Dialysis, Immunocompromised with or without organ transplant? - Page 1

Wondering if there's anyone here (especially breeders) that own multiple dogs and/animals and on Dialysis or Immunocompromised with or without organ transplant? I'd love for you to share your stories, struggles & successes both publicly or privately.

I'm currently trying to plan for my future and DO NOT intend to ever give up my dogs or horses, the horses may end up pasture ponies but they will stay here. If I do anything other than walking when I ride my kidneys bleed, but I'm hell bent to keep my life as "normal" (far from normal, but it's my normal) as possible, as I have up until now.

I'm not on Dialysis now but I know it's in my future and something I'd like to plan for, if you will... I like to have as much control of my life as possible ;)

 

 

Vt,

I thank god am not struggling w/ similiar problems but may have a few ideas for you. I pray that you may continue to have good health but believe you are very wise to plan for an uncertain future.

The first step is to make sure in your circle of family, friends, caretakers there are people who are familiar with your wishes regarding your animals and can express them even if temporarily you can not. Not only express them but have the legal authority to act on them. While the law is still not wonderful in allowing us the means to plan for our animals it does have more opportunities than in the past. The exact legal vehicles available to you will depend on the state you live. So you need to find a good local lawyer. If you belong to any dog or training clubs I would ask around to see if anyone knows someone who is both a good lawyer and a dog person. The type of lawyer does not matter at this point because a good lawyer will get you to the person you need and help you make sure the job is done right. You may have to set up some sort of trust or do a durable power of attorney. The most important part is to take time to think thru the what if's and get the potential solutions down on paper. I would get a trusted dog friend to help you head bang ideas and look at the proposed product as well. I would also suggest including planning and directions for the possibility a day may come when you can no longer keep them.

In addition to having the legalities taken care of, have an informal letter outlining the steps you have planned that you can give to appropriate family members, friends and caretakers. Keep a copy with you - in your wallet, car, the barn, on the dog's crates and on your refrigerator (1rst responders often check refrigs for medicine). If any steps of the plan allows for the dogs to be boarded temporarily while you are in the hospital or rehab or in case of an accident talk to the kennel now and let them know what's going on and give them a copy of any planning instructions and folks to contact and a written authorization for them to care for your animals that assures them payment from you or your estate.

If one of the eventualities that needs to be planned for is the rehoming or placement of your animals and you are incapacitated and can not do this, make sure you have designated one or more folks to do this - after talking to them and getting their agreement. Again make sure you let all relevant persons know who has this authority. One concern for me living alone is if I had to call 911 (or someone calls for me) for a health issue what would happen to my dogs since all too often in that situation they are just taken to the pound. If you live in a small town it might be possible to discuss your preparations with either the local police/first responders and/or the shelter. For those of us in large cities this is an unlikely step.

Re being immunocompromised. There are a few diseases that humans and dogs can interchange (there is a word for this but my brain refuses to spit it out - maybe zoonotic). I believe its pretty short list but some that I know are infections such as strep, campylobacter and staph including MRSA and malassezia which is a yeast that dogs with skin problems often get due to the cycle of steroids and antibiotics they get put on which sets them up for yeast and fungal problems. You may want to get in the habit of washing your hands immediately after interacting w/ your animals as that is the single best way to achieve infection control. (my sister was an epidemiologist). Plain water is sufficient ( theory is it 's the friction combined with cleansing) but soap can be helpful (old naptha soap is good for many things). Newer antibacterial soaps are not recommended - they merely increase the likelihood of antibiotic resistance.

Vaccination of your animals may also be a potential problem since some vaccines cause shedding of the disease at a low level for some period of time but even low levels could be a problem with an immunocompromised system. I personally use very limited vaccines in adults - only what is legally required or necessary for boarding. You may want to look at using titer levels including for rabies to show proof of vaccination or possible the vaccinated animal could stay with friend during any potential shedding time if the vaccine in fact presents that risk. I know there are cattle leptos that present a risk to dogs - do horses also carry lepto? Certainly farm areas present greater opportunity for lepto since vermin can be an issue due to grain storage so a discussion with vet and a good infection control doc might be in order. BTW the most useless vaccine is that for kennel cough BUT my understanding is that kennel cough is a variant of whooping cough. If so this may also present the potentiality of harm to you.

