Help Needed! renal disease support foods

sailnbyu

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My 12 year old female has just been diagnosed with a bit of renal disease. MY vet recommended a special food by Purina called NF, I am fearful of Purina products and the primary ingredient in the product is Corn! I know that she has to have special proteins not from meat but, really? Corn?

Does anybody have any experience with any of the other kidney support dog foods other than Hills KD ( I absolutely refuse to feed anything by Hills)? Maybe the product by Royal Canin?

Thanks
 
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sailnbyu

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Renal disease support foods

My 12 year old female has just been diagnosed with a bit of renal disease. MY vet recommended a special food by Purina called NF, I am fearful of Purina products and the primary ingredient in the product is Corn! I know that she has to have special proteins not from meat but, really? Corn?

Does anybody have any experience with any of the other kidney support dog foods other than Hills KD ( I absolutely refuse to feed anything by Hills)? Maybe the product by Royal Canin?

Thanks
 

RiiSi

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Re: Renal disease support foods

so sorry to hear this. I'm no expert, but I tagged someone who is. Unfortunately RC is not much better than Hill's.
 

bullmama

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I don't know the answer to this, I am not familiar with the condition. I would think a home cooked diet would work, using beans and eggs for protein?
 

cowsmom

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i really am not sure bout a diet for kidneys but i will tag [MENTION=4225]Twice[/MENTION] she is very good with these things. ill look into it also and see what i can find. i dont blame you for not wanting to feed that stuff. homecooking is a good way to go though.
 

Twice

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Re: Renal disease support foods

so sorry to hear this. I'm no expert, but I tagged someone who is. Unfortunately RC is not much better than Hill's.

It's not. I answered this question in [MENTION=4213]sailnbyu[/MENTION]'s other post in the health forum
 

Twice

My Bully Gave Me Wings
Feb 3, 2012
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Abby (my Sweetie Head 10.24.11-11.23.12) and Otis
Hi. The Purina NF is crap but not as crappy as the Hills k/d. Abby wouldn't touch the Hills or the Purina in the beginning when I tried to give it to her. She did like the Royal Canine MP but only if I mixed it with some canned green tripe. I have to tell you that the thing I used it most for was making her cookies. I wouldn't allow Abby to eat stuff that I couldn't pronounce. I found home cooking to be the best for her.

What she needs first is either a kidney specialist or an Internal Medicine doctor. It was my experience that vets don't have the kind of specialized training that is needed in dealing with renal disease. Our vet was very honest in admitting that she was learning right along with me.

The first thing that they will tell you is that she needs to be on a low protein diet. That is NOT true. What she needs are high quality proteins and the stuff in the cans isn't any kind of identifiable protein at all. The biggest thing you can do for her is to get her on a low phosphorous diet. It isn't protein that causes the kidneys to work hard, it is filtering the phosphorous in what she eats that does the most damage.

You need to start her on a phosphorous binder immediately. You can either buy a liquid or aluminum hydroxide gel powder. I can PM you with where to get them if you need. The powered gel is so much cheaper than the liquid and it's easier to dose and administer too, just mix it into the food - she won't even know it's in there. I also added ground egg shells to Abby's diet. The shell makes a great binder plus is the best calcium source on the planet so she got both, AH powder and shells.

You also need to start her on subQ fluids as soon as possible. Giving those fluids will allow her kidneys to work less reduce further damage. If the doctor hasn't prescribed it, call them back and demand a prescription. Don't let them talk you out of it. Don't let them tell you that it's not needed yet. If you don't believe anything else that I post here for you, please believe these 2 things. Phosphorous binder and SubQ fluids immediately. You can add months or even years to her life with just 2 things.

If they do give you a script, they will try to charge you around 20.00 per bag. Don't pay that. Take the script to Walgreens or Costco. They will probably have to special order it for you but you can buy an entire case of 12 for around 30 bucks. My vet was nice enough to price match Walgreens price for me, maybe yours will be too so talk to them. I have 3 full boxes of needles that I can send to you if you like them. 2 boxes of 20 gauge, 1 box of 18 gauge. In my opinion, the best needle size is 19 gauge but only Terumo makes them and that's not a brand most vets carry. I have needles and about half a dozen admin kits sitting on a shelf.

You should also start her on Pepcid every day. Kidney dogs are prone to stomach and mouth ulcers. It's much better to prevent these things than it is to try to cure them. Ask your vet about that too. The normal dose is 10mg twice a day.

I don't know how much information you want from me but I have about a thousand resources for you if you would like them. I would also like to point you to a few online support groups too if you don't mind. If you post her test results I can help you come up with a diet for her. I'm hesitant to make any suggestions since I don't know how high her levels are. I made sure to get a copy of all of Abby's test results and I kept them in a google spreadsheet along with any meds and supplements she was getting. I also listed what she ate each week so that I could see how different things in the diet affected her kidney values. You may want to consider something like that too.

