[anonymously]

I read that these two may have less sodium than other brands also:
ProPlan Select (Sensitive Skin and Stomach) and
Wellness CORE Original Formula

Low Sodium Dog Food

[anonymously]

Unless your dog has a medical condition and a veterinarian has recommended a low-sodium diet….. Healthy dogs usually do not need a special dog food that is low in sodium. Most brands have a minimum amount of sodium, .3%, for maintenance of body functions that require it.

That being said, I read that Orijen has less sodium than other brands. However, the price might be a deterrent. With the better brands you will find you need to feed less kibble, it is dense and less like sawdust as with the cheap brands.

My dogs do well on Nutrisca dry as a base, with a topper such as a spoonful of scrambled egg (made with water) cooked chopped lean meat or chicken, tuna, a spoonful of homemade chicken broth (nothing added) just boil a chicken for 3+ hours, debone, defat, freeze 2-3 day servings, it makes about a quart.
Check chewy.com for prices. If you get a large bag you can freeze 1/2 of it and store the rest in an airtight container, in the fridg if you have room, or at least in a cool dry room.

I add a splash of water to the food, my senior gets his kibble presoaked with water.

Dogs that are prone to weight gain do well with a one hour walk per day, even at a leisurely pace.
Offer meals twice a day, if he doesn’t eat pick it up store in the fridg and offer at the next meal time. He will eat when he is hungry, if he doesn’t eat times 3 days consult a veterinarian. Make sure he is drinking adequate water. Oh, and he is old enough for adult food.
Also, if his bowel habits don’t stabilize soon, I would take him to the vet.

[tarcy m]

Hi.. I am a new owner to a rescue pup as of 3 weeks ago. He has severe allergies and is being treated with TemerilP to stop the licking, and scratching. I am not ruling out the food he’s on at the moment as the culprit. At the vets office yesterday he gave me the green light to make his food at home. This is where my confusion begins (sigh): 5 part diet, 1 part only proteins not to exceed 20%, low sodium, low protein. He also told me to buy a petcap multivitamin and add to his food. Warner (2-4 years) has not been diagnosed with anything yet but were in the process of possible heart/lung conditions he believes due to allergies/bronchial, but not certain as the diagnostics are expensive..

I was excited to begin this culinary experience until I googled home made dog food. Do this, don’t do that, egg shells, bones..?? How do I know his nutritional needs and which recipe to achieve this? I am almost ready to throw in the towel, but haven’t given up yet.

What I am asking is anyone who is familiar with the above issues to direct me or give me a break down in figuring out his dietary needs along with what to cook for his max benefits. I’d much rather feed him foods that are of nature and not the preserved bag stuff on the shelf. I appreciate all that took the time to read this post and I hope to hear back soon. Thank you ~ Warner’s Mom

[crazy4cats]

Hi Sue C-
Glad to hear your pup is doing better. Did you trying typing “low sodium” in the search bar in the upper left under your sign in? There are a lot of posts on the forum on this subject.

As far as the crystals in the urine go, making sure your dog gets as much moisture/water in the diet as possible is really important. I always add a little water and some canned food to my dogs’ meals. For my cat who also has had issues with crystals, I mostly feed canned food to him and still add water to it.

Plenty of bathroom breaks are also important to keep the urine from getting stagnant.

[Sue C]

I saw a few older posts on this, but just signed on as a member. Our cavalier had congestive heart failure a few weeks ago. He is 9, is on 4 meds/day and is doing very well. A salesperson at Petsmart gave me a printout of the Tufts Vet School dog foods. Hills has almost half the sodium as Royal Canin, what we’ve been using. I did switch, but also worry about too high protein content. As a puppy, we fed Spencer Blue and had to take him off it because he developed crystals in his urine. Any experience or advice on this one? Don’t want to create any more issues. Also have a 1 1/2 yr. old Cav puppy and thought to switch her also to low-sodium kibble. Thanks!

[Shawna]

Hi Pittiemama,

Hopefully I can help you here. My puppy had kidney disease right from birth. It is believed her kidneys just weren’t able to develop (she was the sixth puppy, the runt, for a 12 pound Chihuahua / Boston Terrier mix). The breeder had to had feed her, due to a collapsing trachea, raw goats milk and egg whites to keep her alive. She had symptoms (excessive drinking and urine) at just six weeks of age. She was officially diagnosed at one year and given a year to live. She lived to eight years and seven months old and then passed for reasons not directly related to kd.

