms my heart!

Some more recent videos

Few things get Dachuny excited these days, but none more than the anticipation of a meal or treat.  This is the daily morning hops he gives me when we're heading to the kitchen to get breakfast

And this one is him getting his puzzle treat to work on.  Getting him to get up on his back legs is part of his muscle exercise training :) 

 

Lazy days

Dachuny doesn't like walks around the neighborhood much anymore but he loves treats, so everyday at 3:30pm it's his playtime and that includes him following me around the house back and forth for treats for 10 minutes, then a puzzle game to find his treats once or twice, then a balance game on a foam roller, and then hopping over the foam roller back and forth a few times for treats.  It takes about 20 minutes in total and we both get a lot out of it that by evening he's pretty pooped. 🥰  Here he is with his puzzle game - he's not great at it but gets maybe 1/3 of the treats by himself.

His tongue hangs out sometimes bc he doesn't have his little bottom teeth anymore 😔. This is him looking at me after Ron snuggled him

Dachuny days

Dachuny's been doing pretty well on the home cooked diet and supplements, he's been coughing less than before; more like 2-3x per week or less.  He has accidents 2-3 times a week though, which is a reminder that cognitively he's still having some issues.  But for the most part he is eating, sleeping and playing well.  Sleeps a bit more than usual but can still sleep comfortably.  SRR is around 20-22 bpm and is being tracked in the Cardalis app.

He'll get another blood draw to check levels this week during his acupuncture visit.  Hopefully we can get a good blood draw.  

 

Dachuny update

Dachuny's been doing pretty well so far, though there have been a couple of poop/pee accidents the last couple of days :(  Which makes me think his CCD (canine cognitive disorder) is progressing.  I've ordered some puzzles from Chewy that will hopefully help to keep his brain stable.  So many things to juggle and manage but I guess that's just life and overall he's still a happy pup (as long as I'm not far from eyesight)

This is him watching Ron inside the Paris Baguette bakery.  Nothing helps a sad mood like cake! 

Just one call can change everything

He's not in CHF and heart measurements are pretty close to what they were in October. No changes in current treatment recommended and just monitoring and keeping up with what I've been doing.  Such a huge relief and a huge weight lifted off my chest. I feel like I can finally breathe a full breath that's not weighed down by anxiety.  He's ok for now and I'll manage his kidney disease to slow down the progression.  

Thank God.  

In the car on the way to the vet

He keeps looking at me here to ask when we can go - he does not like the vet anymore.

Sleeping in peacefully 

A good day

 He seemed pretty normal today. Didn't pee as much as the days before and played happily when it was his treat time.  I wish I could capture a video but he usually stops what he's doing and looks away when I take out my phone 😂 

Here's a picture I caught of him over the weekend

He seems back to normal today

Thankfully that drug has a short life and is supposed to be out of his body after 24 hours.   Other than peeing more volume-wise, I didn't notice any other symptoms after giving him that drug.  

Today he's back to how he was before the medication, so hope hope hope there hasn't been any damage to his kidneys from that one day.  

Here's a pic from yesterday that looks like Dachuny went to town on some Tong Sui desserts.  (when really it was me)

And here's a picture of him getting his blood pressure checked - I found an animal blood pressure cuff online and tested it with my monitor and it works!  The only slightly tricky part is finding the right place - but once found, the readings have been consistent (and thankfully normal!)

I ofcourse did a test on myself, using the human cuff and then the animal cuff (around my finger) and the readings were pretty much the same :D  This should help save some worry, time and money in the future.

Urine test strip from this afternoon - thankfully it looks ok, SpGr - >1.03, pH~7, only trace protein

I should have listened to my instincts!

I ended up sending Dachuny's xrays to a friend of Ron's, who's brother is a vet radiologist, and he just got back to me.  

Great news, he said 

“I reviewed the radiographs. Your friend's dog is NOT in congestive heart failure (CHF) and does NOT have any pleural effusion or cardiogenic pulmonary edema. 

I would advise not starting on a diuretic (to treat CHF) at this time. The cardiologist can advise treatment following the echocardiogram this Thursday. That being said, if her dog has worsening/progressive respiratory signs (coughing) repeat thoracic radiographs is indicated.”