I am so sorry that you have been put on this roller coaster ride. If there is ANYTHING that I can do to help, please let me know.
 
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sailnbyu

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thanks for your reply. I hate this! I have been so careful about what I have fed her based on my sometimes poor education and listening to multiple vets "opinions" on bulldog nutrition. I always considered myself a very good bulldog mom in every way, and now this. I feel powerless over this disease and the vet just tells me it's part of the "old age" progression, yet I get no real answers as to how severe the disease is, how progressive it is, or what the prognosis is! the only answers I get from my vet or the internet is "many dogs live several months to several years" after changing to this special diet. Bologna! or as we say in Texas, Baloney! I want information that makes a difference for MY baby girl! Sorry for the rant, I feel better now. If anyone knows of an article or any media I can obtain to become more informed on the disease and the feeding options I would be forever grateful.
 

Twice

My Bully Gave Me Wings
Feb 3, 2012
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Woodbridge Township, NJ
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Abby (my Sweetie Head 10.24.11-11.23.12) and Otis
@sailnbyu

Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Bev and 9 days ago I lost my Abby to renal failure, she was 13 months old. My sweetie head was born with a condition called Bilateral Renal Dysplasia.. both of her kidneys were deformed and broken, she was a baby in kidney failure. The day she was diagnosed, her numbers were so out of control that I was told to take her home and say goodbye. My Abby lived another 10 months thanks to a homemade diet, supplements, subQ fluids and the love and support that I found here in the amazing people at EBN. She was, in every sense of the word... our little miracle.

When she was diagnosed at 3 months old, she had already lost 75% of her kidney function. That's the thing with this horrible disease, symptoms don't appear until 75% or more of kidney function is lost. Kidneys are one of the few organs in the body that cannot repair themselves, once the nephrons are gone they are gone. The only way to tell for 100% sure how much function is lost is by doing a biopsy. The problems with biopsies are 1) it subjects the animal to stress, 2) it requires anesthesia that the kidneys can't filter out properly and 3) the organs are already operating at reduced capacity. To remove more nephrons only causes more function to be lost. The best, safest way to determine the extent of the disease is by ultrasound. Blood tests are very accurate and are recommended often.

Stages of renal disease are based on creatinine levels, this is why it is so important for you test often and to keep copies of all test results. The normal range for CREA is between 0.3 and 1.4. This reference range varies between labs but those are the baselines that my lab used. Your lab might use different ranges so you can scale up from here. It looks like this...

1.5 - 3.0 is mild or 1st stage renal disease
3.1-6.0 is moderate or 2nd stage renal disease
6.1 - 20 is severe or 3rd or end stage renal failure

Your vet isn't telling you much because he or she probably doesn't know much. Vets aren't trained for this just like they aren't trained in nutrition. You need a specialist. You asked how progressive it is? That depends on how quickly you start treatment. There is no cure for this and I'm sorry there is no easy way to say this but she may probably die from it. You cannot stop this disease. All you can do is slow its progression. At least 3/4 of her kidney function is already lost. The kidneys job is to filter out the water and toxins from food, drugs and naturally produced urea (nitrogen) from the blood and excrete it through the urine. The less kidney function there is, the more of these toxins and nitrogen products stay in the bloodstream. In time, they will cause damage to other organs. Your vet is right tho. Most dogs can live for several months or even years if diagnosed early and treatments are started immediately. This is why I was so adamant in my first response to you about starting subQ fluids and phosphorous binders right away.

But please realize something. Even if you do everything right from here on in, follow the instructions to the letter.. proper diet and supplements, measure and calculate every morsel of food that goes into her... no matter how far above and beyond you go.. nephrons are dying. That is the very definition of kidney disease, nephrons are dying. Hopefully they more slowly than without treatment, but they are still dying and there is nothing that we can do to stop that. As hard as it is for me to say (especially right now, so soon after Abby) and as hard as it is for you to read/hear... we will eventually lose this battle.

A large percentage of kidney failure happens due to old age. A smaller percentage is due to poisoning or other toxin exposure and smaller still are the babies born with it. Nephrons get damaged over time because of overuse, poor circulation or high levels of bacteria such as from an untreated UTI. You probably did NOTHING wrong. This just happened. I'm sorry and I know that it sucks (believe me I know!) but it isn't your fault. The fact that you are so upset about it proves that you are a good bully mom. Don't question that.

You can start your own research at dogaware.com. That would be a good place to start. Be careful of the websites that try to sell you miracle cures. I can tell you that there are no miracle cures. The miracle is in the time that you get to spend with her. Don't get angry right now, there is time for that later. Today you have a lot of learning to do. I can help you if you'd like. I don't want to flood your inbox with links and things that you may not want just yet, but I have them if you would like them. I know that feeling of drowning after you hear the words "kidney failure". It sucks all the air out of the room and you can't breathe.

It's a roller coaster ride. There will be good days and there will be bad days. You can rant, rave, scream and cry all you need to. We are here for you.
 
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