I cannot even begin to tell you how very sorry to hear that you lost you precious Tezza to acute Kidney failure as that is the exact way it happened with my beautiful Chrissy 2 1/2 years ago. And I can only imagine how painful it was to lose her so quickly. I am sending you my Prayers that that all of the memories that you have of Tezza will comfort you.

 

i am so sorry for your loss. Tezza sounded like a great companion. Loss is especially hard when it is so sudden.

 

Tezza, I know Lisi greeted you when you crossed over---she took the same path as you, suddenly stopped eating & grew more lethargic each day. . . until the last 2 days in hospital (bringing her home nights) when she totally gave up. She had fought cancer for 4 yrs so bravely, but it was acute renal insufficiency that took her. Kidney failure has to be more than 70% before it even shows up in the blood work. The vet told me that it almost happens overnight & I should not feel that we missed anything.
If anything consoles me it is the fact that "it happens so quickly" both a blessing & a curse. I have to believe that God knows what is best for each of us & that HE acts out of HIS incomprehensible love.
I hope w/time you will be able to make peace w/such a horrific loss & be able to appreciate the love that Tezza left behind. I am still on the "recovery road" but I plod along at my own pace & am going in the direction that I know Lisi would approve. They are both right ahead of us wagging that tail that "always wagged for us." Big hugs.

 

I am so sorry for your loss of baby Tezza, what a beauty she was. And what a beautiful mommy you are.. I just lost my baby Cody on March 22 and it hurts so bad. I am sure my Cody greeted Tezza and little Lisi too. I still cry every day so I know any of my words to console you is ever so hard. Just know I pray we will see them again in heaven and I will include baby Tezza and you in my prayers.

 

Thank you everyone for your kind words, I blamed myself for not able to pick up the signs earlier
At the start Tezza just was eating less and she sleeping more. I thought that’s just because of her old age. I have the tremendous about of guilt, I wish that I’m less focus on my new job and spend more time with her.
No matter how many times you been through this, it still hurts like hell.
I just wish the vet can give us fur parents medication for broken heart.

 

Tezza, I know Lisi greeted you when you crossed over---she took the same path as you, suddenly stopped eating & grew more lethargic each day. . . until the last 2 days in hospital (bringing her home nights) when she totally gave up. She had fought cancer for 4 yrs so bravely, but it was acute renal insufficiency that took her. Kidney failure has to be more than 70% before it even shows up in the blood work. The vet told me that it almost happens overnight & I should not feel that we missed anything.
If anything consoles me it is the fact that "it happens so quickly" both a blessing & a curse. I have to believe that God knows what is best for each of us & that HE acts out of HIS incomprehensible love.
I hope w/time you will be able to make peace w/such a horrific loss & be able to appreciate the love that Tezza left behind. I am still on the "recovery road" but I plod along at my own pace & am going in the direction that I know Lisi would approve. They are both right ahead of us wagging that tail that "always wagged for us." Big hugs.

Thank you everyone for your kind words, I blamed myself for not able to pick up the signs earlier
At the start Tezza just was eating less and she sleeping more. I thought that’s just because of her old age. I have the tremendous about of guilt, I wish that I’m less focus on my new job and spend more time with her.
No matter how many times you been through this, it still hurts like hell.
I just wish the vet can give us fur parents medication for broken heart.

Please do not ever blame yourself as I stated in my last post that we had absolutely no idea that our Chrissy would be gone 10 days after her diagnosis of fatal kidney disease. She had a routine check up and our Vet said how great she was doing and then the blood work came back with the horrible news!! And then she was gone so quickly afterwards. Please take care of yourself and I will continue saying a Prayer for you that in time that hurt and pain will lessen.

 

Tezza came home today, I took her out briefly and placed the urn on her favorite spot in the garden.
But I know she is now pain free, playing with Chrissy, Lisi, Cody and my 1st Maltese girl Chateau.

