[lizemma]

I’m looking for suggestions on a dog food that is low in phosphorus and works for a dog with allergies to chicken, turkey, lamb and pork. Before switching to a renal LP dog food, she was on a salmon and potato dry dog food. My Vet has said that there are no LP dog foods that are not chicken based. Is this correct? I am willing to make her dog food, but want to make sure I don’t miss any essential nutrition. Also, my Vet, who I have high respect for, is against a raw food diet.

[BryanV21]

Check out commercial raw foods, such as those made by Primal and Nature’s Variety. They offer a variety of different meats, are very low in carbs, and no grains, which makes them much easier for a dog to digest as they aren’t “set-up” to process carbs.

[sophia]

You can look at California Naturals. I have no idea about low phosphorus but I know they have a salmon version with relatively low protein, and I believe the two are related. They also have a grain free kangaroo & venison formula with low protein (21%), would have to double check to make sure there are no other meats though.

[lizemma]

Thank you for your replies. From my research and my Vet’s opinion, I don’t think raw food is the way I want to go, although there are great testimonials about feeding raw food to dogs.

I will definitely look into California Naturals. I haven’t heard of that brand. Meats are high in phosphorus so low protein is helpful. I have read that fish is high in phosphorus, but possibly the kangaroo or venison formula may work. I will look into the other ingredients. I plan on speaking to another Vet so I will bring these suggestions.

Thanks again for taking time to respond.

[Shawna]

Hi Lizemma ~~ I missed this post earlier.. My dog, Audrey, was born with kidney disease. She started showing symptoms of excess drinking and urinating at about 6 weeks of age. She came to me at 9 weeks of age. She was officially diagnosed at her one year check up.

Audrey was weaned onto a raw diet and has been eating raw her whole life. She is now 6 and 1/2 years old and still very healthy. She still has kidney disease but unless you look at her blood work or see her drink/urinate you wouldn’t know she was not completely healthy.

Raw isn’t for everyone but it is VERY VERY VERY important to feed dogs with kidney disease a high moisture diet. If raw isn’t an option consider home cooked or canned.

In the earlier stages of kidney disease (despite what your vet says) you do NOT need to lower protein. In fact, they now know that lowering protein too early in the disease actually does more harm than good. I don’t even feed Audrey a low phosphorus food but it is wise to begin to lower phosphorus. The amount to lower is completely based on the stage of the disease.

An EXCELLENT website for all things involving canine kidney disease is nutritionist Mary Straus’ website. She has accurate and current info with research articles linked to back up her comments. She also has a list of lower phosphorus kibble/canned/dehydrated etc foods. http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidney.html

If your vet hasn’t talked to you about “nitrogen trapping” I HIGHLY recommend researching it. Utilizing nitrogen trapping can help significantly (by up to 10 points) clean BUN out of the blood and routing it through the colon sparing the kidneys from having to filter it. Nitrogen trapping involves probiotics and a certain kind of fiber to feed those probiotics. I use acacia fiber — it’s called Sprinkle Fiber and the brand is Fiber 35. It’s made for human consumption but I had the most positive results using this brand with my Audrey.

Best wishes for many more healthy years with your pup!!!!!

[lizemma]

Shawna, thanks so much for the information. It is encouraging to hear how well your puppy is doing. That website you provided the link for is a really good resource too.

I heard about the need for moisture. Right now I add a B Complex liquid to her low phosphorus kidney kibbles, but they are still fairly dry. I don’t mind adding home cooked food, but I’m going to get some guidance in that area.

Does your dog also have high blood pressure? It quite often goes along with kidney disease. My dog has this as well so she will have to take blood pressure pills. They are going to monitor her closely, but if her kidneys don’t have to work so hard, then maybe it will go down and I won’t have to give her that extra med.

The nitrogen trapping isn’t anything my Vet suggested so I will definitely bring that up when I consult with another Vet on this. My puppy, Emma, is 12, turning 13 this year. She is a small dog and I want her around for a long time, living a quality life so I want to do all that I can for her!

[Shawna]

No, Audrey has never had any other issues except the kd. Blood pressure is good.. Her kidneys didn’t develop properly before being born. I do everything in my power to make sure she has little to no inflammation in her body. I don’t have any toxins in my home that the kidneys/liver have to filter. I looked at the ingredients in all the products I used (swiffer sweeper cleaning liquid etc) and checked their MSDS or the CDC to see if each ingredient was kidney friendly. I got rid of almost all cleaners etc I was using prior to Audrey coming to me. Many (actually most) of them were “green” too.

