Failing Kidneys And Raw Diet

[dante2zoe]

I tried contacting whippet people but haven't be able to get any help, so I am turning to this wonderful forum. Our whippet has a lot of medical issues that began before we got him. He turned 12 in January. He has had dermal hermaniosarcoma (2 years ago) and pancreatitis (last Sept.) Those are the only illnesses that I think should be mentioned. He is raw fed and loves it, so I don't want to take away his pleasures. Diabetes has been ruled out, but he is drinking and peeing a ton. It presents like my bridge kitty, so I am pretty sure this is what I am dealing with. I have a call into the vet and am waiting for the one that I trust to come back from vacation. (there are a lot of things going on there - practice sold, etc. and I haven't moved the pets yet.) In the meantime, I have cut back on the amount of bone in his diet, as well as the amount of egg yolk. Are there any supplements that I could add to help destress the kidneys? His appointment will be at the end of the week. He is happy, just drinking, peeing and sleeping a lot. Prayers and suggestions would be most helpful. After all he has been through, this is just devastating to us. Thanks.

[Batmom]

Does his bloodwork show kidney issues?

 

Not sure there would be a reason to decrease his bone as that would be important to provide calcium? If he does have moderate - advanced kidney disease, you'd want to change his diet as high protein/high phosphorus will make him increasingly uncomfortable. Of course you'd want to balance that with the pleasure he gets from his current diet -- perhaps a switch to some raw + some prescription kidney food or homecooked rice/veggie blend. There are also some meds that might be able to help a bit; bottom line is, tho, that in advanced kidney disease, protein puts a lot of nasty waste products in the blood and the kidneys can't clear them.

 

BUT all that's an IF. I'd verify that he has a kidney problem first. Our elderly whippet drank a lot and peed a lot for no reason that anyone could ever find.

 

Hugs and gentle scritchies to your beloved pupper.

[sweetdogs]

Bone has a lot of phosphorus in addition to calcium so it's usually recommened to try to reduce how much you feed of it if kidney troubles are present. This is another case where feeding ground eggshell powder can be a big help because it's virtually all calcium carbonate. I would add some extra to his diet - it'll act almost like a phosphorus binder. The website Dogawarehas a lot of links & suggestions for feeding dogs with kidney problems. Good luck with his bloodwork - I hope it comes back clean. Could he have a UTI?

[dante2zoe]

Thanks for thoughts and suggestions. Urine is clean and the glucose test was negative. He is "just" drinking about a 1/2 gal of water per day. It is hard to judge with 3 other greys and 4 cats, but I have been monitoring him while at home. He is also peeing everywhere A LOT with no pattern despite being let out frequently. With his age and health issues otherwise, he is sleeping a lot more than he used to, as well. I reviewed the Dogaware site and have implemented some of the suggestions. I have him belly banded now all the time, except when closely supervised and, obviously, when we go out for walks. He has also developed an intolerance to cold and with this windy winter, he refuses to stay outside for very long, which doesn't help empty the bladder. Hopefully, the blood work won't be as bad as I fear, but his condition has me quite worried. I realize that we have been blessed to have him for a year but we are not ready to even think about any alternatives! I guess with all the sadness on this board lately, I have become somewhat pessimistic. He isn't dehydrated and he looks well. The vet wasn't too concerned when he was there 10 days ago, but things have changed since then - or I am just more aware. However, I didn't have this peeing problem to this extent before. He is also on Prozac daily for his severe SA. Could that be causing problems? He has been on it for 10 months.

[Guest speedoketo]

Hold off on changing the diet till the vet looks at his blood work. If his kidneys are damaged I highly recommend talking to your vet about Kidney Diet (lots of brands make it and it comes under several names) - its a very low protein diet with the proper calcium/phosphorous ratios. Raw diets are great for healthy dogs. Dog food companies have made amazing advancements with nutrition and their diet for kidney failure can drastically extend your pets life span while with a raw diet you'll never truly know if you're giving him the proper amount of protein.

 

The reason protein is so key in kidney failure is because protein is broken down into urea which must be processed by the kidneys. More protein = more urea and in stressed kidneys this = more problems and damage (urea is toxic in high amounts). If you're dead set on maintaining a raw diet you should have a meeting with your veterinarian to discuss how to properly formulate the diet so it won't put any further stress on his kidneys.

 

Of course if the blood work/urinalysis comes back and there's no kidney failure, that's great! Thinking happy healing thoughts for your pup

[CaliforniaGreys]

Hold off on changing the diet till the vet looks at his blood work. If his kidneys are damaged I highly recommend talking to your vet about Kidney Diet (lots of brands make it and it comes under several names) - its a very low protein diet with the proper calcium/phosphorous ratios. Raw diets are great for healthy dogs. Dog food companies have made amazing advancements with nutrition and their diet for kidney failure can drastically extend your pets life span while with a raw diet you'll never truly know if you're giving him the proper amount of protein.

 

The reason protein is so key in kidney failure is because protein is broken down into urea which must be processed by the kidneys. More protein = more urea and in stressed kidneys this = more problems and damage (urea is toxic in high amounts). If you're dead set on maintaining a raw diet you should have a meeting with your veterinarian to discuss how to properly formulate the diet so it won't put any further stress on his kidneys.

 

Of course if the blood work/urinalysis comes back and there's no kidney failure, that's great! Thinking happy healing thoughts for your pup

 

Excellent advice

[sweetdogs]

He is also on Prozac daily for his severe SA. Could that be causing problems? He has been on it for 10 months.

Would seem odd because he's been on it for a while, but this FDA fact sheet does cite polydipsia as a possible side effect. Would you be able to wean him off it for a while, or does it really help his SA?

 

Wanted to clarify my previous post about the eggshell - to get the phosphorus binder effect, you'd feed a little more of it than normal (normal is 1/2 tsp per lb of meat fed).

[carronstar]

No suggestions, just sending prayers and good thoughts for your baby.

[NeylasMom]

Have his kidney values been gradually going up (do you do regular blood work so you'd know)? Or did this come on suddenly? Just keep in mind that acute kidney problems can be caused by infection as well, TBDs and leptospirosis come to mind. A course of doxy usually clears either. Probably not likely given his age, but I'm mentioning it anyway. Also, you mention that he's had a lot of health problems. Aside from the Prozac, is he on anything else (particularly pain meds, NSAIDS or something?). How long has he been on the Prozac? I would definitley think meds could have that type of side effect. If it's not absolutely crucial that he be on them and you can't find another cause for the problem, I would consider taking him off and seeing if he improves once it's worked out of his system.

 

I know our case was unusual, but Neyla was diagnosed with acute kidney failure about 4 years ago. She was drinking incessantly, peeing about every hour, and had a poor creatinine value, urine specific gravity, etc. She also had an ultrasound positive for kidney failure. We sent off a TBD panel and a test for lepto, but started doxy in the meantime (all tests were negative, but we finished the course of doxy). We also stopped the NSAIDS she was on - I believe at that particular time she was on deramaxx, but she had had a prolonged muscle injury so she had over the course of a few months gone through quite the cocktail of meds. To this day, I don't know if it was the doxy that worked on something we didn't test (or got a false negative for) or the fact that the NSAIDs worked their way out of her system, but I think it's the latter. 4 years or so later, about to turn 10 and she hasn't had the problem since (knock on wood).

 

If you could post more info about his blood work and history, that could be helpful.