A little background on me, my father is a naturopath. I did consult with him when I got Audrey’s diagnosis but being raised by him, I was able to mostly formulate the plan of attack myself.

Audrey’s numbers, when she was diagnosed, were right around the same as your babies — and she lived almost seven more very very healthy and happy years. It could happen for your baby too.

The first thing I would suggest is to keep up on his dental health. You won’t want to use anesthesia for dental cleanings so RIGHT now start doing anything and everything you need to keep his teeth clean. It was actually bacteria likely from a dental infection that got into Audrey’s kidneys and ultimately took her life. Use fresh garlic in his meals. Use an enzyme supplement in his water, Dr. Melissa Shelton’s essential oil called Dog Breath is very effective and a drop can be added to his water dish or you can mix with water in a spray bottle and spray right on teeth. http://www.animaleo.info/dog-breath.html I would also recommend a product made by Green Pasture’s called Infused Coconut Oil. It’s high in vitamin K2 (which has been shown to have great benefit for teeth) and has other wonderful nutrients. All of my dogs get it but I found it when Audrey’s teeth were already needing some extra support. 🙁 http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Products/InfusedCoconutOil/index.cfm

I HIGHLY recommend Standard Process Canine Renal Support. It is a food based supplement that “feeds” the kidneys but also has a product called a protomorphogen (which is the RNA/DNA of the kidney cell) that helps prevent inflammation to the kidneys. It is the one supplement she never went without. I also used their SP Canine Hepatic Support when I thought she needed a little liver support — helps with allergies too. I also used their Cataplex B and C as water soluble vitamins may need to be added due to the large amounts being urinated out.

ONLY give filtered or other forms of “clean” water. I would avoid tap water at all cost. Lower sodium mineral waters with good amounts of calcium and magnesium have been shown to be beneficial for dogs with kd. I like Evian water because it is high in calcium bicarbonate. I didn’t give it all the time but made sure (at least in the beginning) to give it regularly — I got lax in the later years and I truly believe Audrey would still be with me if I had not. She was doing so well though and my life got busier..

I HIGHLY recommend getting some Garden of Life Primal Defense probiotic and Garden of Life Acacia Fiber supplements as well. These are used as “nitrogen traps” and as BUN begins to build up the bacteria consuming the fiber will cause some of the nitrogen to be routed through the bowels freeing up the kidneys from having to deal with them. I gave probiotic foods (like green tripe, fermented veggies etc) frequently but when I noticed she was feeling a little lethargic, depressed, not feeling well etc I assumed nitrogen was building up and I’d give her the probiotics and prebiotic for several days. Always worked like a charm. Will be quite important as the disease progresses and he starts getting symptoms. This also allows for a higher protein diet. The protein doesn’t damage the kidneys but it does, due to BUN, add to symptoms. Oh, I forgot to mention. Audrey ate a HIGH protein raw diet up until the last six to eight weeks of her life. Audrey never had a problem with phosphorus but as your puppies disease progresses you may have to watch the amount of phosphorus in the foods you are feeding. The golden rule is to limit phosphorus but it’s obviously not always necessary. That said, phosphorus can damage the kidneys if it gets too high in the blood so either monitor it or feed the right amounts of phos for the stage your pup is at. Right now while phosphorus isn’t as big an issue, I like the Honest Kitchen Brave. To that I would add a raw egg a few times per week and give Answer’s raw goat milk regularly as well. Both raw eggs (if not whipped etc) and raw milk can easily increase the “master antioxidant” in the body called glutathione. This will obviously help out everything. Later, when phos needs to be more restricted, you may not be able to give the whole egg (as the yolk is higher in phos).