She also only gets reverse osmosis or distilled water.. The tap water in my area is not truly “clean” (has fluoride etc).

I do give her nutraceuticals as well — she gets enzymes with EVERY meal. She gets the pro and prebiotics as needed. She gets a product called Canine Renal Support from Standard Process which I think has been a HUGE part of her health. I also give her Canine Hepatic Support to help her liver. The liver is more likely to get stressed because the kidneys aren’t doing their part. She gets extra vitamin B complex and C — these are water soluble vitamins and are lost in excess due to the large volumes of urine so they need to be supplemented. Most vets don’t discuss these kinds of things that will help our kd pups live a longer healthier life…

Audrey has NEVER had a rabies shot. She is exempted for life. She’s never had any vaccines except her first puppy shots (distemper, parvo and adeno). No lymes, lepto, kennel cough etc. They know that vaccines can stress the kidneys. She also has never had flea/tick or heartworm meds, pharmaceutical dewormers etc. ALL of these add insult to injury.

I haven’t used it but I’ve spoken with others that have had very very good success with an herbal regimen by Five Leaf Pharmacy (my father is a Master Herbalist so he could make these for me at less than half the cost—otherwise I probably would have tried them).. He liked the formulas.. http://caninekidneyhealth.com/

[Lagotto]

Hi Shawna, my 10 weeks old Lagotto has just been diagnosed with serious kidneys problems her BUN is way off chart her urine is almost as clear as water . She drinks over a liter of water a day. I have her for 21/2 weeks she hardly gains any weight. She is taller but very thin. The breeder offered to take her back and put her down. Apart from excessive drinking and urinating and not put on weight she is full of energy and really playful.I decided to keep her,the vet didn’t recommend any diet plan for her just told her to let she eats normal food, she eats puppies musli mix with raw met and let nature take it course. Her musli comprise of roll oats, dehydrate pea, carrot, bone meal plus all essential vitamins and minerals. Since she has been diagnosed I stop feeding her those food and go on low protein, low phosphorus, low sodium,. She got her appetite back with the meal I made which is 1 cup cooked white rice with one whole egg, two eggs whites, a spoonful of low fat ground beef. Cook in 1 Tb coconut oil. I sprinkle one capsule of fish oil, and grind 900mg of calcium carbonate to it. She has been eating this food for 3 days. Her weight is up for almost 200 g. I am not sure this diet is good enough for her growth. I ask the vet or phosphorus binder and start to sprinkle on her food. The vet now recommend pediatric junior digest & dental 29. I mixed a little of the dry food into home cooked . Her water intake is almost double her usual high intake. Your Audrey story is really inspiring . What do you feed Audrey? Home cooked or dry food.what is your strategy with Toilet train?

Many thanks, Lagotto

[Shawna]

Hi Lagotto,

We noticed (at the breeders) that she had excessive drinking and urination, as compared to her 5 siblings, when she was about 6 weeks old. She came to live with me when she was 9 weeks old. At about 4 weeks old she started failing to thrive — because she had a collapsing trachea and couldn’t get enough milk from her mommy. So the breeder put her on raw goat milk and egg whites, syringe fed every 2 to 4 hours, til she could eat on her own. She was weaned onto raw food — mainly hamburger, eggs, raw milk etc.

When she came to me I was making a home made raw diet for my current dogs and she went on that same diet. At her vet visit I told her holistic vet she urinated/drank a lot but her vet poo poo’d my concern and said puppies drink and therefore urinate more. She has bright eyes, she’s very smart, good coat quality etc. She’s a healthy puppy… In looking back I’m actually thankful that happened. Audrey continued on the homemade raw diet til her one year checkup where her bloodwork showed high bun and creatinine. I started tweaking her diet and would take her in every three months for additional bloodwork to see what the tweaking was doing. Turns out, the diet I had been feeding her all along was the best for her with one exception. To the diet I added a “prebiotic” and probiotics to help lower her BUN. Works like a charm..

