Renal Failure/Kidney Disease - Rimadyl Overdose

[nguyeda]

Hello all,

Our dog Pria ate about 23 100mg pills over night. She is about 3 years old. We rushed her to the vet on Saturday and she got hooked up to IV and was given some liquid charcoal. She has been there and is still at the vet. She has been on IV's for about 72 hours.

Her creatinine levels on her initial blood test was 3.8mg, then they went down to 3.1, then 2.8 and now they are back up to 3.1 over the course of those few days. Her BUN levels on her latest test are 19mg.

She has been and continues to be super happy, hungry and fully functional through this entire traumatic experience.

Has anyone had a similar experience? We are so concerned that her quality of life will suffer moving forward. All we can do is hope that her levels go down.

We were also feeding her Acana which has pretty normal levels of protein and phosphates. We need to switch her to a low protein and low phosphate diet. We try to avoid by product and corn filled foods. I think the only one that is recommended is a Science Diet K/D. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

We are taking it extremely hard.

Thanks for any help.

[SunDance]

I'm sorry...I can't help. I just want to send good thoughts that your girl will be OK.

Welcome to the board...wish you were here for a better reason.

[Labradorks]

Actually, yes, I have been through something similar.

I had a beagle who ate a friend's dog's painkillers. I cannot remember the dosage, but it was a two week supply of Deramax for an 80 lb dog. The beagle was 30 lbs. I was told that he had eaten two times the toxicity rate of a dog his size and they had done testing on beagles. Deramax was brand new at the time (had been out for maybe a week) so the veterinarians I worked with were working closely with the Deramax people to help my dog.

I did what you did and rushed him to the vet. He was not even showing symptoms. They did charcoal which made him vomit and the IVs. I think he was at the 24-hour e-vet for about three days. I brought him home and he was very tired and weak. I think he was only 7 at the time. He was having a hard time eating (not like him at all) and so I was giving him baby food. I realized that his breath smelled different (bad!), like death actually, and his poop was like tar, which is an indication of a bleeding stomach. I took him to my day vet. I think he'd been home for a week at this point.

Turns out, the Deramaxx caused his GI tract to ulcerate and the smell was rotting flesh in his mouth. Some very strong and expensive antibiotics did the trick (there may have been another medication, but this was a very long time ago and the details are fuzzy) and he was back to normal within a week or two. It was quite an ordeal and I felt like I could have lost him at any point. After that, every time he had his blood tested, he was just fine. Healthy as a horse! He actually lived to be 17 1/2 years old and was put to sleep when his old bones just started to give up on him. It was like it never happened.

Also, I never changed his food. He ate Natural Balance White Fish & Sweet Potato (was one of the only allergy diets at the time and my other dog ate it, so it was just easier to feed it to him, too) nearly his entire life.

My best friend has a boxer who has kidney failure due to deformed or small kidneys. Her dog has been on special low-protein food for many years. It is the k/d diet, which you're right, is all corn. I always thought that if I had that issue with one of my dogs, I would go to a holistic vet and perhaps make my own dog food. If you read online, people don't feel that kidney issues require a low-protein food, but I'm not sure where that information comes from. It seems very controversial.

[Shelley]

Purina also has a line of Veterinary diets, that you could take a look at. Most of the low protein/low phosphorus diets are high in grains, specifically corn. Whole grain corn is not as bad as most people realize, as long as your dog can tolerate corn products and don't have a specific corn sensitivity.

If you are considering home cooking for her, do a search for a Facebook group, contact a veterinary school, or an online forum for more information on making a complete balanced healthy diet plan.

You will need your vet to write you a prescription for the Pro Plan Kidney diet, here is a link to a good price and fast shipping at Chewy. Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets NF Kidney Function Formula Dry Dog Food.

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets NF Kidney Function Formula Dry Dog Food, 34-lb bag - Chewy.com

[LabraGal]

I belong to a Yahoo group called K9KidneyDiet that might be helpful. You will have to request to join the group. My older lab has early kidney disease, which turned up in routine senior bloodwork last year (elevated BUN and creatinine levels). I switched him to a half-home cooked, half Hills Kidney kibble diet and his levels have dropped down to high normal. We will be managing this the rest of his life, but the Yahoo group was crucial in helping me create his diet.

[Dennis Thomas, DVM]

Sorry for this experience. It happens all the time. All NSAIDs have the potential to cause toxicity, especially when overdosed. The most common problem is associated with liver toxicity as the liver is responsible for handling everything that is ingested. The fact that there is only a slight increase in renal functions (you did not post the results of the urinalysis) is a good thing. Most poisonings, one they clear the system, as we support them with IVs, etc., offer the opportunity for the body to heal and return to normal function. I personally would not put my dog on KD diet as it is a very poor dog food overall. The purpose of KD is to restrict protein levels in order to keep the BUN levels down as protein is the precursor for BUN. Since dogs are carnivores, which absolutely need protein for energy, it is a paradox to treat these animals by restricting protein. And, believe me, I have sold enough KD over the years to buy a new house. My recommendation is to take this day to day and see how things are when your pet is feeling better. They will monitor the blood work (and hopefully the urine) to assess if there is any permanent damage to the kidney. I believe that this is unlikely, assuming that the toxicity was the cause of the renal function increase. Don't think long term at this point. Focus on your dog healing and I think things will go well. Good luck and let us know when she is back to normal.

[Rosy]

Sorry don't have any good information! Hope you find it here soon!

[nguyeda]

Thanks for all the responses! I wasn't getting email notifications.

We just took her back today and her CRET levels were back up to 4.1 which was higher than when we took her there initially... I think this has to do with taking her off the IV's. Its only been about 2 days since she was on it. They gave us subcutaneous fluids to give her. They are telling us to give her 800ml every day for the next 3 days. She is a 66lb lab.


No changes to her behavior. She is eating and drinking normally. She is going to the bathroom as normal. Everything looks good except that number. Her breath smells normal.

So glad to hear some good stories here!

We are not really happy that we are feeding her this KD food. We normally feed her Acana. I think we'll do this bag of KD and be done with it. A few vets told us to keep her on low protien low phosphorus food. Acana has a new line that has just slightly lower Protein (just 28% vs 31%) and much lower phosphorus.

[lovemylabby]

I don't have any advice...but just wanted to offer you my good thoughts and prayers for your dog.

I would NOT take her off the prescription food until she is 100 percent. I know the ingredients aren't the greatest but it is a prescription food for a reason and after what your dog has been through, I would be very careful.

These foods are designed for specific medical ailments and I do believe they will give you good results.

Best of luck with your dog.

[nguyeda]

Hello Dr.,

So we went and got a urine test as you suggest and it is saying she has UTI. We think she had it before she got to the meds.

Results:

Collect: Free Catch
Color: Dark Yellow
Clar: Slightly Yellow
SG 1.006
pH 6
LEU 3+
PRO neg
GLU neg
KET neg
UBG norm
BIL neg
BLD 1+

This could cause here CRET levels to increase right?