Supplements —
1. Organic Turmeric is good as it is anti-inflammatory but it also is anti-fibrotic (prevents scar tissue). Audrey didn’t tolerate turmeric well so she didn’t get it but in general it would be quite helpful for a dog with KD.
2. Spirulina, chlorella and pumpkin seed oil are all high in chlorophyll and supplies lots of other nutrients. Dogs with KD can be at risk for anemia and chlorophyll is awesome for anemia.
3. Burdock root is a prebiotic and of the herb world is considered to be the “blood cleaner”.
4. Milk thistle helps spare glutathione and is a good detoxer.
5. Distilled water (given once in a while) and food grade activated charcoal are good detoxers too.
6. Copaiba essential oil is great for pains and inflammation plus more. A therapeutic grade, like Dr. Sheltons, is the only kind to use on pets. Can be given in food or rubbed into the skin over the kidneys as an example.
7. Braggs brand apple cider vinegar can help with indigestion or tummy issues. Audrey didn’t need it often but when she did I would mix it 50/50 with water and syringe feed it. She hated it but within seconds would burp and feel better.
8. Therapeutic grade peppermint oil, ginger extract or Dr. Shelton’s GI Joe essential oil work great for tummy issues as well. I got sick to my tummy and used the GI Joe to help. Kept me from vomiting and soothed my tummy.
9. Learn about essential oils if you don’t already know. If you have a Facebook account, join AnimalEO’s page and sign up for Dr. Shelton’s Friday Fun Facts. I didn’t know about them early enough to be much use with Audrey (specifically Dr. Shelton’s oils) but I sure wish I had.

DON’T do ANY more vaccinations – not even rabies if you can at all avoid. Audrey was legally exempted from having to get the rabies vaccine for life. She wasn’t protected either as she only got her first shot (at six months) before diagnosis was made. No heartworm, flea/tick or anything like that either.

I know there’s things I’m forgetting but hopefully this is enough to give you a good jumping off point.. 🙂 Hugs to you and your baby boy!!!!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 11 months ago by Shawna.

[anonymously]

And always:
“It’s important to provide your dog with extra fluids and frequent opportunities to urinate in order to keep his urine from becoming supersaturated. Salt should not be added to increase fluid consumption for dogs with cystinuria; according to studies conducted on humans, a low-sodium diet may decrease the amount of cystine in the urine”.

Excerpt from http://www.dogaware.com/articles/wdjotherstones.html#cystine

[Shawna]

Hi Keira,

So sorry to hear about your baby!!

Diagnosed as stage 4 but has no symptoms other than urinating inappropriately? That’s odd. It would be really helpful to know the results of the original blood panel (before starting the prescription diet) when discussing foods and supplements. As the BUN and creatinine get more elevated you need to start limiting phosphorus (as it can build up in the system and damage the kidneys) and protein (as it contributes to symptoms – but NOT to damaging the kidneys)). Example – in the later stages of the disease egg yolks should be increasingly limited because of the higher phosphorus content in them. Ask you vet for a copy of your pup’s blood work if you don’t already have it and then let us know the values.

Nitrogen trapping is helpful at any stage of renal failure but becomes the most noticeably beneficial when you start seeing symptoms – vomiting, inappetance, possibly lethargy or depression etc. In order to create a nitrogen trap you absolutely need a probiotic (however I’m not sure which bacteria is involved in nitrogen trapping so I recommend using one with a WIDE variety of beneficial microbes – one like Garden of Life Primal Defense (human product)). When my Audrey was diagnosed with KD at age one (she was also given a year to live but lived to just shy of age nine) I tried multiple different fiber sources (which are also considered prebiotics – feed the microbes in the gut). Some of the prebiotics (such as apple and grapefruit pectin or the fiber in the grain barley) had a negative impact – the pectins made her symptoms worse and she had a food sensitivity to the barley. I ended up using acacia fiber for her from age one and half(ish) to when she passed. Garden of Life has an acacia fiber product as well but NOW brand makes one and there are a few others.

“Standard Process Renal Support” is the one supplement that my girl NEVER did without. It helps in many many many ways including giving the kidneys the nourishment they need to preventing inflammation from damaging the kidneys further. The Standard Process brand have specific products (called protomorphogens) that help with inflammation. There are other things I used for Audrey or would recommend – such as turmeric bombs / balls, Evian bottle water (lower in sodium then some others and a type of calcium very easily used by the body), activated charcoal, spirulina, chlorella and so on.

Your current diet doesn’t have a source of calcium listed which is VERY important.. If you can give us her actual info from the blood panel we can more easily recommend the right diet for you.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Chad:
Here’s a link to some info on low sodium diets from Tuft’s you may find helpful:
http://vet.tufts.edu/heartsmart/diet/reduced-sodium-diet-and-treat-lists-for-pets-with-heart-disease/

and here’s a link to another forum thread about reduced sodium kibble. Even though it’s about kibble you may find some helpful info there too:
/forums/topic/dry-dog-food-with-low-salt-and-low-fat/#post-46587

[Patti S]

Chad,
Some more store brands that are low sodium:
http://www.munch.zone/best-low-sodium-dog-food/

You might find this helpful too. It’s low sodium recipes for dogs:
http://bigheartsfund.harmonyapp.com/resources/diet/homemade-low-sodium-food-recipes

[Patti S]

Hi Chad, and “Anonymously”,

The prescription low sodium food you can get from your vet is great, if your dog will eat it. Also, there are different degrees of sodium allowable for the canine cardio patient. Some just need reduced or moderate levels of sodium, while others need a food with drastically lower levels. Dogs need some sodium in their diets. So you should find out from your vet what kind of sodium restrictions your dog needs, especially if your dog has other health issues, such as kidney or liver disease.

