Science Diet K/d

[Guest DundeeToddsMom]

Does anyone know of another food that would be good to feed in place of Science Diet K/D. My baby's kidney values have always been a little high and now she won't eat this anymore. The vet recommended Proplan or Eukanuba - both a prescription.

 

Thank you in advance!

[Guest ss556]

I don't know - we use Hills Prescription K/D kibble. I'd like to see what people can chime in about.

[Guest kick]

Does anyone know of another food that would be good to feed in place of Science Diet K/D. My baby's kidney values have always been a little high and now she won't eat this anymore. The vet recommended Proplan or Eukanuba - both a prescription.

 

Thank you in advance!

 

http://dogaware.com/kidney.html#phosphate - incase you haven't read this article - looks like you can augment the food with several low phosphors items

Edited December 17, 2008 by kick

[Batmom]

Well, the K/D is technically a prescription, too. The other brands might have a different flavor/scent that might be more appealing to her. I've only ever used K/D.

 

You could also PM patricia -- I'm pretty sure she has some vet-approved homecooked recipes for restricted-diet kidney dogs.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Misty does really well on the KD canned. I've never used the other script diets but know people who have and they swear by them. A friend has his Grey on the Purina rx and his girl does great on it. If you still have the KD, what you might want to try is mixing yogurt with it. That's worked for me before

Edited December 17, 2008 by cbudshome

[mangos_mom]

When Mango started turning her nose up at the k/D, I tried putting a little warm water on it to make "gravy" and she started gobbling it up. I had tried Purina's kidney diet, but she didn't like it any better, and it gave her pudding poop, so I went bact to the Science Diet.

[Guest Greensleeves]

Nelly found prescription NF from Purina *slightly* more palatable, and our vets also recommended we try Hills G/D (the geriatric diet, which is nutritionally similar to K/D)... but if she's turning her nose up at her food, you might want to get her checked out, as loss of appetite can be a symptom of kidney disease.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Nelly found prescription NF from Purina *slightly* more palatable, and our vets also recommended we try Hills G/D (the geriatric diet, which is nutritionally similar to K/D)... but if she's turning her nose up at her food, you might want to get her checked out, as loss of appetite can be a symptom of kidney disease.

I've heard this several times now about them prefering the Purina to the Hills.

[Guest greytbookert]

When Mama Ro was diagnosed with kidney failure, we used Purina's NF as well as the low phosophorous diet that I found here:

 

http://vetprof.com/clientinfo/KidneyDiseaseInDogs/diet.htm

 

When we switched her to this food, her values improved a bit and then leveled out. She obviously wasn't cured but we were able to maintain the kidneys for a while. Keep in mind though that Mama was 14 years old. How old is your baby?

 

Here is the recipe...

 

This is a recipe for a homemade restricted-protein diet, similar to Hill's k/d in nutritional value and effect on compromised kidney function (the recipe comes from a sheet of such that Hill's provides for vets to give to their clients.

 

Canine Restricted Protein Diet

 

1/4 lb. ground beef (*do not* use lean round chuck)

2 cups cooked white rice (without salt)

1 hard-cooked egg, finely chopped

3 slices white bread, crumbled

1 teaspoon (5 grams) calcium carbonate*

(*--Calcium carbonate sources: Ground egg shells; Drug and Health food stores.)

 

Also add a balanced supplement which fulfills the canine MDR for all vitamins and trace minerals.

 

Cook beef in skillet, stirring until lightly browned. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. This mixture is somewhat dry and its palatability can be improved by adding a little water (not milk). Keep covered in refrigerator. Yield 1-1/4 lbs.

 

Analysis As Fed

Protein.........................................6.9%

Fat..............................................5.5%

Carbohydrate...............................21.1%

Moisture......................................65.5%

**Metabolizable energy..............750 Kcal/lb.

(**This diet supplies 17% protein calories, 30% fat calories and 53% carbohydrate calories.)

 

Feeding Guide:

Feed sufficient amount to maintain normal body weight.

 

Body Weight Approximate Daily Feeding

5 lbs. .................................................1/4 lb.

10 lbs. .................................................1/2 lb.

20 lbs. ................................................. 1 lb.

40 lbs. ...................................................1-1/2 lbs.

60 lbs. ....................................................2 lbs.

80 lbs. ..................................................2 -1/2 lbs.

 

[rascalsmom]

Well, Daisy is a cat, not a dog, but she seems to love her Purina NF kidney food (the canned).....

[Burpdog]

What do you mean by "high"? Many vets misdiagnose greyhounds as having kidney disease when they do not.

 

That stuff smells like bunny farts. I wouldn't have it in the house!

 

Any senior food will do

[CaliforniaGreys]

What do you mean by "high"? Many vets misdiagnose greyhounds as having kidney disease when they do not.

 

That stuff smells like bunny farts. I wouldn't have it in the house!