Audrey continued on the homemade diet for several years but then I got too busy to keep up with homemade exclusively so I started incorporating commercial raw diets — Bravo as an example. Became busier yet and moved exclusively to commercial raw — Bravo, Darwins, Answers (recently started) and premixes like The Honest Kitchen Preference and Steve’s Premix with raw meats.. Audrey turned 7 years old the end of June and is still going strong. I have NOT lowered her protein. I have not lowered her phosphorus or made any other changes than adding prebiotic/probiotic and supplements. I use Garden of Life’s Primal Defense probiotic and Fiber35’s Sprinkle Fiber as the prebiotic. A really good prebiotic, made specifically for dogs, can be found on Dr. Mercola’s website under the “Pets” link and then under “Products”.

I would NOT regularly feed her kibble if I was paid to do so. In my opinion, kibble will cause a much earlier death in a kidney disease dog.. Kibble is a POOR QUALITY food for kd dogs/cats—even the best kibbles on the market… At the very least, feed a canned diet. If you can, feed raw or lightly cooked. I also don’t feed Audrey any grains. IF you are going to feed grains it needs to be either sushi rice (aka glutinous rice) or cream of wheat (or farina). These two grains are low phosphorus. All other grains have higher phosphorus and don’t add anything to the diet that can’t be found in a more species appropriate food.

You also want to feed higher fat foods — ditch the lean ground beef.. Feed the highest fat foods you can get (unless she is showing signs of pancreatitis). Fat adds calories without phosphorus—adding organic coconut oil is a good idea too. Protein is NOT damaging to the kidneys and only needs to be reduced to prevent symptoms of uremia in the later stages of the disease — such as vomiting or depression. Audrey has NEVER to date ate low protein.

Let her have ALL the water she wants. Audrey used to sleep in the water bowl when it was empty — she was that obsessed with water and, I’m guessing, desperately trying to tell me she needed some. She started this, sleeping in water dish, at the breeders. I kept potty pads ALL over the house for her. I was lucky in that she used them. During the night I keep her in a 4 foot by 4 foot enclosure we made (for our foster puppies). It was made out of wood and plastic chicken wire. I had her water bowl, her kennel, a blanket outside the kennel and a potty pad with LOTS of newspapers under it — she would fill a potty pad to the point of leaking during the night. As she got older she was able to hold it. Since about three months of age she has slept with me in my bed at nights.

Darwins now has a kidney diet.. I haven’t seen it yet but I do think it is worth checking out. Urban Wolf has a premix designed for kd dogs that can be added to raw or home cooked meats. And I think Grandma Lucy’s has a lower phosphorus premix that is also suitable for dogs needing their phos lowered..

Also consider adding a whole food B and C vitamin to the diet. These two vitamins are “water soluble” and because of the excessive urination can become depleted if not supplemented. I use Standard Process Cataplex B and C. I also give Audrey a whole food multi as a precaution. I use Standard Process Catalyn. Standard Process also makes a whole food supplement specifically for dogs with kidney disease. It’s called Canine Renal Support — I HIGHLY recommend using it. I also give liver support also by Standard Process — Canine Hepatic Support. The liver can become overstressed in a kd dog.

I HIGHLY recommend only using reverse osmosis or distilled along with a mineral water like Evian. Mineral waters (only those lower in sodium) have shown some positive benefits to kidney patients.

Also try to eliminate as many chemical toxins from your house as possible. I was already living in a relatively toxin free environment but I had to eliminate my Swiffer mop, candles ets. These have chemicals in them that the kidneys have to filter — putting an extra strain on them OR adding to the blood poisoning when the kidneys can’t filter as well. DO NOT use flea/tick or heartworm meds on her. And DO NOT vaccinate her. Audrey has only had one set of shots (given by the breeder before I got her) and has NEVER had a rabies shot. She was diagnosed before getting the shot and I was able to get a lifelong exemption for her in my state.

As mentioned, Audrey turned 7 last month and is not on any medications (no phosphorus binders, no sub-q fluids etc) just the supplements.

I don’t use it but I know others that have had positive results with the herbal tinctures from Five Leaf Pharmacy. http://caninekidneyhealth.com/ I would NOT follow their diet though… 🙂 http://caninekidneyhealth.com/

I would also highly recommend reading the material on Mary Straus’ dog aware website. This is the site where I got most of my knowledge / as well as courage to continue feeding Audrey a high protein raw diet. She has some EXCELLENT info on the site — when to feed low protein, when to lower phosphorus and how much (phosphorus is an essential mineral – lowering it too much too early can have unintended consequences), which foods are lower in phosphorus etc. http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidney.html

Your puppy can still have a fantastic quality of life.. Learn as much as you can, stay positive and enjoy her fully!!!!!