These are all on a dry matter basis:
Mild Sodium restriction is 0.3 -0.4%
Moderate Sodium restriction is 0.2 -0.3%
Marked Sodium restriction is 0.15-0.2%
Extreme Sodium restriction is 0.75-0.15%

My personal problem with the Hill’s Prescription Heart Care canned food is, the fat content is at 29.0%, and the protein content is 17.3%. Dogs with a heart problem need higher and high quality protein in their diets, and lower fat. It also contains corn (not a problem unless your dog has a corn intolerance), but I know it’s a cheap filler and it’s listed as the third ingredient!
With the Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Early Cardiac diet, the first ingredient is rice followed by chicken fat. Powdered cellulose (saw dust) is amongst the first six ingredients. I just know I can feed my dog a whole lot better than this.

It’s been determined that inadequate protein intake, or deficiencies of specific amino acids, can actually cause serious heart disease and the Cardiology Subspecialty of the ACVIM has recommended avoidance of protein restricted diets (specifically for dogs with old-age heart valve disease). Also, it’s extremely important for cardiac patients to maintain a normal body weight. Excessive weight, in the form of body fat, places additional stress on the heart and in more than one way. Besides the additional work of the heart that’s required for normal ambulation and exercise, excess fat causes an “oxidative stress”. Oxidative stress disrupts normal metabolism in many ways and impairs the ability of blood vessels to expand and deliver nutrients in a normal way.

I’ve persisted and found these additional low sodium dog foods, that are very high in quality:

• Evanger’s Beef with Spinach and Kale Canned dog food – 0.1136% sodium on a dry matter basis

• Solid Gold Howling at the Stars turkey, Ocean whitefish, and Sweet Potato Recipe (canned) 0.23% sodium

• Solid Gold Hund-N-Flocken With Lamb (dry) – 0.23% sodium

Here is where you can see charts in both allowable sodium in milligrams per kcal per 100, and also by percentages of dry matter. With this information you can contact dog food manufacturers and get the sodium content. If you scroll down further (at the link below) it has a list of some over the counter dog foods that are low sodium.
I’ll say it again…. it’s SO wrong that sodium levels aren’t published on the dog food packages, but I’m willing to jump through hoops to get my dog the food he needs!

http://www.vermontveterinarycardiology.com/index.php/for-clients/feeding-the-cardiac-patient

[Chad C]

Thank you, Patti. My dog was just diagnosed with congestive heart failure and I was also looking for good information. Do you know what is considered “low” sodium from the food varieties you listed?

[3pupmom]

Good afternoon. My apologies for the length of this post. My Miniature Schnauzer Ninja was dx w/struvite crystals in Sept. I took him to vet to get some Metro for his yucky diarrhea & it turns out he had a raging UTI, his liver function was out of whack plus pancreatitis all at once. He was hospitalized for 2days, xrays showed no stones and he came home w/antibiotics. I think clavamox. 1 month later at his recheck, ph was 7 still has struvites in his urine plus some rbc/wbc but no infection (vet did a culture). 2nd recheck in Nov ph was 5.5, no struvites, but now he has calcium oxalate crystals. In Sept, before the hospitalization, Ninja was on Canidae All Stages only. When he came home I started him on THK Halcyon, the duck formulation, with a little of the Canidae. After the Oct followup I started him on VetriScience UT strength supplements which contains D-Mannose & Cranberry Extract and switched the kibble to Nature’s Domain Turkey. I was going to add Vitamin C supplements but now after the Nov followup with his urinary ph being 5.5 my vet said not to. I’ve now completely cut kibble out of his diet & he’s on 1/3cup THK only with 3/4cup water to rehydrate twice per day. I give him a 1/2 cup of unsalted broth (23mg sodium) mid-day and there’s plenty of fresh/clean water throughout the house which he barely touches. I’m putting a little bit of white rice in his food/broth to entice him to eat/drink. 2weeks ago I switched from the VetriScience UT Strength to UT Stat. He goes back for another recheck on 12/18. He’s 5years old & this has never been an issue before. Since Sept the vet has been suggesting Royal Canin SO. It’s garbage food & I’d rather not feed that. I’m at a loss at this point. Any suggestions on a different supplement?

