yorkie renal failure

Question
QUESTION: My 10 year old spayed yorkie with weight loss for about 2 months, drinks a lot, pees puddles, went to vet and had BUN over 100, creainine 4 and phosphorus 11.  Is now receiving IV infusion for 72 hours.  She is still eating and drinking, is tired some but playful some too.  Has a left sided heart murmur (new finding).  Is now receiving IV for 72 hours. Vet said she is "dying".   With infusion, she has weeks; without she has days.  My question - is there anything else that can be done to prolong her life.  Already started her on low protein, low sodium and low phosphorus diet  Could you please expand on the expected course of events and your recommendation on how I should proceed.  Like I said, she is still playful, still barks and is curious and nosy.  Could this give her a better prognosis?  Thanks, I love my dog!

ANSWER: Hi CJ,
I am sure you love your dog! This is a most unfortunate turn of events for your little girl.
The only thing you can do now for your dog is either give her fluids at home, or keep taking her into the vet's. They can show you how to give them under her skin. My aunt kept her cat alive for over two years by doing this to her cat. Not all of them will last that long, but essentially you would be doing dialysis for her.

When her kidneys are so shut down that nothing will work and even the fluids are not flushing her out, she will start to get more groggy and not smell very well. When they get azotemic as it's called, they start to smell like urine on their breath.
That is when you must give her the gift to end her suffering. Only we can do that for our beloved pets.
I see nothing wrong with you doing dialysis at home with her until she reaches that point.
You will need to talk it over with your vet and be shown how to do that and get bags of the fluids and needles from him/her while you do this.

I am sorry that there isn't much more that you can do. But doing this, if you should choose to do so, will help you to know that you did all you could for her.
God bless you and I hope she does well.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your answer.  My husband says he will take the two years you mentioned in your answer.  Something else I just realized after web browsing... grapes and raisins.  I had given my dog grapes the night before she went to the vet.  Could that have risen her phosphorus?  She has never vomited, pees a lot, and now that she is receiving infusions (day 2) she has more spunk.  From what I gather about the grapes, there needs to be a warning because I did not know that grapes were poisonous to dogs.  Thanks for your help.
I will keep you posted on how she is doing.  I am not going to give up on her until she acts "sick" and she really has not acted sick consistently yet.

Answer
While it's a good thing she isn't vomiting, the extra urination is a problem.
While she will urinate more from getting fluids, the fact that the kidneys are not functioning properly means that the water she takes in will go right through them without being concentrated- which means none of the toxins are being removed.

So keep an eye on her and watch for vomiting. And yes, grapes are poisonous but raisins are more deadly. Are you saying that before she went into renal failure you gave her grapes?  I agree that there should be warnings like that out there but that won't happen until more people speak up!
I truly hope she does last a long time for you CJ.
Thank you for letting me know what is going on and for future updates.
Take care and God Bless you both.