I hope this is the kind of discussion you were looking for. I've also sent you a pm. Good luck to you.

vtgsd, so sorry to hear you're having to gird yourself for this kind of battle...I admire the way you're creating plans of attack and preparing to ambush anything that tries to separate you from your dogs and horses by gathering info in advance of needing it.

I can't think of any breeders in similar circumstances off the top of my head, but I can tell you that there were a fair number of dairy farmers in my area of NE Michigan over the course of the past 15 years that were on dialysis, and which were still milking and caring for their livestock, still had farm dogs that traveled at will between the house and outdoors, as well as barn cats and chickens. Most of them were on dialysis before I moved up there 16 years ago, a lot of them are in their 70's-80's now, but the ones that stopped farming for the most part did so because of other problems, such as loss of mobility due to diabetic neuropathy or heart failure. Comparatively, I'd think dogs and horses would pose far less a health risk for someone with failing kidneys than a herd of dairy cows, as long as you take the necessary precautions to protect yourself [which I'm sure you would].

Hoping you'll be one of the fortunate ones who gets matched with a kidney!

Tig, thank you that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for:-) Thankfully I do have an emergency plan in place and where they dogs are to be permanently place in the event something happens to both of us, this was done just as a general precaution and EVERYONE imp should have a plan. We also have temporary housing arrangements for the dogs if need be. We could both be gone in a car crash tomorrow... Life is fragile. We must draw something up for the horses however! ;)

If you live in a small town it might be possible to discuss your preparations with either the local police/first responders and/or the shelter. For those of us in large cities this is an unlikely step.

Great advice/idea, we reside in an EXTREMELY small town, everyone knows everyone so this will be super easy. Now that you mention this I will contact our volunteer fire dept. and let them know what to do in the event an ambulance must come here and the dogs are loose in our home! Thankfully the time 911 was called my fiance was here to put the dogs away so they could enter in our home to remove me. Luckily these people are all our neighbors so we know one another.

One concern for me living alone is if I had to call 911 (or someone calls for me) for a health issue what would happen to my dogs since all too often in that situation they are just taken to the pound.

This is scary and a real concern for many :-(

There are a few diseases that humans and dogs can interchange

From what I understand this is true, cats are WAY worse and I have none, I planned to speak with my doc and the vet, I feel if I practice good hygiene (not a problem) and learn to wash my hands more often!!! (a problem, I better start now!!!!!!) I will then be okay:-) I'm hoping to slowly implement new daily routines so by the time it comes my changes needing to be made wont be so drastic since I'll already be conditioning myself to a good and suitable routine.

Vaccination of your animals may also be a potential problem since some vaccines cause shedding of the disease at a low level for some period of time but even low levels could be a problem with an immunocompromised system. I personally use very limited vaccines in adults - only what is legally required or necessary for boarding. You may want to look at using titer levels including for rabies to show proof of vaccination or possible the vaccinated animal could stay with friend during any potential shedding time if the vaccine in fact presents that risk. I know there are cattle leptos that present a risk to dogs - do horses also carry lepto? Certainly farm areas present greater opportunity for lepto since vermin can be an issue due to grain storage so a discussion with vet and a good infection control doc might be in order. BTW the most useless vaccine is that for kennel cough BUT my understanding is that kennel cough is a variant of whooping cough. If so this may also present the potentiality of harm to you.

Thankfully we minimally vaccinate as well. once at 16 weeks, once at 15 months and that's it for life other than Rabies by law. In Vermont we do have a rabies waiver and I will look into that. We've do not vaccinate for rabies in our senior dogs.

Lepto is a problem here in cattle and horses. The farmer up the road has 4 horses with it as I type! Freaks me out since we were up there caring for their horses when they go away so I would wash the bottoms of my boots in bleach each time I came home. UGH! Luckily none of our dogs got it even when they went up there to "help" with the chores.