[Jenn H]

I agree with anonymously. Get a 2nd or 3rd opinion. ASAP. Go to as many vets as needed to get an answer. An animal that small takes no time to become dehydrated. Dehydration can also cause nausea.

You can add a little low sodium/low fat chicken broth to get her to drink. Or freeze it if she likes ice cubes.

To help with the diarrhea give her a tiny bit of pumpkin or probiotics. This really is only treating some symptoms. Not the cause.

Also don’t leave food out 24/7. It loses its nutritional value, usually loses its enticing smell and just makes dogs less interested because they know it’s not going anywhere. If they have limited time to get eating they become better eaters.

Always add water to her meals. Especially kibble. Helps keep her hydrated and makes things easier to digest. And offer lots of small meals throughout the day. Much easier on the belly.

My dog is going through some GI issues now too. My regular vet hasn’t been able to find the cause. She ended up at emergency even though her symptoms weren’t terrible. Yet. Turns out she was in some pain. Slightly dehydrated. X-rays showed nothing really. Labs weren’t too out of whack.
Gave her metronidazole, tramadol, Pepcid, prescription probiotics, sub-q fluids.
The next day we were at an internal medicine specialist who did an ultrasound and redid the labs. Still haven’t found the cause of her trouble, but we have a plan going forward and I’m confident we’ll figure it out. They looked at everything. Pancreas, gallbladder, liver, kidneys, spleen, etc.

In Feb she had acute pancreatitis and was diagnosed again with it and the general inflammed bowel while treating Lyme. She’s had issues since Feb. Finding the cause is a little difficult given the Lyme and it’s treatment options.

Don’t waste time on vets who can’t or won’t help you. Time is of the essence. She’s likely experiencing pain. It’s not fair to let her suffer. Even a little bit.

Good luck.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Jenn H.

[HammockLover]

I just adopted a second dog yesterday and the shelter switched over to this food (they used to use Science Diet). I got really excited at the prospect of saving some money and the convenience of getting it at the grocery store (currently I use Merrick Grain Free) so the first thing I did was come on here to see if it was reviewed.

While it isn’t reviewed, I just got done going through the ingredient list to at least see which ones are controversial and thought I should share here:

***I couldn’t find info on the following ingredients: Dicalcium Phosphate, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Manganous Oxide, L-Carnitine***

Spray Dried Egg Product – Cheap protein filler, a by-product remaining after making liquid eggs for humans.

Tomato Pomace – Cheap fiber filler, a by-product remaining after processing tomatoes into juice, soup and ketchup

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex – A controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

The last one is what concerns me, so I plan on sticking with Merrick. I apologize if I missed any, this was just me looking at about 15 dog food reviews here and cross referencing the ingredients.

[C4D]

Red, I’m not sure where you got the information that salt is part of the canning process. I don’t buy a lot of canned foods, but the ones I do buy are salt free. I have found sardines, tomato products, and vegetables that are salt free. The National Center for Home Food Preservation doesn’t agree with your statement:

Canned dog foods often can be higher in fat than traditional kibble, but not necessarily higher in sodium. Could you please link where you got that information from? Salt is considered an essential mineral by AAFCO Standards:

I don’t know why, but it won’t allow the links, but if you look up theNational Center for Home Food Preservation and go to FAQ’s and AAFCO Standards, you will find it.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by C4D.

[C4D]

Hi Ruth Anne G,

You could try a different protein source other than chicken, there are many. At this point, before the vet check, anything that he will eat and stop the diarrhea is fine. He might have a chicken intolerance, but until the parasite check comes out clean, you just won’t know. Make sure that the vet sends it out to a lab, vs an inhouse fecal float. That’s the best way (and it still has it’s flaws) to find possible parasite infection. I’ve been through those before and it’s not pretty.

