Trying To Put Weight On A Senior

[Guest meakah]

When Koda had her dental done in January, her Kidney values were a bit off and I was told to lower the protein in her diet. The vet said she wasn't at the point of needing a prescription diet but definitely recommended lowering the protein in her regular kibble to help her out. I had her on Acana at that time which is quite high in protein and switched her to Canidae which is lower. Unfortunately, all of the lower protein kibbles I looked at had a decrease in fat as well. Koda is a very picky eater and is a spook so it is tough to get her to eat sometimes. She has been doing ok with the new food and eats both of her meals each day and her stool has firmed up well (nice improvement from the Acana). But unfortunately, she has lost a bit of weight and her coat has become rather dull. I do add canned Nutro to her food (1/4 can each meal) each day but it hasn't helped much with the weight loss.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get some weight back on her? She is 9yrs old and is still in great shape....runs hard at the dog park almost daily and so she is not sick per se. But I am finding I can only take her for a short walk each day and if I go twice I tend to leave her behind because I am worried she will lose more weight. Someone suggested adding Olive Oil to her food....does anyone know if that will work? Any other things I can add that won't upset her gut and work her kidneys too hard? And I have upped her kibble per day to the maximum that she will eat....unfortunately she has never been easy to feed. Also, she has no allergies that I am aware of and I do give her chicken necks and such.

 

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[Batmom]

How far off were her kidney values? Greyhounds tend to run high creatinine, so could be her protein doesn't need to be lowered at all.

 

If it does ... I'd have to check around for what foods have lowish protein yet high fat. I know there are some. You could try the olive oil -- some dogs use it well, some it goes right thru.

Edited June 26, 2010 by Batmom

[Guest meakah]

Unfortunately, I do not have her blood values in front of me so I can't tell you what they were. But I do recall confirming online that they were a bit off from regular greyhound values. I had the same thoughts so I remember verifying that they were in fact off for the breed.

 

As for Olive Oil....is good for both weight gain AND coat? Or just coat?

[Batmom]

Any oil will be good for weight gain if the dog digests it -- 70-100 calories per tablespoon, yum yum! Start slow, tho, so you can see if it works for her digestion. My hounds have seemed to do better with animal fats, but a lot of the show-dog people I know use olive or corn oil for coats.

 

Oh, you could also try something like Ensure or Boost (high-cal drinks for ill/old people -- mostly fats and sugars), or something like Dyne or Nutrical -- nutritional supplements for dogs, come in tubes like toothpaste, pretty pricy but might be worth it if she won't eat big meals.

[CaliforniaGreys]

I would take a look at her blood work and see what her BUN is, because if her Creat is off and her BUN is normal, she doesn't need low protein.

 

Worth checking

 

A lot of people don't like the Hills KD, but with all 3 of my kidney disease Greys, they did great on it and actually gained weight which according to my vet is normal with the KD.

 

But again, take a look and see what the BUN is

[Guest MyCody]

I was going to suggest Ensure and Boost also, that's the only thing our little Willa could eat when she was ill.

 

I have read a lot about satin balls also, but don't know the recipe, perhaps you could search it in here it's often posted I think.

[Guest MyCody]

I tried searching in here for the satin ballsrecipe and it doesn't come up but it does come up on the Greyhounds Reach The Beach site if your interested in checking on it. I would run it by your vet first of course.

 

 

Terry

[EllenEveBaz]

I found this website helpful during the years my Scout had kidney problems: www.dogaware.com. There are cites to research that argues that, at least in the earlier stages of kidney disease, phosphorus, not protein itself, is the most important thing to be cautious about.

 

Scout loved salmon oil, which is supposed to be easy on the kidneys.

 

One easy-to-digest but calorie-packed addition to food sometimes suggested by Diane Burpdog here on GreyTalk is cooked pasta. Maybe with a little butter (or salmon oil) on it.

[Trudy]

Have you looked at puppy kibble - been a while since I had to feed it to Jet, but it helped put some pounds on her when nothing else had enough calories to cut it.

Can also add coconut (?) oil - more solid like at RT.

[Rickiesmom]

My Jaynie went into acute renal failure following a surgery, and was put on a low protein prescription diet. However, because most of her values are good (except creatinine high, urine SG low) I give her one buttery egg omelet per day (no salt in butter or added to eggs) as a supplement. Eggs are a very bio-available protein. The caution here is that eggs are relatively high in phosphorus.

 

You might want to join the k9kidneydiet yahoo list - the moderators and members are extremely helpful.

 

 

[Guest meakah]

I just wanted to update and also thank everyone for all their wise words and advice. Thank you!!!

 

Since my posts, I have tried just adding Olive Oil to her diet. It is unbelievable how much better she looks. I add about a teaspoon to each meal (twice daily) and her coat is now back to being shiny and she has gained a few pounds. I have even decreased her kibble slightly (she wasn't finishing it anyhow) and she is still maintaining the extra weight.

 

And Trudy, yes I thought about puppy kibble but it is too high in protein. All the higher calorie foods had higher protein unfortunately.

 

As for the blood results, I forgot them at work and won't be back in the office until September so unfortunately...I can't give any numbers until then. I will get another blood test done in a few months to see if anything has changed but so far she is doing good.

Edited July 23, 2010 by meakah

[silverfish]

Glad she's doing better with the olive oil added in - I'd use cold pressed virgin oil if you can get it, it's better quality.

 

And if you want to check if the high 'kidney values' are really of any medical significance, ask the vet to do a protein:creatinine ratio test. It's done on the urine, isn't that expensive but it can be definitive in diagnosing greyhounds. Our vet wanted to put Jack on a kidney diet because his kidney values were 'too high', but I asked for this test and he came back just fine and never did need a kidney diet. He died of something else entirely at 13 1/2 years old.

 

Another thing to remember is that raw-fed dogs run a little higher with creatinine, so that could be all it is, if you fed raw. Even one raw meal can do it if the timing's right.

[MP_the4pack]

My old lady Onyx (15 in Sept) has decided she no longer likes what I offer for breakfast. So I give her Ensure Plus. That's her breakfast.

 

She also has glomerulonephritis. Very high proteinuria. But her blood proteins are stable.

 

At her age, whatever she wants, she gets. ice cream everynight also helps keep the weight on.

 

But if your senior still eats, then Ensure as a bonus should put weight on.

[MaryJane]

You can also add a pound or two over 2 or 3 weeks by giving toast with butter once a day