If you ever want to chat offsite, I can be reached at shawnadfaemail @ yahoo. com (take out the spaces–they are included here to prevent robot spammers from sending me junk mail).. 🙂

[Shawna]

PS — sorry, some of the data in my last post I see is a repeat of what I said before. Sorry for the duplicate info.. Should have read previous posts BEFORE leaving last :).. Live and learn 🙂

[pegripley]

Shawna, I’ve read a number of posts and you seem amazing. I lost my Scottish Terrier, Charlie, to Cancer a year ago this September, he was only 8 years old. We had NO idea he even had it.. Within a few days I couldn’t stand it anymore for myself and my mini-Schnauzer so we got another puppy. She is also a mini-schnauzer. I took her to get spayed in December 2012 and we found out she has Kidney Disease. Since then her #’s have continued to increase and she’s now 16 months old and her BUN is off of the chart, the vets machines can’t read it. It’s over 130, her Creatinine is 4.0 (high end is 1.8) and a few other things are now showing also like decreased red blood cell count = 3.2 and normal range is 5.5-8.5.
I have been feeding her boiled chicken thighs and baked sweet potatoes. I am currently giving her a phosphorus binder and also Renadyl. The Renadyl is supposed to flush the toxins out through her stool rather than making her kidneys process it and work harder.
The odd thing is. Bella has never shown any real symptoms other than the #’s. I had no problem potty training her, she is crate trained and has no accidents. she doesn’t urinate anymore than our other Schnauzer does. We also had an ultrasound done and her kidney’s are slightly smaller than normal but nothing major small and no other abnormalities faound. Now she does love her water but it’s not like she sits next to the bowl and drinks it dry. She usually drinks a lot in the morning or when she first comes out of her crate and then will get little sips the rest of the day. My vet and I are both astonished and very grateful that she isn’t showing any symptoms.
Anyway, now that you know my story I am really trying to find something to prolong her life and also make sure it’s a good quality of life at the same time. It breaks my heart to think her life is going to be cut short.. You seem like you have a good handle on this. Can you please give me any advice..
I took her yesterday for her check up and have done nothing by cry since yesterday. I’m usually a positive person but this is just breaking my heart.
Peg

[Kari K]

Shawna
How much Fiber 35 do you give your dog?
My dog’s BUM is elevated so vet wants to do more testing.
I feed her raw already but want to add the Fiber 35 before she’s tested.
Thanks
Kari

[Kim S]

Shawna…I came across this forum when I was researching things to help my dog that is a little over a year and is in chronic kidney failure from renal dysplasia. I saw that you mentioned nitrogen trapping. How much Sprinkle Fiber do you use and how often?

[Shawna]

OH NO!!! Pegripley and Kari K — I’m so sorry I missed your posts!!! My time is somewhat limited and for a long time I wasn’t able to log in to the forum side. Still don’t know why that happened?? If you still having questions please email me at [email protected]

Kim S – I use the Sprinkle Fiber in conjunction with the Primal Defense probiotic as needed (if Audrey seems depressed, or her breath gets a bit unpleasant etc). Audrey is nine pounds — I give her 1/2 to 1 full sized Primal Defense and 1/8 teaspoon of Sprinkle Fiber. I then give her more Sprinkle Fiber at the same dosage for subsequent meals until she is feeling better (usually, with her, only two or three meals). Audrey gets probiotic foods fairly often so I usually don’t have to give her more than one Primal Defense.

As mentioned in other post — I HIGHLY recommend Standard Process Canine Renal Support as well. And a raw diet if doable. Dr. Barbara Royal created a raw kidney disease diet for Darwins. http://www.darwinspet.com/our-raw-foods/our-raw-dog-food/intelligent-design-ks/#sthash.D8huiK2g.dpbs

[Michael C]

Check out Lotus Pet Foods, they have some formulas that are low in phosphorus, such as their grain-free fish formula that only has .77% phosphorus. They also bake their foods, as opposed to extrude them, so you don’t have to feed as much as you do extruded foods (according to their web site). http://www.lotuspetfoods.com/dry-dog-recipes-nutrient-table/

[Keira L]

