Mighty Bruce's Battle: Pre-Diagnosis

It’s been indeed a very hard couple of days for us. We have just had the first fright of our lives with Harvey’s alleged rat poisoning last week. So far so good, it was immediately treated and I believe this saved his life in the nick of time. But sadly, we are faced with a more critical, fatal, emotionally and physically taxing crisis yet.

Bruce, our 1 year and 1 month old male bullmastiff, was diagnosed with acute renal failure last week, July 3^rd, Wednesday. This is the same mighty guy who patiently went through the skin disease treatments and successfully conquered the mange disease. For the past couple of weeks he had shown vitality and beauty for a bullmastiff his age. We thought nothing could go terribly wrong, absolutely nothing.

I was home early last Monday, July 1^st, 2013. Usually when I come home, I’d go to the garden and he’d welcome me with so much passion. He’d jump, wag his tail and be all playful when I arrive. I'd never had to call him. That particular afternoon was different. I had to call him and waited for him to appear. I was wondering where he went when suddenly, limping, with a sad face and painful gait, he had shown himself to me, a gesture to recognize my call. However he stopped a few feet away from me, looked at me with pleading eyes looking miserable as ever. He was obviously in pain and I don’t need to be an expert dog owner and trainer to read that something's terribly wrong. 

Accounts throughout the day

July 1^st Monday:

According to the feedback, Bruce did his normal morning routine. He ate his breakfast, did his leisurely walk around the village and took his bath. His dog walker, Jake, mentioned no issues or difference in behavior or gait. 

A couple of hours before lunch, my mom who came home from her village work out, saw Bruce eager to get out of the cage. He was whining and wagging his tail, which is normal whenever he gets bored. Jake left him there after taking his bath to dry up. He always hates this part. His charm won my mom and he was released. The last scene my mom saw was he was happily sun bathing.

At around 5 pm that afternoon I arrived home from work. Bruce was nowhere in sight. I called him a couple of times until I saw Bruce emerge from the patio limping, looking very weak and miserable. He was struggling. I rushed to him and asked the household help what happened. From the naked eye, his limping might have been caused by a physical injury of some sort. Bruce is a big dog and heavy as well that sometimes too much physical activity can cause him to hurt himself. He could be a klutz sometimes. Ate Ne, our household help, didn’t notice anything different in the morning. She was equally surprised. 

Bruce looked miserable. He wouldn’t stand up if he didn’t have to. He was in pain. He isn’t the Bruce that we know.  Thinking that he just slipped, we decided to bring him to the vet that weekend and observe for now. That night, he was able to eat his dinner, still walk around and play with Harvey, but his gait was disturbed and he was weaker than usual.

July 2^nd, Tuesday:

I saw him before I left for the office. He was curled up in one corner, looking and feeling miserable. He won’t eat what’s left for him for breakfast, his usual Eukanuba Adult pet food and some rice. I fed him cheese as a parting gift. He was responsive, which is the sign  I was looking for. Though he didn’t stand, his face lit up, wagged his tail and went near me. I hated to see him like that, but I still didn’t think anything serious was happening. I still thought he just sprained or broke a leg.

Nevertheless, I asked my mom to monitor him throughout the day. Unfortunately, he didn’t become better. He became more lethargic. He wouldn’t move. He wouldn’t eat. He would look at my mom with a sad face, recognizing her presence, but his face registered nausea. Again, I rushed home from work. I bought him Chicken breast to make him feel better. At 5:30 pm, I spent time with him, observing him. I noticed that he would only stand up if he needs to, if he saw Harvey playing or if he needed to pee and drink. His gait was still labored, but it’s different from the the day before. I began to wonder. If it was a pained leg, his labored gait wouldn’t change from one day to the next. But it did. So it must not be the leg after all.

We fixed him a home made dinner. Chicken breast, cottage cheese and some rice, fortunately he ate everything, which is always a good sign. Foolish me, I still didn't think something worse could happen.

July 3^rd Wednesday:

I was about to go to work. It was gloomy that day, exactly what I'm feeling for Bruce. When I went to him, he was still lethargic. He looked at me, wagged his tail and that was it. Something was really bothering my youngest. My dad, who isn’t a dog lover in every sense, knew that he had to be taken to the vet. My mom was already worried. She couldn’t bear to see Bruce go through the same lethargic episode the whole day. Silly me, I decided to bring him to the vet after the office.

I realized my stupid decision while I was in the middle of the highway going to work. At 9 PM in the morning with the heavy downpour, I made a u-turn in the high way U-turn slot, took the Sky Way and headed home. I wasted gas, time and toll money. But I didn’t care. A nagging feeling crept in me. I needed to get Bruce to the vet. 

As soon as I got home, Bruce’s walker, Jake, helped me guide him to the back of my car.  Our obedient beautiful dog, with so much pain, walked to the best of his abilities. We aided him all the way, hugging him and monitoring him as he walked towards the car. He was clearly struggling. 

That morning, the vets were able to examine him. As expected, he showed fear and weakness. With depleting energy and immense pain, he had nothing left to do but to lower his head and trusted all of us. It was one of the most painful moments a pet owner could ever succumb himself to. But the vet pointed out that his back was highly arched. The vet didn’t like that sign. He told me to leave Bruce with them for the day. They will do blood tests to make sure his main organs are healthy. Once internal diseases are ruled out, the vet would give him some pain killers for his spine and x-rays and imaging would be done next.

I left him with the vet feeling lost yet hopeful. I had nothing left to do but play the waiting game. I read and watched TV while my mind is with Bruce, if it was some spinal dysfunction, I have no idea what we would do to correct it. I dare not think Surgery. And I hope it isn’t something about his organs either. I was anxious. At 5 pm Jake and I went back and found out the bad news.

The blood results showed that his Creatinine and BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) were off the charts. What does that mean? Creatinine is the best indicator if ones kidneys are functioning. Too much Creatinine in the system means they found too many toxic elements in the blood, toxic that was supposed to be eliminated by the kidneys in the form of urine. High creatinine means kidneys are not functioning well or in a state of failure that it cannot filter out toxins in the system when it’s supposed to. Normal Creatinine level is at 1.3-2. Bruce's at 7, which is fatal and could kill a dog instantly. BUN’s normal range is around 25-30 mg/dl. Bruce is at 65. BUN also indicates faulty kidney function. It is the measure of UREA in blood. Urea is considered one of the body’s waste products. Although BUN contributes to the study of kidney diseases, elevated BUN can vary and have multiple causes. According to Dogaware.com, if CREA levels are within range (low) and BUN is higher, chances are kidneys are working well. Elevation of BUN can be because the dog did not do fasting 12 hours before the test or cold be plainly caused by stress or plain dehydration. In Bruce’s case, both tests are elevated and related, therefore it was ruled out that his kidneys are the problem.

Bruce was diagnosed with acute renal failure on July 3^rd, Wednesday. Cause is still unknown. It could be caused by shock (physical injury), dehydration or heat struck but most often, ingestion of something toxic (Rat poison, anti-freeze, plant medicine, mold in food and grapes). Acute renal failure means sudden malfunction of kidneys that are most often fatal to dogs with delayed treatment. 

I was in shock. Obviously I did not expect it to be as worse as kidney failure. I did not imagine that a puppy who just turned 1 year old last month is now fighting for his life. I had no idea about acute renal failure then. All I know about kidney disease is that it's fatal. I just wanted the doctor to fix it. In a heartbeat, I had him admitted that same day. That was when the real battle started.

To be cont.