Caesar’s puppy is really not a great deal, there are many others that are priced the same or better with far better ingredients. Susan is absolutely right about the ingredients. Here are the ingredients I found on Caesar’s website. It actually contains an unidentified meat by product, chicken, and unidentified animal liver before the lamb, so it might be more stress diarrhea than chicken issue:

Ingredients: MEAT BY-PRODUCT, SUFFICIENT WATER FOR PROCESSING, CHICKEN, ANIMAL LIVER, LAMB, RICE, CHICKEN BY-PRODUCTS, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SODIUM TRIPOLYPHOSHPHATE, FISH OIL, CARRAGEENAN, POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, DRIED YAM, ADDED COLOR, XANTHAN GUM, MAGNESIUM PROTEINATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, SALT, ERYTHORBIC ACID, DL-METHIONINE, GUAR GUM, SUGAR, ZINC SULFATE, VITAMIN E SUPPLEMENT, BIOTIN, POTASSIUM IODIDE, COPPER SULFATE, YELLOW #6, SODIUM NITRITE (FOR COLOR RETENTION), D-CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, YELLOW #5, MANGANESE SULFATE, THIAMINE MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENT, VITAMIN D3 SUPPLEMENT

Let us know how he does at the vet and we will be more than happy to help. I agree with Anonymously on possibly holding off on the vaccines until the diarrhea is contolled, but your vet can decide. I would personally give it a few days, but that’s IMO! 🙂

Red, kibble soaked in water is just kibble soaked in water. The only thing that’s similar with wet food is there is more water in it than dry kibble. It is still a highly processed product, even more processed than canned. The water is better than dry, but canned or fresh is still less processed and better than kibble.

[Shawna]

Hi Vicky T,

My Chihuahua mix had kidney disease from birth and lived to just shy of nine years of age. The most important thing I can say about kidney disease is DON’T feed a kibble diet — even prescription kibble. If you want to stick with prescription, Science Diet has some nice canned products that they recently came out with. One is beef based and the other is chicken based. If you are interested in feeding homemade, Veterinary Nutritionist Dr. Meg Smart has a nice recipe on her blog page. Dr. Smart gives a recipe for “early to moderate” and for “late stage” kidney disease. http://petnutritionbysmart.blogspot.com/2013/02/home-made-diets-and-renal-disese-in.html

Many, if not most, vets have not yet heard about (or understand if they did hear) the importance of probiotics and certain prebiotics (aka fermentable fibers) for kidney patients. These two supplements help to re-route BUN from the dog’s blood to the colon. This helps pup feel better and allows for a bit higher protein diet. The Merck Vet Manual has a nice blurb about it if your or your vet might be interested. They write “In addition, feeding moderately fermentable fiber can facilitate enteric dialysis and provide a nonrenal route of urea excretion.” http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/management_and_nutrition/nutrition_small_animals/nutrition_in_disease_management_in_small_animals.html

The fermentable fiber I found to be the most helpful with my Audrey was a human product called “Fiber35 Sprinkle Fiber”. It is no longer made but the fiber used, acacia fiber, is also sold by NOW brand. The probiotic I used is also a human product called “Garden of Life Primal Defense”. I gave the products together with Audrey’s meal whenever she seemed depressed, down or not feeling well. Audrey at a HIGH protein diet her whole except the last couple months and then I added some canned KD to her diet.

If Audrey had symptoms of nausea (which was rare until the very end) I would add a drop or two of peppermint essential oil (therapeutic grade only) or ginger extract (from health food store). Now vet Dr. Melissa Shelton has a line of essential oils for animals that are wonderful. I tried her GI Goe product when I had eaten something that wasn’t agreeing with me and it helped TREMENDOUSLY.. I put a dot of the oil on my finger and rubbed it on my tongue. Helped almost immediately.

Having a purified source of high quality drinking water always available is a great idea. Also giving Evian (or another high calcium, lower sodium mineral water) has been shown to help kd patients too.

The one supplement that I gave my Audrey from the day of diagnosis to the day she passed was Standard Process Canine Renal Support. It is a whole food supplement that can help prevent damage to the kidneys from inflammation. I HIGHLY recommend it.

I also really really like Answer’s Raw Goat Milk for kd dogs. It can often be found in pet boutique stores.

I found my local vets (two regular vets and one holistic vet (that I otherwise LOVE)) to be almost useless when it came to diet (or anything else natural that could be helpful with kidney disease).. I hope your vet is much more helpful!!!

Do take a look at the link that C4D posted (dogaware). That site was HUGELY helpful to me when I was trying to figure out what to do with Audrey right after diagnosis.

Good luck to you and thanks to C4D for the kind words!!!!

