Traneman

OK I will try and get this written, last night at 11 pm Pebbles had a stroke ( we think) left her incapacitated until about 2am and she was able to move her front legs. By this afternoon she had not eaten anything or drank any water,her hind end was still not functioning. We got her to the Vet at 4pm and he helped us decide to put her at rest,why is it if its the best thing to do ,its so hard to do. She went VERY peacefully and we were by her side. I want to Thank again everyone for their caring and uplifting comments We have a lot of good memories of her and her brother BamBam and those make us smile. She will be better now. Us, well that is another story,just going to take some time. Frank and Mary

Well we are still doing a juggling act trying to get Pebbles eating. We have so many different foods for her it is crazy.She will eat about 1/2 can,then the next day wont eat it at all. Tonight it was cube steak, she ate it like crazy. The Vet called today to see how she was doing and agrees with everyone else,forget about the KD and just let her eat whatever she wants. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks to all.

I think we are fighting a loosing battle. Pebbles will one day eat her food that is good for her KD and other days she wont. The last 3 days she wont touch anything we give her that is good for her. I am starting to think that at 14 years of age what is the best way for her to pass on. She is still active but now sleeps way more then ever,still drinks water well. So I guess my question is this, Is it better (easier) for her to die of kidney failure or starving. Like I said she will eat most anything that is bad for her kidneys and would just like to get some opinions as to what other people think at this stage. Thank you to everyone for helping us through the latter part of our Best friends life. Frank and Mary

Thank you, I will join that group. We did get her to eat lean hamburger and rice tonight so at least we feel better for tonight. She is still drinking water Will be doing more research tomorrow and seeing the Vet.

Just thought I would follow up whats happening here. 2 weeks ago Bam Bam, Pebbles brother died. SHe was doing good until 2 days ago and she has stopped eating her dietary food for her kidney desease. The only thing she will eat now is turkey and a hot dog. Going to try and get her back on her dietary food tonight and hopefully she eats it. I think the time is coming near for her as well. SO SAD.

Guess I need to call the vet or maybe someone here might know. When do you suggest I take Pebbles back in to get a blood test done to see how she is progressing. Just curious if we are doing all the right things,the Vet Tech said she could go back to stage 2. Any thoughts

Well I wanted to give an update,Pebbles is doing great tonight,this morning she ate about 1/4 can of food and this evening she ate 1/2 can. She has her spunk back and seems to be hydrated well (the vet taught us how to check).She is drinking water and really seems her old self. We found " Prescription diet canine Renal Health" she seems to love it. The one thing I did not mention in my first post is she is healing well from maggots. She is long haired and we knew she had diarrhea but didn't know flys would cause a problem. We noticed her running from one place to another,then another. The emergency Vet shaved her and removed all the bugs. We were devastated and disgusted that we didnt know what was going on. It has been a VERY stressful 6 days for us,but seeing her come out of it is exciting. I know we are not out of the woods yet but things are looking up. We also have her Brother "Bam Bam" he is mostly blind and diagnosed with diabetes about a year ago. We give him shots,watch what we feed him and test him often and he is doing well. So we are prepared to do whatever we have to to extend a good quality life for as long as we can. I want to thank everyone for their in put and encouragement, we know we will have to learn a lot about renal disease But seeing her happy and getting better is awesome. Thanks again everyone and I will post updates from time to time..

Our little 13 yo Pebbles was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure this weekend. The last week she started not eating well so we tried different foods beside her eukanuba senior. We could not get her to eat anything for 2 days so Saturday we took her to the emergency room. She spent until this am there so they could give her iv's as she was dehydrated. She is doing better but she still wont eat much, the vet said at this point it does not matter what she eats she just needs to eat, If we can get her to eat then we can slowly change her diet to one suited for her stage 3 kidney failure. I am baffled, we have tried most all caned dog food including Old Roy. Baby foods, hamburger/rice,chicken/rice and hot dogs. Tonight she did eat 1/2 of a hot dog and a spoonful of Prescription Diet renal Health. Does anyone know of something that a Border Collie just cant refuse ? Thanks for any suggestions.

Thanks for the reply's every one. I am going to take her in Monday and have some blood tests done at least. This is the 4th episode that she has had that we know of ,she has come out of them in a couple of hours. Hopefully they can find something by doing the test.

We are guessing Strokes. She just lays down and cant get back up for awhile. She shakes alot after also but I think its because she is scared. Wouldn't a seizure be more like shaking violently ?

Our little 14 year old girl has had 5 little strokes that she has come out of pretty well. She has had 2 this past week,it takes her about an hour to start walking again and in about 2 hrs she seems fine. The Vet said there is really nothing we can do, is this true? Every time she has one it breaks our hearts. Thanks for any advice.

Bam Bam is also 13 years old and is starting to have problems with his back end. We were thinking of giving him Rimadyl to help it. A couple of years ago his sister Pebbles hurt her left leg and the vet put her on it but she did not do well with it. Had a bleeding nose for a day until we took her off of it. Question we have is it more likely that Bam Bam would have the same problem ? Would like to find something to give them during their aging years to make them more comfortable. As always, Thanks for the advice

Well she actually had a bad tooth.. The vet said it was hurting her so that is why she was acting that way. Will see for sure in a day or so. Thanks for the reply's.

Thanks everyone, We will take her to our vet here, the closest doggy eye Doctor is 200 miles away.

Is it possible that a Border Collie can go blind or partially blind in one eye? Pebbles is 12 years old and has one brown eye and one blue eye. Just recently if we go to pet her or give her treats from the right side ( the brown eye) she gets scared and cowers. If we retry from the left side a few minutes later there is no problem. Also she gets very tentative coming up the stairs at night, if we turn on the light no problem. any thoughts on this. Thank you