Mo Green And Her Kidney Trouble

This cute little face belongs to our 15 year old friend Moe Green P.  Moe Green has quite a story and wanted to share it with you on the eve of her anniversary!  Last January, Moe came in to see Dr. Megan as she had not been feeling well at all for about 24 hours.  She had vomited multiple times and was not eating. This was very concerning to her family as this little old lady likes her food!

Dr. Megan noticed Moe appeared a little dehydrated on her exam, but couldn’t find anything else concerning with Moe.  She decided to run a blood screening on Moe.  Moe’s blood tests were back within a few minutes.  Everything looked good, except her white blood cell count was elevated.  This often indicates the body is fighting an infection. Moe was given medication to stop the vomiting, fluids under her skin to combat the dehydration, and antibiotics to treat the unknown infection. Her family watched her carefully the next few days to weeks and Moe Green seemed to be doing great!

We suddenly saw Miss Moe back again March of last year.  Her family was concerned because our heroine had lost her appetite again.  Exam and x-rays gave Dr. Megan an answer for Moe Green’s recurring issues  Her left kidney was quite enlarged and painful to pressure.  She had a kidney stone!  This was the likely cause of her episode in January and was for sure causing her some major issues now!  The stone had tried to leave the kidney and had lodged in her ureter, blocking urine flow from the kidney to the bladder. An ultrasound of her kidney confirmed that the stone and blocked urine flow had so significantly damaged the kidney that it needed to be removed. Unfortunately, kidney values on blood work don't change until over 50% of total function has been lost.

Moe Green had surgery that very day. Moe Green recovered from surgery like the fifteen-year-old little trooper that she is- she ate dinner that night!  She went home a couple of days later and really hasn’t missed a beat since!  

She gets to come see us for frequent blood tests as we want to make sure her single kidney is keeping up with her.  She eats k/d, which is a prescription kidney-friendly diet, to help support her one kidney.  Best of all, she still doesn’t mind coming in for the occasional visit at Best Friends Animal Health Center!  Happy 2016, Miss Moe Green!