• If you're a past member of the board, but can't recall your password any more, you don't need to set up a new account (unless you wish to). As long as you recall your old login name, you can log in with that user name then select 'forgot password' and the board will email you at your registration email, to let you reset your password.

Juvenile Renal Dysplasia {previously Suppressed immune system}

Janice I am so sorry you and your family are going through this with Reuben. I can't imagine what you are all going through. We are all thinking of you.
 
Can you get the exact numbers for his creatinine, phosphorus and BUN? Those are the kidney values. Pat

The only figures I have Pat, are

Creatinine: 447
Phosphorus: 3
Urea: 46

hope that makes sense, the vet said these are very high for one so young.
 
Last edited:
Oh Janice I'm so very very sorry to hear this, what a dreadful shock for you :(:(


I know how these guys worm their way into your heart and lives, he is obviously very much loved and I know you and your vets will do everything you can for him.

Please keep us posted - try to take on board as much information as you can, I know it is very hard at this time.


Thinking of you and sending our love.




Bless you Pat for all your help and support - we are truly honoured to have you on the board.
 
Janice,

I pm'd you before I read this. Im so sorry,
please keep us informed....we've got everything crossed for Reuben.
If you want to chat pm me and send you my phone number.:(:(

Mel and Leo XX
 
So sorry to read about poor little Rueben. I really hope everything goes well for him over the next few days. :l*v::l*v:

Pat, every time I read one of your posts I am in admiration of your extensive knowledge. We are lucky to have your contributions to the board.
 
Pat, every time I read one of your posts I am in admiration of your extensive knowledge. We are lucky to have your contributions to the board.

So true! Janice, I am so sorry to hear it sounds like something more serious is going on with Reuben. Please keep us posted and know you are in my thoughts.

She was doing an odd mouth movement and took her to the vet (I went with her).


What sort of odd mouth movement? I was wondering what the signs are!

She was kind of "working" her bottom jaw in and out. My first thought was definitely something oral but her teeth looked good. That's when the vet found the ulcers.
 
Latest update:

The scan of his kidneys showed them to be weird. Not of the normal structure.

They have either been damaged for a long time, or, have never developed properly.

Either way... sounds pretty poor from my point of view.

more bloods taken tomorrow to see if the levels are going down.
 
ALB 27. - 38. g/L
ALKP 23. - 212. U/L
ALT 10 - 100 U/L
AMYL 500 - 1500 U/L
UREA (BUN) 2.5 - 9.6 mmol/L
CA 1.98 - 3.00 mmol/L
CHOL 2.8 - 8.3 mmol/L
CREA 44 - 159 umol/L
GLOB 25 - 45 g/L
GLU 4.3 - 7.0 mmol/L
PHOS .81 - 2.2 mmol/L
TP 52. - 82. g/L

I logged into the k9kidneygroup and did a search for normal UK lab values since I don't know the normals. (I'm just so accustomed to dealing with US lab figures.) There are some UK members in that group, and I found the above normals. Let's save these in case we need them for other topics - and any of you UK'ers can check to see if these figures are the correct normals.

Janice, see if you can get copies of the lab reports to check if the above figures are normal values and see if other values are low or high. Indeed, Reuben's kidney values that you quoted are high, although phosphorus isn't too bad. What you describe from the ultrasound is what one would expect with JRD.

Now what we hope for is to see those numbers go down in light of the IV flush so do let us know the new figures when you get them.

Realistically, it is a serious situation. I have had one Cavalier respond well to the fluid flush and he went on to become well compensated with our routine of diet, meds and fluids but another that I had unfortunately did not respond well. But I always have hope and try rather than just giving up without a fight - you don't know until you try and you want to know that you did what you could. So just take one step at a time and know that there are a lot of people who are praying for you and Reuben and sending positive thoughts.

Young dogs with JRD can often become stabilized and live a decent quality life for a few years although they almost never live a full lifespan. Others don't respond well. It's very good that you have a diagnosis and are getting the right treatment, so we'll keep hoping for a good response to treatment.

Be sure to take care of yourself too and get some rest.

Pat
 
Thank you for doing that Pat - I have put them in a sticky at the top of this section.

If anyone is very interested in results, medications, treatments etc, there is an excellent book available from Amazon,

Blackwell's Five-minute Veterinary Consult: Canine and Feline by Larry P. Tilley and Francis W. K. Smith Jr.




Janice, our thoughts are with you and your family, and of course with Reuben, we hope that he can pull through this and enjoy a long and happy life with you.
 
There are a couple research articles that have concluded that Cavaliers may be predisposed to eosinophilic syndromes.

CavalierHealth.org does not have an article on them because they reportedly are very rare. But that also was the case for other disorders for which there now are articles, such as masticatory muscle myositis, because more incidents of MMM have been reported. Contrary to frequent accusations by some breeders, CavalierHealth.org does not have an article on every known canine disease.

