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.