Kidney Food Questions

[macoduck]

My little podenco maneta, Hada, age 11, from Spain has suspected chronic kidney disease. She has showed no signs of increased urination or drinking.

 

We only got her a year ago so her history is vague and horrible.

She came to us with a mammary tumor, anaplasmosis, babesia, had not yet been spayed, and had just recovered from mange.

 

She had labs done yesterday to make sure she was doing OK on Apoquel for her allergies.

 

These are the values the came back bad. Also are her last labs done mid 2018. They are from 2 different vet offices so the value range will look a bit different. All other values were normal.

 

(3/19/19) Creatinine 1.9 mg/dl range 0.5-1.8 HIGH

BUN 47 mg/dl range 7-27 HIGH

ALKP 19 U/L 23-212 LOW

 

(6/12/18) Creatinine 1.3 mg/dl range 0.3-1.4 HIGH

BUN 61 mg/dl range 7-25 HIGH

ALP 21 U/L range 20-150 LOW

 

My vet says she needs to go on a kidney diet and has suggested several Rx brands. I do not want to do a raw diet. Vet also suggested starting Hada on Azodyl.

 

Do you have any opinion on these brands?

 

- Hill's Science Diet k/d

- Royal Canin Renal Support

- Purina NF

- Blue Buffalo Kidney Support

 

 

 

[Time4ANap]

Rocket was on the Purina NF, both kibble and canned. Not only did he scarf it down at every meal, but the other dogs who visit here always tried to get it too. So, it must have tasted okay. His kidney values stayed stable on it. It was pricey, but I was just happy that he would eat it since it was Rx food. I think I found the best pricing from Chewy.com at the time, and once they have your Rx on file, it was easy to re-order without having to submit the Rx every time.

[macoduck]

Thanks Don!

[sabrina]

Ducky years & I mean years ago, my mixed bred, kinda of collie like was on wet Hills Science diet she wouldn't eat the kibble . She was on it from 77 to 80. She was 15+ when her kidneys failed her. She was a picky eater but did eat Hills & did well on it. BUT BUT as you may know Hills dog food was recently charged with too too much vitamin D in their products causing death & illness to those dogs that ate it.. They blamed it on their supplier but that was really their responsibility to make sure it was OK

[Rickiesmom]

It may be a matter of trying different ones to see what works. Jaynie was on Royal Canin renal diet (kibble) for 6 years, we lost her to osteo, her kidney values remained pretty stable.

[JohnF]

Royal Canin Renal worked for quite a while (months) on my last Kidney dog. That firm seem to know what to put in their recipes to make the food still taste yummy. I found their Gastro Intestinal diet was good for digestive problems too.

 

You just need to do your very best to keep your dog eating, and in late stage eating anything. They'll eventually refuse food of any kind, and after that I think you have just over a week before they need to be let go. People with kidney disease say that it's terrible once they won't or can't drink water.

 

Good luck... at least you're proactively dealing with the condition now.

[MaryJane]

I might also suggest that you get a first morning urine sample and have a urinalysis so that you can follow the specific gravity and protein in the urine.

[macoduck]

I might also suggest that you get a first morning urine sample and have a urinalysis so that you can follow the specific gravity and protein in the urine

After our appointment I realized I should have asked for that, at least as a baseline.

I've now made several attempts to catch Hada's urine using various devices. She's a very short dog who kicks a leg out when she pees. Add to that me not being very bendy. I'll take what I was able to get this morning in. I hate the idea of her getting a needle stick to get the sample so I hope what I got is enough.

[NeylasMom]

Certain batches of Hill's food are being recalled for toxic levels of vitamin D. I believe so far they've only identified issues with canned foods, but personally I'd be avoiding their foods for the time being.

 

I did have success using Azodyl for my cat. There's no harm in giving that and seeing if her values come down.

 

I personally wouldn't be giving a special Rx diet with those levels. What I would do is find a food that is lower in Phosphorus, add the Azodyl, and start fish oil if you haven't already.

[cleptogrey]

My vet friends are pro Purina RX diets. You will need a script, so talk to your vet. There is always rice to bring the protein level down. Affordable, rice cookers and rice are cheap. Rice kept Felix going much longer than my vet anticipated.

My vet friends are pro Purina RX diets. You will need a script, so talk to your vet. There is always rice to bring the protein level down. Affordable, rice cookers and rice are cheap. Rice kept Felix going much longer than my vet anticipated.

[Simonsays]

Mine is on Royal Canin A dry with one of their canned renal diets as a topper/ kong filler. He loves it and gets just as excited about it as any other food. Haven't tried any other brands though. Sorry you're dealing with this, hope you find one that she likes.

[macoduck]

Today's urinalysis looks good.

[MaryJane]

The urine looks great ... I would have expected to see a specific gravity in the 20s - this one is the 30s. And, no protein leaking through - which is good.

 

edited to add - the urine results look so good that I went back and checked the BUN results - last time I read them wrong because I thought the earlier results had the lower value but, the most recent lab results had the lower value. This could indicate some "acute" condition rather than "chronic" and might suggest that the BUN could get better over time and with a diet decreased in protein/phosphorous.

Edited March 22, 2019 by MaryJane