GAH!!  It's been 3 hours since his dose of Lasix.  He's been napping since, I made him pee twice already but gosh I wish I had listened to my gut and postponed it to tomorrow.  Then I would have gotten his notice and not given it GAH!!!

I just pray I haven't caused any lasting damage to his already weakening kidneys D': 

Started Furosemide (Lasix) today

After a lot of internal back and forth, a lot of reading and questioning of vets, I decided to start Dachuny on Lasix today at 11:52am.  Am closely monitoring him and will continue to do so from now until his echo check in 4 days. 

Also read that dogs should have at least 20cc/lb of water per day so that's about 256 cc per day for Dachuny at his current weight of 12.8lbs. 

He hasn't been showing much symptoms lately other than peeing a lot and coughing a few times per week but the coughing was increasing in number of days per week over the last two months.  Even though his SRR (sleeping heart rate) has been between 16-24 the last week (18 last night), his vet says a normal SRR doesn't completely rule out CHF.  So am choosing to trust her on that and praying it doesn't tip his kidneys into a scary state. 

Meanwhile trying to not pregrieve and stay in the moment with him as much as possible but letting the tears come when they rise up but not let the sadness linger for long. 

Some recent pics of Dachuny

In HMB recently - his walks were slow, but we like to think he enjoyed feeling the sand under his paws.

Taken after that last vet visit - he and I are much more relaxed after leaving the clinic.

Chinese New Year - it's always the year of the Dog at our house.

Christmas with nieces and nephews - they love him so much, it's so sweet to see.

At Terranea for a Yi family Christmas gathering.

On a walk around Terranea sporting his new mirror lenses that block out more sunlight.

 

Dachuny is 15.25 years old

Dachuny turned 15 last November, and with that, has come some recent health challenges.  He's had MVD for awhile now, since he was 8 years old, and it's been pretty stable until a vet visit last week to check on kidneys, resulted in some xrays taken early, and then a small amount of fluid found in his lungs :(  Early kidney disease has been concluded, and an echo is coming up next week to determine the status of his heart disease.  We're expecting news of CHF due to the fluid in his lungs, but we'll find out the extent of it in a few days.  

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions since getting the call about his lab and x-ray results.  We brought him in bc he had a couple of accidents by his water bowl, and home urine test strips revealed some trace protein.  (looking back on labs, he had trace protein in his urine before, but his vet wasn't concerned bc his other kidney values were ok - in hindsight I wish I had looked into it further - though I did put him on a kidney support diet, but that created basic pH which was a problem for crystals in the urine :|  Switched him back to his regular diet, but rotated with a couple of new raw brands (Viva and AllProvide). 

Here are his some of his lab results from 2/12:

SDMA 20
BUN 33
Creatinine 0.6
BUN: CreatinineRatio55.0  
Phosphorus 3.9
Calcium 10.0 
Sodium 147 
Potassium 4.1 
ALT 116 
AST 29 
ALP 272 

Specific Gravity 1.039 
pH 7.0 
Urine Protein 1+ 

T4 1.3

 

He sleeps more these days, but is super excited to eat, and go home if we're out, and go to bed if we're in the living room past his usual bed time.  He coughs between 3-5x per week the last two weeks, so I'm closely monitoring that.  His SRR (sleeping respiratory rate) has been between 18-24 the last week.  I've been using a handy app called Cardalis to track this.  

I've started cooking for him, following Dr. Judy Morgan's Yin & Yang recipes for draining CHF and Kidney Support.  His poops have gotten firmer but I think I need to make sure he gets more water with his food since cooked has less water than his regular raw food.  I really hope the recipes work to support him well. 

I hope and pray for an easier than expected road ahead, given his kidney issues.  The first few days were hard, but I read somewhere that pre-grieving doesn't make the actual grief that comes after losing your loved one any easier.  That shook me enough to be determined not to let my days be full of sadness and tears; I only want him to know happy times with me in the time he has left with us.  I'm not sure if he will make it to 16 years old, though I really hope he does.