Hey there, I have boxer called Lola, she was diagnosed with congenital renal failure 2 months ago, she is at stage 4, she turns 2 in feb so she is a bubba ❤️
She is not sick, still energetic, very very hungry , we just noticed her weeing in the night and it got progressively worse, to where she was weeing every night. Since a diet change she is a lot better, maybe has a little accident 2-3 times a week at the most.
Our vets gave us hills KD and pretty much just said there’s nothing you can do just give her a happy life for what she has left?? They gave her 1 yr or more , prob won’t make it to 5.
No supplements, no advice or any other information, we asked a million questions and did our research and asked them about raw and supplements etc which they didn’t really like I don’t think. We were really sad about the lack of help, as help or advice/information, as we have loved our vets to date.
Our second vet visit after upping her food a bit she put on weight which I though was great, 2kg I thought. But I still feel our vets feel like there is no hope, am I crazy for thinking that there is?? And that there are some positives surrounding her at the moment.
-energy-appetite-weight gain

I have been researching endlessly, it s very overwhelming, I have decided to go onto a raw /vegetable diet with supplements, again very overwhelming as there are a lot of options and conflicting information.
I wanted to know some advice on good veggies for her? We were adding sweet potatoe, carrots green beans- egg yolk and lean hamburger mince to her diet. I opted for lean meat as she had pancreatitis as a very young pup and heard that they shouldn’t have high fat after suffering from that.
Raw chicken breast good option?
Anyway I love my girl so much I would love some ideas on food to give her? Any advice for stage 4 renal failure??
She is now getting renal support, fish oil, coq10, pro and prebiotic – and was looking get her on a gentle fibre as I was researching nitrogen trapping. Does that conflict with pre and probiotics??
Sorry I’m typing fast hope this makes sense haha
Any positive stories or advice would be amazing!
Thank you so much :)))
Keira 😀😀😀

[Shawna]

Hi Keira,

So sorry to hear about your baby!!

Diagnosed as stage 4 but has no symptoms other than urinating inappropriately? That’s odd. It would be really helpful to know the results of the original blood panel (before starting the prescription diet) when discussing foods and supplements. As the BUN and creatinine get more elevated you need to start limiting phosphorus (as it can build up in the system and damage the kidneys) and protein (as it contributes to symptoms – but NOT to damaging the kidneys)). Example – in the later stages of the disease egg yolks should be increasingly limited because of the higher phosphorus content in them. Ask you vet for a copy of your pup’s blood work if you don’t already have it and then let us know the values.

Nitrogen trapping is helpful at any stage of renal failure but becomes the most noticeably beneficial when you start seeing symptoms – vomiting, inappetance, possibly lethargy or depression etc. In order to create a nitrogen trap you absolutely need a probiotic (however I’m not sure which bacteria is involved in nitrogen trapping so I recommend using one with a WIDE variety of beneficial microbes – one like Garden of Life Primal Defense (human product)). When my Audrey was diagnosed with KD at age one (she was also given a year to live but lived to just shy of age nine) I tried multiple different fiber sources (which are also considered prebiotics – feed the microbes in the gut). Some of the prebiotics (such as apple and grapefruit pectin or the fiber in the grain barley) had a negative impact – the pectins made her symptoms worse and she had a food sensitivity to the barley. I ended up using acacia fiber for her from age one and half(ish) to when she passed. Garden of Life has an acacia fiber product as well but NOW brand makes one and there are a few others.

“Standard Process Renal Support” is the one supplement that my girl NEVER did without. It helps in many many many ways including giving the kidneys the nourishment they need to preventing inflammation from damaging the kidneys further. The Standard Process brand have specific products (called protomorphogens) that help with inflammation. There are other things I used for Audrey or would recommend – such as turmeric bombs / balls, Evian bottle water (lower in sodium then some others and a type of calcium very easily used by the body), activated charcoal, spirulina, chlorella and so on.

Your current diet doesn’t have a source of calcium listed which is VERY important.. If you can give us her actual info from the blood panel we can more easily recommend the right diet for you.

[Keira L]

Hi Shawna,
Thank you so much for your reply! Your story is honestly what keeps me from breaking down after any vet visit! So thank you for sharing!
Like I said this is all very over whelming so I’m so appreciative of your response .

