Low Kidney Function-What Food Does Your Dog Eat ?

[Busderpuddle]

I took Ruby to the vet today and among a couple other things, he said she has low kidney function, and it is probably time to change her food. Ruby is very picky, and the food she is on now she actually wolfs it down, first food ever. They recommend Science Diet.

I have not heard good things about the Hills Science Diet kidney food, but does anyone have a tried and true one that your Grey loves ? Do you worry about the treats you feed ? She has been getting chicken jerky strips, Bison jerky and some dental chews. Usually one to two a day.

Thanks

[Brandiandwe]

Having watched a friend with a very young grey suffer kidney failure, I’ve done nothing. This sounds awful, but all of the kidney foods were pretty unpalatable, and, according to my friend, extended life for a few months, but the grey wasn’t happy. If she had to do it again, she’d let him eat what he wanted and enjoyed, and let him go happy. Which is what we’re doing with Brandi. We’ve accepted that continuing to feed her a balanced, raw diet rather than a kidney diet will shorten her life, but she looks great for now, loves her food and is happy.

[TheFullHouse]

Bullitt would eat none of the kidney foods except Royal Canin or a home cooked kidney diet. We tried them all. Science Diet was a definite no.

[Busderpuddle]

Having watched a friend with a very young grey suffer kidney failure, I’ve done nothing. This sounds awful, but all of the kidney foods were pretty unpalatable, and, according to my friend, extended life for a few months, but the grey wasn’t happy. If she had to do it again, she’d let him eat what he wanted and enjoyed, and let him go happy. Which is what we’re doing with Brandi. We’ve accepted that continuing to feed her a balanced, raw diet rather than a kidney diet will shorten her life, but she looks great for now, loves her food and is happy.

This is exactly how I feel about it. I say let her be happy. In 7 years, the food she is on now is the only one she has ever eaten with joy. I hate to take it away from her.

Thank you for sharing

Bullitt would eat none of the kidney foods except Royal Canin or a home cooked kidney diet. We tried them all. Science Diet was a definite no.

I stared at it in the vets office today, but I have never heard of a dog that would eat it, and it is horrendously expensive. I would buy it if she wasn't picky, but I know her well.

I did see Royal Canin at Chewy.com. I have never heard of that brand before.

[Brandiandwe]

If she’s happy and enjoying it, then no judgement here! Life is to be enjoyed for our greys. They don’t know why they need the yucky food, and they don’t know they’re shortening their lives. That burden is ours to bear.

 

Hugs. It’s a hard road.

[smurfette]

I still fed raw when Colin started to loose liver function. But I changed his diet a little. You have to watch for phosphorus levels - so no more chicken, organs and no more bones. But fat beef, lamb and green tripe.

You might like to look into solidago compositum, ubichinon compositum and coenzym compositum (suc-therapy).

[MaryJane]

Do a home-made food with less protein (less phosphorous) and it can really help. You probably want to stop the jerky.

[oldrunners]

I've had three kidney dogs. All ate the Purina brand food, which I chose because it was the least expensive. Billy lived until he was 12 1/2, Beggar until he was a month short of 11, and Oliver until he was 10 1/2. I had no problems with anyone eating the food, and was told that any treats given during the day could be "regular" treats, not kidney ones. They all were on it for years. My Sasha will be 8 in January, and just had her yearly checkup. Her kidney test showed +1, and that will be redone tomorrow when she has her dental. If it stays +1 I'm not going to change her diet, but I've been put on alert. If and when it comes to pass that she needs the special diet, I will order it from Chewy. My vet only carries Royal Canin specialty diets, and they are ghastly expensive. Perhaps you can find some appropriate add-ins for the food, to make it more tempting. The reality is that you can only do the best you can do, and eating is better than not eating. Perhaps she will go with 75% kidney, 25% regular. Perhaps a dollop of kidney wet smooshed around the dry will tempt her. Or, a dollop of ANY wet dog food will help. Or something leftover from your dinner, for that matter! Again, you can only do the best you can, and sometimes that means compromising. You will figure it out, I'm sure.

[cleptogrey]

a friend of mine is a vet and recently went to a continuing ed conference and inquired about low kidney function diets. at the time felix's #s were definitely off(a result of anaplasmosis). the inquiry resulted in some interesting replies: cut the protein down by adding in carbsut. be it bread, potatoes, Entenmenn's pound cake, what ever. she had great success with dogs who were being fed strange carbs, it lowers the protein which is what is needed.

 

Personally my experience was WHITE RICE! my saluki survived parvo and his kidneys and intestines were a mess, he lived another 6 years on not the most balanced diet in the world- white rice and very very little protein. i was lucky to still have a dog, in those day no dog survived parvo. my scottie had addison's disease and with the progression of the disease and the meds he was on- he too needed a very low protein diet: pasta and rice. a simple vitamin a day will help, it's like having a kid that's a non- eater. give them vitamin supplements and they still somehow survive.

