Hi Vicky T,
I have been through this with one of my older dogs a few years ago. I strongly recommend you ask your vet about the BalanceIt website. They can create a homemade recipe for you based on your dog’s kidney (bun/creatinine) levels. There are also a couple of very good sites which I found very helpful in dealing with CRF. One is dogaware which has a ton of information regarding diet and supplements. Here’s the link:
http://www.dogaware.com/health/kidneydiet.html
Another helpful site is a bit older but still loaded with information. It’s on Facebook and is called CRF Dogs. It’s exact name on FB is: CRF Dogs (Chronic Renal / Kidney Failure). for some reason, disqus never links the FB pages. Both sites are loaded with homemade diets that worked well for my dog. He was in CRF for almost a year and was not the ulitmate reason we had to put him down.
Wet food is the best thing you can do and the key is not necessarily to restrict protein, but to bind the phosphorus. You would do this with calcium and do this in various ways. Epakitin is a nutritional supplement that helps to bind the phosphorus. You can check with your vet on dosage. My vet gave me some to try. There are also many foods listed on those sites that are moderate in phosphorus levels. Green Tripe (without added minerals and vitamins) and cooked egg white are 2 proteins that are kidney friendly.
The subQ’s are essential to keep the kidney flushed from toxins. You may also need to use famotidine (generic Pepcid AC) to help with the acid that occurs and causes nausea as the disease progresses. Again, your vet should be able to help you with all of this information. Shawna is a frequent poster that has a lot more experience in dealing with Kidney Failure in a young dog, but has a wealth of information.
Good Luck!
