sobesmom Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I dropped off Diana for a dental on Thursday and got a very disturbing phone call a couple hours later. They ran bloodwork and discovered that she has kidney issues. So - the dental was scrubbed and it's recommended that we put her on a "renal" diet and bring her back in 3 weeks for a re-test. Her BUN was 66, her creatanin was 4.6. I've done some research, and that's bad. Really bad. My DH picked her up, and the vet suggested Hills Prescription k/d which they have at the vet's office, so he got that. It was $33 for a 7 lb bag, and she hates it. She's barely eaten on it. I've thrown more away than she's eaten (because we put water on her food and it gets gross after a while). After 24 hours of no food she finally ate some. So - I need to find a low protein, low phosphate food. Preferably with Omega 3 fatty acids, increased B vitamins, added antioxidents E, C, betacarotene. (from what I've researched.) I'm all about researching food and making my own informed choices usually. But right now - I need to buy a new food tomorrow. So - please just tell me a brand and I'll try it. Also - I'm more than willing to go home-cooked, raw or whatever. I didn't even know my dog was sick. I want her to have the best possible quality of life. There is a "possibility" that it's a false spike, but the vet isn't holding out hope for that. He's also very upset that he didn't see ANY symptoms earlier. Please help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) The only kidney food I was able to get Bullitt to eat was Royal Canin's kidney food and he would only eat the canned. It was quite expensive. The rest of the time I cooked a low protein, low phosphorous diet for him that consisted of 2 oz. of either high fat hamburger or chicken with either white rice or boiled potatoes. He also had to have a multi vitamin every day and a tablespoon of calcium carbonate added to each meal. Dogaware.com is an excellent source for foods and recipes and information on kidney disease. I used it quite a bit. Edited April 27, 2015 by TheFullHouse Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busderpuddle Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Kidney disease is a silent one. Don't beat yourself up over the fact you didn't know she was sick. A lot of people never know they have it until they are in total renal failure. Hope you can find something she likes to eat. Quote Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmom Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) Try the canned version of the food instead for a couple days; expensive, but it'll give you time to regroup. Or just 1-2 cups cooked rice/noodles and a half cup of cooked meat (beef, with some fat in it, is your best bet) per meal for a few days. Or you can mix up egg, cottage cheese, meat for that half cup per meal (assuming 2 meals per day). Hills (the Science Diet people) has a sheet of homemade recipes for a couple of their veterinary diets, including the kidney diet. If your vet doesn't have it, I can scan it and send it to you tonight. Could try a different brand -- Royal Canin, Hills, Purina all make veterinary diets, and some dogs prefer one over another. The lowest phosphorus non-veterinary diet on the market used to be Innova Senior (NOT Senior Plus, just the Senior); dunno if that's still available but worth a look. Don't freak. Not much you can do other than keep on keeping on, and see how things go. She could stabilize at that level for a long time. Hope she will! P.S. We didn't see any symptoms in my dog until the values were worse. A lot worse. Busderpuddle is right about that. Edited April 27, 2015 by Batmom Quote Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in IllinoisWe miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 You can contact contact Dr Remillard. She can design a homemade recipe for your hound. https://www.petdiets.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greylover97 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 I just went through this with Jake, it's horrible. Home cooking is the way to go. Fatty hamburger or chicken Rice or pasta Potatoes or sweet potatoes Scrambled eggs Carrots and green beans (mashed up) You will need to add calcium carbonate and a vitamin supplement. Quote Carolina (R and A Carolina) & Rebel (FA Ready).At the bridge: Kira (Driven by Energy) 7/19/97 - 6/17/04 & Jake (Jumpstart Dude) 9/12/00 - 1/24/15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 My Larry is on a low protein/phos diet for many years. He only get 5 level tablespoons of hamburger or meat chunks twice a day. That equals about 1/4 cup. He also gets oatmeal, white rice, veggies, and supplements. If you are interested, I can give you the detailed diets. Dr Remilliard (sp) created all the diets for my dogs when she was at Angel. She now has her own website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeylasMom Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Can't help with food, but did they get a phosphorous level on her? If not, get it measured and then consider a phosphorous binder if it's needed. That can give you more leeway with your food options and will keep her feeling better. 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...