I keep a list of articles on eosinophilic syndromes, for when the time comes to expand on the topic. I have been keeping the ones Pat B. listed. The most recent article I have on my list is:

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2008&PID=pr23852&O=Generic or http://tinyurl.com/yf2qb4n for short. It is "Eosinophilic Diseases of Dogs", presented at the 2008 World Small Animal Veterinary Assn.
--
Rod Russell
 
I have not found allopathic veterinarians to be particularly effective at combating immune deficiencies. We had a Cavalier with a serious immune deficiency problem, and we turned to holistic treatments which completely turned him around.

The vet we used is Lynn Peck of Gainesville, Florida, website http://www.allholisticvet.com I suggest calling her and asking her to recommend holistic vets in your area.
--
Rod Russell
 
Thanks guys.

Im not sure if the main thing now is immune system or the kidney probs,.

sounds like it's the kidney probs to me that are the most serious.
he is anaemic too so they are getting his red blood cells up.
 
Thanks guys.

Im not sure if the main thing now is immune system or the kidney probs,.

sounds like it's the kidney probs to me that are the most serious.
he is anaemic too so they are getting his red blood cells up.

Very likely, the kidney problems are symptoms of an impaired immune system. Our Cavalier's immune problems were displayed by liver problems. The immune system doesn't have a single organ of its own. It affects every part of the body.
--
Rod Russell
 
Kidney failure often causes stomach and mouth ulcers - this is the reason that sucralfate (carafate) is one of the drugs used for supportive care. (By the way, if this drug is given, it is given separate from any other medication and any food - the drug coats the stomach and interferes with the absorption of meds. Carafate is given two hours before or after any food or meds. I used to have a chart on the refrigerator that listed all meds and I'd check off each item every day and note the time given so I could keep on track. This was for a dog with heart failure and kidney failure and there were many boxes to check off each day.)
Carafate is given to prevent these stomach and mouth ulcers.

My guess is that Reuban does NOT have an eosinophilic disease but that the mouth ulcers are a result of his JRD. (We should probably change the title of this thread to Juvenile Renal Dysplasia.) Also, from what I've read thus far, this is a pretty good vet who seems to be on the right track.

Janice, I forgot to say that you should let your breeder know what is going on as this is a congenital defect that was present at birth. (Sorry for the redundancy.) The breeder would not have known about this but he/she would want to be vigilant about other pups from these parents. I have no idea if there is a genetic component in Cavaliers - I do know that there IS an inherited component in some breeds, notably shih tzu and lhasa apsos. There is apparently now a genetic test for these breeds. Below is a good article that tells about the genes involved but also gives a good overview of JRD symptoms, stages, etc.

http://www.shihtzu.org/Articles/article.asp?ART_ID_NUM=1&menu=Articles

When googling further, I see that now the Miniature Schnauzer club in the US is investigating whether there is a genetic component in JRD in their breed.

You and Reuban continue to be in my thoughts and prayers,

Pat
 
Actually, Rod, I disagree with you. JRD would not be caused by an impaired immune system - it is a very specific congenital anomaly - a birth defect - likely with a genetic component. Now there certainly could be an immune component in chronic renal failure, but that is a different disease - although the symptoms are the same.

On the other hand, I learned from the kidneydiet group that there are many "holistic" treatments that are very useful. Probably the most significant is omega 3 fish oils - there are allopathic studies that show that these do reduce creatinine. CoQ-10 and vitamin E are also helpful. Some people (and I have also) use TCM - I would only do this under a licensed TCM veterinarian. I also have a licensed/certified acupuncture vet (same person as my TCM vet) and some have found positive results with acupuncture.

Still, for me and for most that I know, the key to keeping kidney failure compensated is the daily subq fluids given. Once I "got the hang of it" this took me about 5-10 minutes each day, and my Cavalier slept through the process so it was not traumatic for him. I once calculated that he'd had over 1,000 needle sticks but he never had any skin or tissue problems as a result. (I used a particular very small and thin walled needle that I purchased online from Brico Medical Supplies.) Also - anyone using fluids in the US should know that you can buy them at Walmart for $2 a bag versus the $10-20 per bag that most vets charge.

I learned SO much from that wonderful group that it's my mission to "pay it forward" and share that knowledge with others. There are so many dog and cat owners that deal with kidney failure as it is so common, and there are many things that can be done to help.

Nicki - that is an excellent text. I've got a pretty extensive vet text home library and having those resources has made a world of difference for me. I've purchased most of the books from Amazon.

Pat
 
Thanks, Pat.

Having read the article about JRD its sounds exactly like Reuben.

I may print it out and diplomatically ask the vet if she wonders if it might be this! ;)
 
Back
Top