Josie Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 Tuffy will turn 9 next week and his latest urine test show stage 1 (of 4) of kidney failure. They vet is not alarm or worried, saying it does occurs with age, and that since most dog owners dont do regular urine test the early stage are rarely known, since there's no symptoms.. My question is regarding feeding... Tuffy is fed raw, mostly minced chicken (meat and bone)that I buy at my butcher shop. I had veggies, fish oil, yogurt to his diet. I feed also liver, hearts and others once every 1-2 week... I wanted to know what to avoid or what to add to his diet to help his kidney fonction. Reading about it on the net I'm quite confused.. some say to lower the protein, some say protein dont affect anything... that phosphorus are the thing to whatch... thanks! Quote Our first greyhound, Tuffy: You will always be there with us my angel! Tuffy greyhound-dataOtis greyhound-data Abbey greyhound-data"When you open your minds to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth." W.Bishop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 The problem with protein is that food that contains it usually also contain phosphorous. This is why most doctors will recommend decreasing protein but to counter that with giving a better more usable protein. This can be done by feeding a home-made diet. The nutritional vet that I have used is Dr Remaillard at Angel Memorial in Boston. She has created kidney, cancer, and regular diets for my dogs. She does phone consults although I usually bring my dogs in to see her because she is only 20 minutes away. As a note, she does have a somewhat "terse no nonsense style" and tells it like it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 thanks Quote Our first greyhound, Tuffy: You will always be there with us my angel! Tuffy greyhound-dataOtis greyhound-data Abbey greyhound-data"When you open your minds to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth." W.Bishop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetdogs Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 I wanted to share the Dogaware link with you, but it looks like the site is down at the moment. Anyway, she has an awesome page on dogs & kidneys & diet (especially raw). Also are you sure Tuffy's values are really off for a greyhound? They can differ from regular dogs. I can never remember the link for greyhound blood values but a search will bring it up. Quote Deirdre with Conor (Daring Pocobueno), Keeva (Kiowa Mimi Mona), & kittehs Gemma & robthomas. Our beloved angels Faolin & Liath, & kittehs Mona & Caesar. Remembering Bobby, Doc McCoy, & Chip McGrath. "He feeds you, pets you, adores you, collects your poop in a bag. There's only one explanation: you are a hairy little god." Nick Galifinakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josie Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 thanks for the link yes, even for a grey it's a little off (I dont have the numbers) Quote Our first greyhound, Tuffy: You will always be there with us my angel! Tuffy greyhound-dataOtis greyhound-data Abbey greyhound-data"When you open your minds to the impossible, sometimes you find the truth." W.Bishop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 If the numbers are only a little off and she's not showing any symptoms, I'm not sure I would make many changes to her diet yet, at least not drastic ones. What I would do is focus on minimizing the load on the kidneys and supporting their function with a few supplements. The first would be a high quality fish oil, whatever amount she can tolerate (work up to it slowly). The second recommendation would be to look into Azodyl. It's a probiotic supplement that also contains psyllium husk (fiber). The idea is that the probiotics are carried to the intestines where they can reduce the level of toxins, therefore reducing the load on the kidneys. There are also some holistic supplements out there to support kidney function. I haven't personally used the latter (I have used Azodyl and fish oil), but I have heard very good things about Standard Process's products. If you did want to make some adjustments to her diet, I would start by seeing if you can reduce the amount of bone a bit without causing stool issues (don't do this at the same time that you start adding fish oil) since bone has a lot of phosphorus. You could also swap out some of what you are feeding for eggs - it's the yolks that have a high amount of phosphorus so you want to feed the whites, or b/c the whites often aren't appealing do a 1:2 ratio of yolk to white. You may want to join the yahoo group for kidney disease in dogs. It's a rather rigorous process to get going, but there is a wealth of knowledge and now might be a good time to educate yourself so you can be proactive. Would be interested to see the actual values if you can dig up the blood work though. Are you sure these values are high for her because you have a history of blood work, or is this the first time, or at least the first in a while that you've done blood work? Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Raw green tripe is an excellent raw food for kidney issue dogs. Aggie did very well on it and made it to almost 15 and her kidneys continued to hold up well till the very end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.