 

i tried blending the science diet longevity- lower protein or feeding that straight as of a result of the inquiry i did on GT. felix would not go near the science diet food. and i am not spending $90+ a month to feed science diet or purina or any other food's RX diet. it's as simple as that. i tried the science diet cans for a while- i had $5 coupons on 12 cans. they would not go near the stuff.

 

https://www.hillspet.com/dog-food/sd-adult-7-plus-active-longevity-original-dog-food-dry

[Busderpuddle]

Sounds like Royal Canin is awful too ? I am thinking about adding no salt broth, 1/2 of her normal food, and maybe white rice or bread, which she loves. I will stop the jerky treats, but I don't think we are going to do much else. She is pretty content right now.

My husband said this morning " so, it sounds like we will only have Ruby a couple more years, is that right?". I think it just dawned on him that we don't get to keep her forever. So sad.

[NeylasMom]

It really depends on what stage of kidney disease she's in. I don't think it's a good idea to change diet early on, and especially not to restrict protein until the latest stages of disease. The bigger consideration earlier on is phosphorous as high phosphorous (and with a kidney compromised dog that could be just the high end of hte normal range on bloodwork) is what can make them feel really sick. Rather than changing her diet, you could consider adding a phosphorous binder.

 

There are also tons of other things you can do to help a dog with kidney disease from fish oil, kidney support supplements (both Vetri-Science and Standard Process make good ones), an antacid like Pepcid, Azodyl, which is a probiotic made specifically for CKD dogs/cats, etc. I did those things with my CKD cat and switched to a "normal" canned food that had much lower phosphorous levels and we never needed to put him on a Rx diet and were able to have him for years after dx until he got mouth cancer.

[cleptogrey]

Sounds like Royal Canin is awful too ? I am thinking about adding no salt broth, 1/2 of her normal food, and maybe white rice or bread, which she loves. I will stop the jerky treats, but I don't think we are going to do much else. She is pretty content right now.

My husband said this morning " so, it sounds like we will only have Ruby a couple more years, is that right?". I think it just dawned on him that we don't get to keep her forever. So sad.

sounds reasonable and economical. not all of us are in the boat where we can spend extra $$ on special foods. you can cook your rice w/ low salt chicken broth, potatoes and yams go on sale all the time- just nuke in the microwave, bread- hit the outlet stores- we get dave's killer bread for a dollar a loaf. the dogs do not do well on the multigrain breads, it goes right thru them so stick with white. It sounds like eliminating the jerky treats will help.

 

Jen, can you please explain how Pecid AC helps the kidney function? Also, the vet recommended a change, why not? Is there something that I am missing? I changed feedings and saw results, it's pretty simple.

[Scoutsmom]

My Lizzie hated the Science Diet Kidney food as well. This was several years ago, but we found that Purina had a kidney diet food which had to be special ordered, but Lizzie would eat it until she got really sick.

[Rickiesmom]

Agree with Neylasmom that a lot depends on what stage Ruby is at.

 

I had my girl on Royal Canin kibble which looked like the best of the bunch among prescription diets at the time (a few years ago). I supplemented with a kidney friendly meatloaf that also had vegetables and called for ground toasted egg shells as a phosphorus binder. Prescription diets get a bad rap, but sometimes are the best alternative unless you are willing to do a lot of research and commit to making food at home. I also had her on Azodyl - a clinical trial showed it had no effect, but I figured can't hurt, might help.

 

Your vet may also recommend a med to reduce blood pressure, again, depending on what stage she's at.

I lost lost my girl to osteo, not kidney disease.

[lukasmom]

Could you look up what is the kidney diet that dogs seem to hate and find the same levels in better food? I know a friend who did that. Science Diet is kind of bad so she found a food with better ingredients that had the same level of protein, carbs etc.

[Busderpuddle]

Could you look up what is the kidney diet that dogs seem to hate and find the same levels in better food? I know a friend who did that. Science Diet is kind of bad so she found a food with better ingredients that had the same level of protein, carbs etc.

I have been trying to do this tonight, but haven't found a direct match yet. I ran across Canidae and am wondering if Ruby would like it, but I would give her half kibble and half white bread or rice. She loves those 2 foods a lot, especially bread.

The vet did not say what stage, but I think it's early. We have been told this before, and her labs will be repeated in December, so I will know to ask the stage at that time.

[MaryJane]

I changed feedings and saw results, it's pretty simple.

 

This is true. If protein is coming out in the urine then, there is too much protein being given in the diet. The kidneys are responsible for filtering the protein from the body and if protein is being excreted, it means that they are getting through the filtering mechanism and as a result will eventually damage the filtering function allowing even more protein to get through.

 

So, decrease the protein/phos in diet until you no longer get protein in the urine (you can get dipsticks and check it every few days yourself). And as noted, white rice is great in cases like this.