Creatinine 5.6
protein 71 mg/L
BUN 9.60mmol/L

She drinks a lot of water, but we live in a hot climate and I watch what she drinks and her energy compared to my other boxer and there’s not a lot of difference between them. She has a big drink before and during sleep so that’s why I think she has little accidents I try to get up in the night and take her out for a wee.
She has a BIG appetite! Never feels like she has eaten enough, I had started given her 3 meals rather 2, they’re small to medium in portion because she just seems to want to eat all the time! Even tries to eat my other dog , Muddys food 😂

I read what you said about Audrey , “you would never know she had kidney failure apart from her levels” That’s Lola too! I was sure they had made a mistake?!
We have been feeding her sweet potatoe boiled, carrots ,celery, and lean raw mince- only just started her on egg yolk ( our 4th day)
still giving her HILLS wet food in the morning for breakfast as we re weening her off it.
I bought standard process canine support because of you! 😀 Starting her on that, this week😀
I have enzymes , and a mix pre and pro biotic powder- would love advice on how much to give her with these enzymes and pre and pro? I also heard parsley was good but it’s also a diuretic?
She gets a 150mg Q10 ,
she gets an osteo pill for bone strength ( vet recommendation)
fish oil ( was giving everyday but just 3 times a week now- as I didn’t want to give too much, still researching and tweaking amounts)
Also vitamin b complex
We give her little pieces of watermelon through the day sometimes for a treat

Would you recommend vitamin c as well since she isn’t getting enough in her food then?
I was giving human vitamins as I heard they’re better quality (fish oil, vitaminB )
Thanks again Shawna, and sorry to hear about Audrey, what a lucky girl she was to have you as her mum and a great life she would have had ❤️
Keira :))

[Keira L]

Sorry just read over that, 😁and didn’t mention I have a calcium supplement powder that we have for her but not using as much until we completely ween her off the commercial food, which has calcium in it 👌
We get more results on Wednesday, it will be 3 months until she was first diagnosed. I m really anxious about it even though she herself is just great! Energetic , happy … It’s the tests that are that dark cloud . But positive thoughts X ❤️

• This reply was modified 8 years, 10 months ago by Keira L.

[canine c]

Thank you Shawna for all your info. I’m hoping to try this nitrate trapping and see if it makes a difference

• This reply was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by canine c.

[Shannon D]

I am so glad I found this thread!!! I have a 1.5 yr old American Staffordshire Terrier named Lola. In January I noticed she wasn’t looking/acting normal so I took her to the vet. She always drank a ton of water. At first the vet kinda touched her back and said she may have pulled a muscle and that they could do a panel to check her cell count. Or he said they could do a full panel to get more information. I opted to do the full panel. Come to find out it was a good thing I did. Her results were:

BUN 130 mg
CREA 7.5 mg
PHOS 15.7 mg

They weren’t sure if she had got into toxins or what. I left her at the vet so they could give her fluids and antibiotics. That was on a Monday. They re-tested her on Wednesday.

BUN 90 mg
CREA 5.2 mg
PHOS 8.2 mg

So, she stayed. They re-tested on Friday:

BUN 85 mg
CREA 7 mg
PHOS 10.7 mg

At this point they weren’t sure what was going on. So they did an ultrasound. The vet said her kidneys were abnormal and it was probably something she was born with. They also told me there isn’t anything else they could do at this point, take her home and re-test in a week.
They offered me nothing. Just told me to take her home and make her happy. Put her on the Hills K/D diet and make sure she gets water. I asked about subq fluids and the vet told me they only do that for cats. That it would be too much fluid under the dogs skin.

I researched on my own and found an internal medicine specialist. I was able to get an appointment within a couple days. They re-tested everything and re-did the ultrasound.

BUN 85 mg
CREA 7.0 mg
PHOS 10.7 mg

She is also has alot of protein in her urine and high blood pressure.

He agreed that she was probably born this way and diagnosed her with Stage 4 -Chronic kidney disease (CKD)- most consistent with congenital kidney disease. He said she won’t make it to 5 years old. That we are on borrowed time. He told me that he wasn’t sure how she was up walking around with the numbers she has. She acts completely normal! To look at her you would think there is nothing wrong with her. They advised to keep her on the Hills K/D. They put her on blood pressure medication, along with a probiotic Azodyl and a phosphorus binder, and Epakitin. Said to re-test in a week.