 

I am so glad Tezza is home. How so beautiful in the garden. It’s so hard the physical body is not here but they are in our hearts . Heart to Heart they say. Bless you so much for loving tezza and giving her a beautiful life. I am sorry for your loss and wish all our babies love in heaven while they wait for us to come and Love and hug them again.

 

i am so sorry to hear about Tezza. All of us who've had fur babies who we've lost to old age or disease can sympathize with what you're going through. Please be comforted in knowing that she led a happy life with you, and now she's in a place where she's pain free and healthy again. Does the vet have any idea how she developed kidney failure - Was she on any medications/supplements, or have any medical conditions?

 

Tezza has been drinking a lot more water and eating less. I told the vet about all these but they did not suggest anything.

About 1.5 month before Tezza passed away she has delivered ulcers in her both eyes, vet was just focusing on the treatment for the dry eyes. By the time we did the blood test it was already too late. I asked the vet as to why her blood test was almost perfect only 3 months ago. He said could be cancer or she has eaten grapes. We don’t even eat grapes so that’s not the root cause.

If regular blood test not enough to detect it, I really want to understand what are the signs to watch out for. I have another Maltese boy he is nearly 12, I am taking him to see another vet. I certainly don’t want to walk in egg shells but I need a vet that’s more proactive in helping my aging dog.

I was a mess last 2 weeks, only able to do some online research last few days. I found out increase water intake, eating less and dry eyes are all one of the many signs of renal failure.

 

As I posted when you lost your precious Tezza, there were absolutely NO symptoms that our Chrissy had fatal kidney disease except a bit of weight loss. She was eating up until two or so days before she passed and was not drinking excessively. Also, she was about 2 months shy of 14 years of age. I am glad to see that you are taking your other Malt to another Vet and perhaps he/she will suggest a Blood Test? Yes, it is incredibly hard to lose one of our Pets no matter how they passed away!! I still have a hard time after 2 1/2 years after losing my beautiful Chrissy but know that she is in a better place. Please keep us posted with you other Dog and I will continue to pray for you.

 

SMDA test for dogs shows early kidney issues (normally shows up when 75% kidney function loss but this test shows about 25%).
There is also acute kidney insufficiency which is what our Lisi had.

 

SMDA test for dogs shows early kidney issues (normally shows up when 75% kidney function loss but this test shows about 25%).
There is also acute kidney insufficiency which is what our Lisi had.

I took my other 11.3 years old boy to another vet yesterday. This vet is amazing and he was willing to take a look at Tezza’s blood test for me. He said her SDMA was at border line 13 ( normal is 0-14) back in Dec last year , he said if it were him he will suggest for a monthly blood test. But we were told by another vet that everything is ok except her UREA was a bit high due to high protein diet. There might still be a chance to do something about it, if Tezza went back for another blood test. 😭

 

I was wondering what numbers are healthy for a Maltese liver what is the range from normal to extreme

 

As for liver issues, this thread really is about kidney issues, in spite of the title referring to liver failure.

My experience with liver issues has been limited to 2 sudden issues, so I can't answer your question. If you have specific concerns for your pet, maybe you could start another thread. I hope all is well. {{{{}}}}

 

The only other thing I can think of about the sudden kidney failure is antifreeze poisoning. My Charlie had elevated kidney values but also seemingly out of the blue had vomiting and weird stools. I was unable to get a vet to see us for days, and finally an a internal medicine specialist thought he had some internal infection--acute on chronic kidney failure. He pulled through with lots of treatment and lots of ups and downs, and hung in for a year and a half. He passed away in December, lying in my arms at the vets.

I think the best we can do for our senior dogs is more frequent general exams with bloodwork. They used to recommend my seniors get exams every 6 months. Unfortunately during the pandemic, and still today, there was a shortage of vets, and it is difficult to get vet appointments.

That, and watch for any change in habits and behavior.