Katy_3131 Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Purina also has a prescription kidney formula. I have a friend whos grey is on it and doesn't have any issue getting him to eat it. Purina NF, it is on https://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com if you want more info. Quote Katy....Mom to Retired Racers Hinder, John Carter, Hobsen, and Kodama, Galgo Espanol Gichin, and the Village Idiot...Teko Missing terribly my fawn dog with the pretty ears Chance (Ale Seeyoulater) 6/21/05-6/23/15 Gotcha day 4/6/08 and my fuzzy baby boy Snacker (Tyville Snacker) 7/4/04-10/23/15, and all three of my IG babies, Isen, Tien, and Java. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carronstar Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 (edited) Try the canned version, Aquitaine loved that! I also found that Fresh Pet, the log version, was the same ingredients as the home cooking I was going to do. The phosphorous % was not on the label but I sent them an email and they responded immediately and the level is within the feeding range for a renal diet (I don't recall the exact number now). My girl also liked the canned Purina NF which has a lower price point than the Hills. Aquitaine also loved Hi-Tor NEO which I admit I never heard of until I had to get renal diet food. There are conflicting views out there about protein/phosphorous. It seems the newer viewpoint is that the lower phosphorous is the most important part. I kind of yelled at one doc at one point telling him that I wish that the vet community would make up their collective minds as to which was more important. Edited April 27, 2015 by carronstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burpdog Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Most senior foods fit the bill if the phosphorus level is good. SD k/d smells like bunny farts. I haven't had one dog that would eat it. My Larry is on a low protein/phos diet for many years. He only get 5 level tablespoons of hamburger or meat chunks twice a day. That equals about 1/4 cup. He also gets oatmeal, white rice, veggies, and supplements. If you are interested, I can give you the detailed diets. Dr Remilliard (sp) created all the diets for my dogs when she was at Angel. She now has her own website Many good diets that will help the issues. The new thought is it's not the protein at all but the phosphorus. Does she need a dental bad? Quote Diane & The Senior Gang Burpdog Biscuits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin1017 Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 You should join the K9 Kidney Diet Yahoo group. Tons of advice and information. The quick answer to your question.....someone from there told me, when I was pondering home cooked but worried about the price, that it can be done fairly easily and cheaply. She said to use the frozen whitefish fillets you can find in the grocery store, or BJs, or somewhere like that. You get a bunch for the price, and you use that as the base protein. Then you can mix in a starch (they recommend a certain kind of rice), and then other supplements and such to balance the nutrition. I can probably find the email I got from that person for more details if you want. Robin's still fighting a bladder infection, so I don't know how bad his kidneys really are, and even so his numbers aren't that bad, so I have switched him to Hills d/d, not the kidney diet. Moderate protein and such, instead of super low like the k/d. I can't remember the phosphorus, but it wasn't bad. Robin likes the food, which is a plus. And join that yahoo group. I uploaded his test results and history and I had a few people offering insights and advice right away. Quote Cathy & Calvin (DOB 9/18/13). Always missing my angel Robin (Abdo Bullard). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobesmom Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Can't help with food, but did they get a phosphorous level on her? If not, get it measured and then consider a phosphorous binder if it's needed. That can give you more leeway with your food options and will keep her feeling better. PHOS 2.3- mg/dl We go back in 2 weeks and will talk about that then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sobesmom Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 Most senior foods fit the bill if the phosphorus level is good. SD k/d smells like bunny farts. I haven't had one dog that would eat it. Many good diets that will help the issues. The new thought is it's not the protein at all but the phosphorus. Does she need a dental bad? I'm trying some senior foods, thanks for that tip, and she seems to like canned better. She'll eat some of the SD with canned on it. I'll probably mix dry and canned. That's working ok for now. It's just hard to find good food in this area, but I'm working on it. As far as the dental - no she doesn't need it. She's never had one, and although she has black along the gumline of her front teeth, the vet didn't think it was super-necessary, but due to her death-breath I kind of pushed it. I just believed there HAD to be a problem in there. Come to find out the death-breath was probably from the kidney disease. So - no dental will be happening. So what protein and phosphorous levels am I shooting for in the food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedHead Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Dogaware has a nice list of commercial foods with phos. and protein levels listed (saves you the time of searching through each brand!). Scroll to the bottom for the food lists http://dogaware.com/health/kidneynonprescription.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahsBlackPack Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 We have been dealing with Kidney Diease in Angel since november of 2013. She had been on a home cooked diet since shortly after we found out that she had it, But now she in the end stages of the diease and stopped eating the home cooked stuff back in January of this year. And they vet told us to let her eat what ever she wants to with in reason because she only has a few months left to live. Quote Sarah, mom to Stella and Winston . And to Prince, Katie Z, Malone, Brooke, Freddie, Angel and Fast who are all waiting at the Bridge!www.gpawisconsin.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleptogrey Posted May 1, 2015 Share Posted May 1, 2015 i dealt w/ kidney disease w. my addisonian scottie. rice, rice, boiled pasta, rice. go know- he lived on this for 6 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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