Re-test after adding everything:

BUN 80 mg
CREA 8.6 mg
PHOS 11.4 mg

They then added another phosphorus binder and we know do 500ml of subq fluids a night. She doesn’t drink nearly as much water as she used to. If she starts to drink everyone stops and is really quiet to make sure we don’t bother her. Like watching an animal in the wild. 🙂

Fast forward to her latest test results as of 3/16/16

BUN 72 mg
CREA 8.3 mg
PHOS 8.8 mg

They wanted us to recheck in a month. But my husband and I discussed it and decided to wait because if her numbers are better they will say continue what you are doing or if they are worse or the same, they will say continue what you are doing. I pay about $200 every time they test.

They offer no hope, no suggestions of supplements or anything else we can do. Just take her home and keep her happy.

She has good days and some bad days where she doesn’t want to eat. But most of the time she looks and acts normal. You would never know she has kidney disease. Expect that she is now alittle aggressive toward our other dogs and we can’t have them together anymore. I’m not sure if that is because she doesn’t feel good or just being moody.

I have tried to research foods, supplements etc. It is so overwhelming!!! I don’t want to give up hope for our pretty little Lola.

Thank you for listening.

[Brenda G]

My 12 year old box was told she had cancer and acute renal failure (acute = early renal = kidney). The vet insisted that unless I paid $200 a week for special hill’s K/D (or any other prescription diet) she would die and regardless she would die in 6 months. I was heart broken I couldn’t afford $200 a week. I had at the time 2 other dogs and a horse. So I cried for about a day straight (ok probably a lot longer than that), I love my dogs just like everyone here. I had to do my research and find the best alternative to the prescription diet. So I asked the vet if you could recommend anything else what would it be? That’s the only thing that she was willing to recommend also should mention this vet sells the dog food but was willing to give me a prescription for it to get it else where. The vet was willing to tell me that the two important things in a K/D diet were protein and phosphorus. I did my research and I called every major manufacture (iams and pedigree share the same phone number apparently a company called mars 1-800-675-3849) etc. Most dog foods contain around 0.8% phosphorus so I was looking for anything with less. I found one blend of dog food what wasn’t weight ( the weight control tastes gross and she wont eat it) controlled the price was more than reasonable at about $22 for 27lbs which would last my two dogs 2 weeks (now we have one other dog but it last them a month) This is a no sugar added no dyes and no artificial preservatives dog food (for all three brands). Here’s the kicker I could only buy it online in large bags or drive like 20mins plus for smaller more expensive bags(I had two large breed dogs and one small breed). I contacted Iams this week because the price of the dog food had sky rocketed to 47 (on amazon) which is way too much and Walmart wasn’t showing when it would be back in stock or at all. Come to find out they discontinued it 8months ago. I searched high and low and found blue buffalo (aka blue diamond) had about the same values but there have been 1400 consumer complaints and many recalls of their food and the same with purina. I did contact both companies and they did offer weight control alternatives to the dog food I was currently feeding. But again both companies had poor recall records and a lot of dogs were getting sick from their brands from diarrhea or vomiting and worse sometimes death. As my dog is a boxer she’s a natural gas bag so feeding her anything that would further upset her already delicate gastric intestinal systems is absolute a no no. Oh i forgot to put in the numbers, so when this all started I had her blood ran to see where she was at she had high phosphorus and high protein so I switched to this dog food “Iams so good Savory chicken” then took her to a different vet which was much further away by about an hour and half. The vet said that her levels still showed problems but dogs with her levels lived years so keep doing what i was doing. Anyway I’m writing today about this discontinued product because I think people should know about it. Call the number I put in and ask iams to start making the product they claim that the sales were poor but I assure you it ran out online all the time and it would sky rocket in price then drop back down. This is a good alternative to $200 a week. And they are not telling people enough about their product to say hey try this it might help your wallet and your dog. I have seen someone write about primal or nature’s as well as lotus which is really really really expensive. If there is enough pressure on iams they will bring the food back. This is working and its not breaking my already busted pocket book. It really shouldn’t be about money but when you dont have money to spend like that it kind of is the best you can afford. Once supply runs out they dont make any more and I cant find anything that she will eat. I’m not saying I know better than a vet. I am not buy any means a vet however I tested it before I put her on it full time. Switched her from pedigree normal nutrition for a week then had her blood checked again. About a year ago they gave my dog 6 months. As long as she has a good quality of life I’m happy. I’m going to buy a few smaller bags to give myself time to research incase they dont change their mind but so far the ones that are the best make your dog sick. I have done tons of research both this time and last time when I found the iams so good. It really makes me angry that people are buying it but stores wont carry it.