 

We were really careful and Tezza is fussy about her food. I don’t think antifreeze is enticing for her. One thing that has been bugging me was if blood test is not a good indicator to pick up kidney failure that what is ?
Our new vet cleared that yesterday, he said even when SDMA is within normal range given Tezza is over 14 years old and her Urea level was also high 32.2 ( normal is 2.5 to 9.6) if he was the vet looking at the report he will recommend monthly check. He said there are definitely signs you can pick up from the blood work and confirm the diagnosis via monthly blood check.
I think having an experienced vet is very important especially when you have an elderly Maltese.
This vet was recommended to me by Tezza’s cremation service. He said for elderly dogs at least once a year blood test. But I’m going to do a 6 months check for my 11 years old Maltese boy.
We are in Brisbane Australia, it’s relatively easy to book a vet if you allow 2-3 days lead time.

 

Thank you, Walter, for taking time to answer. It's hard for some of us to relive our own traumas in order to answer questions. I had actually forgotten about another dog of mine, my little Susie who died of liver failure in 1996.

 

Kidney disease/failure is fairly common in our pups and in our older dogs can come on suddenly. I had a 15+ year old whose numbers had been borderline for more than a year suddenly go into acute failure, and I had a 14 year old whose numbers had been normal suddenly go into sudden failure as well. More than 2 years ago, my now 16.5 year old started to show numbers reflecting early stage (1 or 2) kidney failure, so this time I consulted my holistic vet in addition to our primary vet and they both agreed on a regimen of phosphate blockers and Standard Process Renal Support. Her blood work is again in the normal range and her SDMA is high/normal. We know it's the supplements doing this, and that her kidneys are still impaired, but that regimen has been keeping her stable for over two years now.

 

Kidney disease/failure is fairly common in our pups and in our older dogs can come on suddenly. I had a 15+ year old whose numbers had been borderline for more than a year suddenly go into acute failure, and I had a 14 year old whose numbers had been normal suddenly go into sudden failure as well. More than 2 years ago, my now 16.5 year old started to show numbers reflecting early stage (1 or 2) kidney failure, so this time I consulted my holistic vet in addition to our primary vet and they both agreed on a regimen of phosphate blockers and Standard Process Renal Support. Her blood work is again in the normal range and her SDMA is high/normal. We know it's the supplements doing this, and that her kidneys are still impaired, but that regimen has been keeping her stable for over two years now.

Thanks for sharing, Tezza has a

Kidney disease/failure is fairly common in our pups and in our older dogs can come on suddenly. I had a 15+ year old whose numbers had been borderline for more than a year suddenly go into acute failure, and I had a 14 year old whose numbers had been normal suddenly go into sudden failure as well. More than 2 years ago, my now 16.5 year old started to show numbers reflecting early stage (1 or 2) kidney failure, so this time I consulted my holistic vet in addition to our primary vet and they both agreed on a regimen of phosphate blockers and Standard Process Renal Support. Her blood work is again in the normal range and her SDMA is high/normal. We know it's the supplements doing this, and that her kidneys are still impaired, but that regimen has been keeping her stable for over two years now.

Thanks for sharing, my friend also told me that blood work is just a reference point. Really encouraging to see that there is still hope even when numbers are bad.
But the challenging part was Tezza refused to eat and she was deteriorating rapidly. Two days before she passed away she could barely walk
We have a holistic vet for her arthritis condition too. But it’s a long drive from home. Everything just happen so quickly that I wasn’t able to take her to the holistic vet or to get a second opinion from different vet.

 

It's a good idea to get copies, especially if you can get a copy of the regular vet's treatment plan. With a dog with a chronic health problem, ER vets might not know what is best. unfortunately I had a vet on emergency service for one day, mess up my Charlie's progress in the hospital by deciding to give him some high-fat foods instead of what he was used to and which the internal medicine specialist agreed with me feeding him in the preceding days.