I’ve had a lot of experience with dogs with kidney disease, and I’m a moderator (inactive) in a yahoo kidney disease group.
If I were considering this, I’d want a written report from a board certified internist with a diagnosis and prognosis for the puppy. This would include a full blood chemistry report, urinalysis report, and an ultrasound report. I would not rely on an opinion from a GP vet with only bloodwork to back up the diagnosis.
I presume that this pup has JRD – juvenile renal dysplasia. This is a congenital defect that the pup was born with where the kidneys are not fully developed. The other possibilities would be a PLN – protein-losing nephropathy – where the damaged kidneys are leaking protein through the urine, or an acute kidney injury from something toxic that could be temporary. I’ve bumped up some old threads about kidney disease – two are in the health forum (JRD and Reuben’s kidneys) and one is in the general forum (“devastating news”). I’ve made posts with some links in those three threads. Some of these discuss chronic kidney disease which would not be the case in an 11 month old pup, but the treatment would be similar.
If this is JRD, the pup may only live a few years. The full medical reports would give some prognosis about lifespan. An ultrasound report would tell much about the current situation and prognosis.
Treatment would consist of special diet and some supportive meds like Pepcid, anti-nausea meds and phosphorus binders when appropriate. Home cooked diet would be best for a puppy because the commercial script diets would likely be too low in protein, but regular diets are too high in phosphorus. Food and meds would not be very expensive. At some point, subq fluids would be necessary to keep the kidney values down and maintain a decent quality of life. These are not expensive for a small dog if you purchase from a medical supply company rather than directly from your vet. (I spend about $200 per year for fluid, linesets and needles from Brico Medical Supplies for my 15 year old with chronic renal disease. She currently gets fluid every other day but will eventually need it every day when her numbers go up.) The expensive part of treatment is for vet visits and diagnostics/tests.
Giving fluids is pretty easy and takes about 5-10 minutes total each time. This does not cause distress for the pet if you warm the fluids and use decent needles (not the Monoject brand needles that most vets use!).
The puppy will drink more and will pee more because the kidneys aren’t working efficiently. I’ve trained my old girl to use the washable potty pads. They need to always have access to water and always be able to relieve themselves.
Depending on the exact situation, you may experience heartbreak – dogs will progress to anorexia, nausea, vomiting, etc. until quality of life is so poor that you’ll decide on euthanasia. Depending on the extent of kidney damage, though, the pup might be maintained for a long time but it does take careful management and dedication. I could give you better information if I could see the reports.
If you do decide to take this on, a good thing is that you are in San Diego with access to specialists, etc. Treatment for dogs and cats with kidney disease is very different in the US versus the UK, unlike treatment for most other medical conditions, which is pretty standard. I was reading an excellent site the other day on feline kidney disease maintained by a UK owner, and she explains the differences quite well for those of you in the UK that are curious.
http://www.felinecrf.org/
I can give you more detailed info and links to good resources if you get more information and decide that this is something that you are going to pursue.
Pat