I found the perfect dog food Iams so good savory chicken (as well as their salmon and their beef have all the same % this is the beef but its the same as the chicken) The arrows show the two important values to a dog with liver problems

Crude Protein, minimum 21.00% <—-
Crude Fat, minimum 10.00%
Crude Fiber, maximum 5.00%
Moisture, maximum 10.00%
Linoleic Acid, minimum 1.9%
Calcium,minimum 0.65%
Phosphorus, minimum 0.5% <—-
Iron, minimum 225 mg/kg
Zinc, minimum 160 mg/k
Vitamin E, minimum 80 IU/kg

[James F]

Thank you all for your response.

[veza2017]

Need help Im lost the vet hasn’t explained to me what to expect just to give low profile diet I refused the hill diet they were so heavily trying to get me to buy. She was diagnosed yesterday with kidney disease I took her in I though the bone someone gave her punctured her pancreas she had thrown up and runny poop. I’m lost

[Brenda G]

veza2017 I’m sorry to hear your pet is sick. Kidney disease is a wide variety of levels so you need to look at the words the vet used. “acute” means early so if the vet said Acute Renal failure it means that your dog is showing “early” signs of kidney (renal) failure. I wrote a long message just above explaining how I chose my dogs dog food to help with what was termed “Acute Renal Failure” It means the dogs numbers are showing that the kidneys are not preforming at 100% but doesn’t mean the dog is headed for the rainbow bridge. It also doesn’t mean that your dog is a lost cause. There are products on the market that can promote healthy kidney behavior. I never used them with my dog I used a brand of dog food with low phosphorus and low protein. So this is the question… Did your pet eat something like wild onions or antifreeze? Or is this a case of your dog is getting older and starting to decline in heath. Each dog is different so the signs of your dogs kidneys might not be the same signs as my dogs problem. Most dogs that are in renal failure are very thirst but not really hungry. My dog was both thirsty and hungry. So heres the flat out straight forward response from petmd.

“PetMD notes that several indicators of chronic renal failure are often observed by the veterinarian upon examination of the dog and are often present in the dog’s blood tests and urinalysis. Elevated blood pressure in a dog is an indication of kidney problems since kidneys regulate blood pressure. Blood tests that reveal the dog has anemia may indicate kidney issues. Indicators found during urinalysis of the dog’s urine include abnormal electrolyte levels, elevated levels of protein enzymes, such as creatinine and high blood urea nitrogen.
If the urine is neither concentrated nor dilute, then the kidneys are not processing urine correctly and likely are failing. Since kidney failure often causes kidneys to shrink, observation via X-ray or ultrasound imaging that the dog’s kidneys are abnormally small may point to kidney failure, according to PetMD.”

Your vet should have preformed several tests. One being a blood test to indicate kidney function second should have been a xray and third should have been a urinalysis or fecal exam. Also age and breed play a part in this. If your vet didn’t do these tests seek a second opinion immediately because it could be something like a hernia or something simple that can be fixed but if not fixed in time it could cost you and your dog.

[Ricklene W]

Shawna…sorry…skimmed through messages, saw your baby did pass…but at 9 yrs with what she had to overcome…that is encouraging…although still always heartbreaking to lose our little ones. You are so great with your info!

[Ricklene W]

Seems my first post didn’t go through. Too tired to retype it all. My 10+ yr old Chihuahua, just diagnosed with R/O renal disease. Read a lot of your posts and need to research a lot, I see!

Thanks for all the info…I was terrified today.

[Christa P]

Hi Shawna,
I just wanted to tell you I am so thankful to be able to see your posts. My 9 year old Italian Greyhound is in the very early stages of Kidney disease. Well,at least that is what her vet says. She had blood and urine work done because she drinks so much water. The vet told me her Kidney ALP levels and her BUN levels were high. She gave me Hills K/D kibble but I have heard before how bad kibble can be. I was searching for general information on what to feed her and what not to. I also wondered if there is holistic things I could give her. I was getting so confused with all the different information. But your postings and information seems very helpful! I was also told by Tia`s vet to keep her “low protein”. But from what I read that is not always good for mild kidney disease. She is a fussy eater and she loves meat and chicken. I always gave her the organic if possible. She will eat some veggies as treats. So I am trying to figure out what I can get her to eat that wont hurt her. She does eat Honest Kitchen sometimes so at least I can get her more water content. I am going to look at all your advice and web pages and such to help us out. Thank you for posting all you did!

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