 

Any senior food will do

Okay, you made me go smell the can.I never noticed that it stinks but the texture drives me nuts. But then I have to admit, it's what has kept Misty's kidneys in good working order so to speak.

[Burpdog]

SD k/d has either BHA or BHT in it's kibble. How does that make sense? A kidney food with preservatives?

 

IVD smells like dog food and doesn't have those perservatives There's really a division among new and old about restricting protein. New says you don't have to. It's more the phosphorus (if I remember right)

[Batmom]

It is partly phos, partly protein. The thing with protein restriction is, early stage disease it may not be desirable, later stage disease it's essential. In early stage, better *quality* protein can be a help to the dog in terms of feeling well. In later stage, their kidneys can't clear the waste products from protein; if they're eating too much of it, pretty soon they feel like crap and then they die.

 

Good question tho about the levels. If the dog doesn't have detectable kidney disease, feeding low protein is not a good idea. High protein doesn't wear out healthy kidneys or cause the dog to develop disease.

[Guest kick]

SD k/d has either BHA or BHT in it's kibble. How does that make sense? A kidney food with preservatives?

 

IVD smells like dog food and doesn't have those perservatives There's really a division among new and old about restricting protein. New says you don't have to. It's more the phosphorus (if I remember right)

 

 

please, what is IVD

 

It is partly phos, partly protein. The thing with protein restriction is, early stage disease it may not be desirable, later stage disease it's essential. In early stage, better *quality* protein can be a help to the dog in terms of feeling well. In later stage, their kidneys can't clear the waste products from protein; if they're eating too much of it, pretty soon they feel like crap and then they die.

 

Good question tho about the levels. If the dog doesn't have detectable kidney disease, feeding low protein is not a good idea. High protein doesn't wear out healthy kidneys or cause the dog to develop disease.

 

 

would you define "better quality protien"

[greyhoundlov]

Gidge won't eat any of them. She also hates the Natural Yeast. So she is eating boiled chick and turkey breast.

[Batmom]

IVD is "Innovative Veterinary Diet" -- another brand of prescription food. Owned by Royal Canin, maybe? I forget.

 

"better quality protein" = higher biological value = easier for the dog to make use of. I believe eggs are the best. Then meat.

[Guest suzye]

Royal Canin makes something called "Modified" that can be used for kidney disease. I fed that to Jazz for about 6 weeks. Royal Canin has another blend with even less phosphorus, but I forget what it's called.

 

Eggs are the best meat for kidney dogs. They have the most protein/least phosphorus of any meat. If you can remove a lot of the yolk from the egg serving, it's better. Most of the phosphorus is in the yolk.

 

For most forms of kidney disease, newer research suggests that protein is not the enemy, but phosphorus is. IMO feeding the RX kidney diets exclusively will make an anemic dog. Home cooked is the best, but I know how hard that is.

Edited December 17, 2008 by suzye

[greyhndz]

Since the ingredients in k/d (and most of the other Hills Rx diets) were less than desirable, I decided to home cook for iggy Lexi. I used this: Donald Strombeck. I also received a dietician-created diet which allowed for very precise measurements of phosphorus, protein, sodium, etc. Egg and cottage cheese are, I was told, the most bioavailable proteins, with, as was mentioned, the egg white being preferred as it has little phosphorus.

 

But Lexi turned her nose up at every recipe I tried, and when I finally gave in and fed her the k/d, she wouldn't touch either the kibble or canned.

 

Because she's 12, I decided that quality of life is more important than quantity. Normally, Lexi eats anything, so for her to turn down something edible, it must be pretty foul. My vet and I decided that having Lexi continue to eat was the priority, so I returned her to a normal diet. And interestingly, her kidney function stabilized and her urine protein creatinine ratio dropped significantly. She's also on benazepril. I don't advocate this for any other dogs - it was a decision made by my vet and myself and based upon Lexi's own personal needs.

 

Here are some other sample diets. The first few are from Strombeck's book:

 

 

[Guest suzye]

Glutinous rice (mochi gome), as depicted here, is extremely low phosphorus. It's sticky and not the tastiest so I always had to mix it up with something much better. THis was a staple of Jazz's home-cooked diet. You can make meat loaf with the rice and lean ground beef and throw in a lot of egg whites for more extra protein with little phosphorus. I finally found this rice in an Asian market near my house. It's round and opaque.

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index.asp?P...amp;ProdID=6285

[Guest kick]

IVD is "Innovative Veterinary Diet" -- another brand of prescription food. Owned by Royal Canin, maybe? I forget.

 

"better quality protein" = higher biological value = easier for the dog to make use of. I believe eggs are the best. Then meat.

 

 

thank you, is the egg white added raw or cooked?

[Batmom]

Eggs: I prefer to cook them, others prefer to feed raw. If dog is immune-compromised, I'd certainly cook them. As long as you don't cook them till they're hard as rocks, doesn't matter nutritionally.