Kidney Disease In Whippets

[~elizabeth~]

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Reading Gillians post about losing her beloved whippet to kidney disease reminded me that quite a lot of whippets seem to suffer from this problem. Is it something that affects whippets more than other breeds and should it be something to test for routinely ?

 

[gilliwigs]

I didn't get the impression with all the research I ended up doing on kidney disease that whippets were particularly prone to it. I have a suspicion that it may have something to do with the Rimadyl that Josh was on for arthritis. I know it can cause acute kidney failure in some dogs and although Josh wasn't taking a lot of it at first he had certainly been a long term user for the last year or so and who knows what the long term effects are. He was our first dog and I gather 10 is quite young for a whippet to die so we were either unlucky or something caused the problem. I would certainly try and avoid rimadyl in the future just in case.

Gillian

 

[~elizabeth~]

Thanks. From anecdotal evidence on this board it seems to be fairly common way to lose whippets from middle age onwards. What a shame about Josh, he looked a lovely dog.

 

[gilliwigs]

I didn't realise that - it makes me all the more likely to routinely test Muffin for kidney disease when he gets older!

Josh was a lovely dog and we still miss him a lot. He was very calm and gentle and everybody who met him loved him. Muffin is much more lively but like all whippets still very lovable! I'm sure he will calm down eventually :- " We had hoped that we would have had a good two years with the two of them together before Josh started to age but it wasn't to be

They did have a couple of good months together though and appeared to get on well. This is my favourite photo of the two of them which I hope you like! So sad that we didn't have more but we hope to get a second whippet before too long. (w00t)

 

[Max&Smokey]

Following research from when my whippet died, kidney problems and heart murmers are significant in older whippets who had otherwise been healthy.

As the kidneys start to fail they put strain on the heart and other organs so the death could be from a heart attack \stroke but because of the kidney problems.

The most important thing about kidney failure is the symptoms dont appear until it is too late, but catch them early and you can really a) extend the dogs life and b) improve his quality of life. So to me £30 a year once they are 6 is well worth the expense.

There is a interesting survey on whippet health issues on 250 whippets and the cause of death of 150 whippets.

http://home.swipnet.se/whippetklubben/am_health.htm

 

[doris]

ah, its a lovely picture

 

[Marianne Schulthess]

I didn't realise that - it makes me all the more likely to routinely test Muffin for kidney disease when he gets older!
Josh was a lovely dog and we still miss him a lot.  He was very calm and gentle and everybody who met him loved him.  Muffin is much more lively but like all whippets still very lovable!  I'm sure he will calm down eventually  :- "  We had hoped that we would have had a good two years with the two of them together before Josh started to age but it wasn't to be 

They did have a couple of good months together though and appeared to get on well.  This is my favourite photo of the two of them which I hope you like!  So sad that we didn't have more but we hope to get a second whippet before too long. (w00t)

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[~elizabeth~]

Following research from when my whippet died, kidney problems and heart murmers are significant in older whippets who had otherwise been healthy.

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I might ask the vet about it when I take ours back (feeling slightly anxious about him since the prostate thing :blink: )

 

[sue greenwood]

Piper went through a stage were she was weeing a lot so when she went to the vets we ask about it. they said it was because she was being fed an high protein diet which can affect the kidneys. So an idea was to give her some vegetables with her racing meal.This did help. Now she isn't racing as much do to old age I'm spoiling her with some ordinary doggy complete meal.Does nothing for her weight but hey what the hell :- "

 

[jools]

I am really sorry to hear of the untimely loss of Josh. 10 is young to loose a whippet, and I wuish you a long and happy life with Muffin (and future additions.) It has given me cause for concern, not at this time for my own whippets which are still fairly young, but for a friend who has 2 older whippets (10 and 8 years of age,) both are showing signs of kidney problems, (having been tested by the Vet.) Having read the information on the site recommened, I can at least give her advice on diet. Her Vet offered no such advice, so thanks to "Max and Smokey" for that. It may just help to give these 2 whippets a longer and healthier life.

 

[~elizabeth~]

Piper went through a stage were she was weeing a lot so when she went to the vets we ask about it. they said it was because she was being fed an high protein diet which can affect the kidneys.

That's interesting - the prostate inflammation seemed to flare up after a change of diet to Burns working diet (which others have had urinary tract problems with). He's done very well on it, improved his weight and muscle condition no end, but I've kept an eagle eye on the waterworks. We were looking at the various greyhound mixes last week, and they all seem to have very high levels of protein.

 

[gilliwigs]

IHaving read the information on the site recommened, I can at least give her advice on diet. Her Vet offered no such advice, so thanks to "Max and Smokey" for that. It may just help to give these 2 whippets a longer and healthier life.

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Thanks for you best wishes for Muffin!

When Josh was diagnosed I did a lot of research into this disease and found a couple of excellent forums on Yahoo - http://groups.yahoo.com/ They are K9KidneyDiet and K9Kidneys. I'm sure their recommendations helped Josh live for the 5+ months that he did and in fact I was told by one vet that Josh had 'far exceeded expectations'! I was also lucky in that my vet is very open minded and was willing to go along with suggestions and give me prescriptions based on what I had gleaned from the site.

Hope this can be of help to your friend :thumbsup: