Sunday, 4:00pm

Sorry I have not posted an update sooner, but there was not much news to report until now. This weekend we brought Chance and the rest of our pack to our farm near Ann Arbor MI. We have a regular veterinarian, Dr. Dan Paternoster, that has cared for all our dogs and cats at Fowlerville Veterinary Clinic for years so we wanted to get a consult from him regarding Chance’s care.

New blood work was completed and we were very pleased to learn Chance’s BUN has dropped down to 61, his creatinine to 6.8, and phosphorus down to 6.6. If you recall, when we first learned of the possibility of poisoning, his BUN was sky high at 208, creatinine at 15.1 and phosphorus at 14.8. So this is very good news! More importantly, his body did this on it’s own without the aid of an IV flush.

Dr. Dan concurred with Dr. Heitman’s recommended treatment, which is to maintain a low protein, low phosphorus diet, and wait for his blood levels to normalize. Though we are becoming optimistic of Chance’s recovery, until his numbers are back to normal range he is not out of the woods.

We are also getting a clearer picture of Chance’s long term prognosis. There seems to be little doubt that much of his kidney tissue suffered permanent damage. Though he could regenerate some tissue, it is a near certainty that he will always require special attention to his diet and potential infections. The way it was explained to me is that kidneys have considerable reserve capacity to adjust for sudden increases in protein levels after an extra heavy meal for example, or to compensate for infection that reduces their function. But Chance will not have that reserve, so infections or poor diet, could have a serious, and immediate, impact on his health.

His long term health will depend greatly on the diligence of his new family. Though outwardly Chance will appear normal and seem full of energy, a life long attention to diet and mood ( an indicator of illness ) and regular medical checkups will be essential. However, given proper care and love, Chance could live a long healthy life.

We have had MANY inquiries regarding adoption. We will contact each of you as quickly as possible, but our rescue group is short on staff and time, so we appreciate your patience. We do not expect to place Chance until his blood work returns to normal and he is stable. This could be several weeks, it depends on his progress, which in my opinion, so far, has been remarkable.

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, donations, and sympathy over these past weeks.

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