I totally agree kc is useless, thankfully I've never seen a case of it and will keep our dogs in a closed colony so this does not occur but I will also educate myself on the possibility since I'd rather be prepared for the unexpected then to blindly be found sitting in the mess and not know what to do!

 

 

 

vtgsd, so sorry to hear you're having to gird yourself for this kind of battle...I admire the way you're creating plans of attack and preparing to ambush anything that tries to separate you from your dogs and horses by gathering info in advance of needing it.
 

Thank you Hexe! I'm a planner! :-) I want as much control as I can have in this unpredictable life:-)

I can't think of any breeders in similar circumstances off the top of my head, but I can tell you that there were a fair number of dairy farmers in my area of NE Michigan over the course of the past 15 years that were on dialysis, and which were still milking and caring for their livestock, still had farm dogs that traveled at will between the house and outdoors, as well as barn cats and chickens. Most of them were on dialysis before I moved up there 16 years ago, a lot of them are in their 70's-80's now, but the ones that stopped farming for the most part did so because of other problems, such as loss of mobility due to diabetic neuropathy or heart failure.

Wow, good for them being able to do all that:-) !!! If I do Peritoneal Dialysis I would be hooked up to a machine at home 4 times a day for 4 hours each time. This is really the only option and the best one to me.... There's Hemo Dialysis but I feel you break down faster due to the toxic load since you only get cleaned out once every other day. It doesn't sound like much but the toxic burden on your body is much greater. I watched my dad slowly deteriorate over 6 years on dialysis prior to a transplant to the point he couldn't even step up one stair. The transplant bought him some good years and it failed 15 years later, which is a long run for a transplant to last, he then got another transplant and it didn't even last 5 years and now he's back to dialysis and too sick to qualify for another transplant.... He's now 62 and only expected to live a short time since dialysis is not a permanent solution.

 

Did the farmers end up with transplants? Just wondering how the heck they made it to 70's & 80's???!!!

 

My grandmother died at 52 due to complications with kidney failure but was on dialysis for years & my great grandmother died at 32 years old due to complications to kidney failure, which was before they had any viable treatment. Me and my sister are the longest lived without yet going into total kidney failure with the need for dialysis at 38 & 40 years old but the kidney disease had sure take it's toll on day to day life but I know very well how to Improvise, Adapt and Overcome and make the best of my time and each day!

Hoping you'll be one of the fortunate ones who gets matched with a kidney!

Thank you, I will do everything I have control over to put the odds in my favor!

 

 

BTW one of the first places that police and first responders check today is your cell phone contact list. I have an entry in caps that says DOGS Emergency Contact that has the primary # for a friend who has agreed to that role plus additional #'s for friends, boarding kennel and vets and notes telling them who is what.

I also make sure her last call is kept in recent calls so if they go there first they will see the entry. I suggest also labeling family members such as Margo(cousin) because in an emergency (ex. car accident) they are looking for ways to contact your important peeps.

When assistance dogs were given expanded public access under the ADA hospitals were one of the worst in terms of bucking and complaining about it - and still can be a problem. They often tried to pull the zoonotic card claiming it was just too risky for their patients (even when they had in place visiting therapy dog programs!!). Surprise surprise that has been shown to be a non issue. There was one issue of an outbreak of malassia which did not come from assistance or therapy dogs but from a dog owner who brought it to work with her (nurse who obviously did NOT wash her hands enough). Hospitals are allowed to ban us from surgery (duh!) and areas where they have clustered immunocompromised patients but I believe I have read of some blind folks who take their dog with them to dialysis w/o problems and I have a blind friend who had extended chemo for breast cancer w/ her guide always by her side. She lives with 3 dogs and 6 cats.

I also admire your courage and commitment to a life with animals. If it gets to the point of a transplant come back and encourage folks here to register/ be tested. I used to be on that list but in this last decade I've been hospitalized twice with sepsis so I'm not sure they'd want to take a chance with me even tho (knock on wood) I've been ok for a few years now.

Wishing you good luck and good health.