[Ken Y]

Hello Everyone,

As the title reads, I am currently having a diarrhea with bright colored blood, which has been on and off twice now for about 2weeks. This is my first post and I read a few other posts on here about my dog’s current condition, but didn’t find exactly what I was looking for.

I have a 5yo Male Boston Terrier named ‘Hammond’ who was brought up on Taste of The Wild (Fowl Mix) dry kibble. He is my dog, but my father has grown quite fond of him and takes him during the work week and I get him on the weekends. He has been allergy tested due to an ongoing itchy skin condition since he was 1yo and tested positive to an abundance of substances. The main allergens consist of beef, venison, milk, dust mites and certain grass. I recently read an article that seemed to indicate that his skin condition may be a result of a yeast infection and have since switched his diet to a carb free raw diet.

He has been on a raw organic, no additive, low sodium chicken drumstick and thigh diet for about 4-5months now. He was about 28lbs before the raw diet and has since slimmed down to about 25lbs. His calculated serving size totals to be about 1.25lbs a day. I have found a prefered brand I like at a local grocery store and my father has been feeding him an organic brand from Costco with similar listings. He was perfectly fine with the switch with only one or two incidents, which involved bile throw up since the switch until recently. He has had about 2 separate incidents this past 2 weeks involving diarrhea and bright red blood spots. I took the appropriate steps and fasted him for a full day and gave him some rice and boiled chicken to see if symptoms improved and then went back to the drumsticks and thighs. Everything seemed fine for a few days, with the exception of softer stool than usual, but just yesterday, my father told me the diarrhea and blood was back.

We are taking him to the vet this Sat, but I’m more than positive that the Dr. is going to tell us to switch back to a reg dry kibble dog food as most vets don’t approve of raw diets.

Both diarrhea incidents happened when my father had him, feeding him the Costco organic chicken. Is it possible that maybe he got a bad batch of chicken? I have ordered a supply of the ‘Premeasured service’, chicken necks and green tripe from Reel Raw as recommended from this site and it will be arriving today. I made sure to list his allergens in the ground mix.

Should I stop with the raw?..

Thank you for the long read and any advise is appreciated.

[Thor J]

The soy is one of the greatest myths out there that its raises estrogen levels in men OMG.The reality and the science is that ISOFLAVONES when they first isolated them the scientists they discovered that these molecules are look like the estrogen estradiol.BUT their effect on humans are HIGHLY BENEFICIAL and they act like SERMS (SELECTIVE ESTROGEN RECEPTOR MODULATORS) like the well known drug tamoxifen for example BUT without the sides of the drug.We all have the alph and beta estrogenic receptors in our body,usually the alpha are linked with some hormone related cancers and the beta they have only favourable effects for us.The alpha they are mainly in breast tissue ovaries,liver,testicles the beta in lungs,prostate,blood cells,bladder thymus,bones.Now how do the isoflavoes work.They BIND to the ALPH receptors (the bad receptors) when you have EXCESSIVE amount of MAMMALIAN ESTROGENS (the REAL ESTROGENS) in your blood for example in adolescence or when a woman is pregnant or when you are drinking for example too much COWS MILK or you are eating cheeses red meat etc then the isoflavones they BIND with the alpha because IF THE MAMMLIAN ESTROGENS (your own or the estrogens from tha milk or animals that you are eating or medications that many women are taking) they will stimulate on the long run SOME POSSIBLE HORMONE RELATED CANCERS.The isoflavones protect you that way and tou pee the extra estrogen through the urine.On the other hand when either a man or a woman tou have VERY LOW ESTROGEN (and even for us men SOME percentage or estrogen we MUST have in order to have health cardiovascular system bones etc) the isoflavones they go and bind the beta receptors and they excert ONLY FAVOURABLE EFFECTS ON YOUR BODY and they continue to excert their effect even after the levels of estrogen have decreased.Plus isoflavones are powerfull antioxidants and they have shown promising activity in combination with some other interesting molecules like sulforaphane for example in cancer fighting.Similar things like the soys ANTIESTROGENIC activity if you have high estrogens in your blood they excert all the cruciferous vegetables like broccoli,kale,brussels sprouts etc the 3-indole-carbinol and the diindolymethane DIM.Soy is PERFECTLY fine food high in COMPLETE protein minerals and many other beneficial phytochemicals just beware of GMO soy.In reality more that 95% of the GMO soy is feed for the livestock among with GMO corn and oats.Organic soy is perfectly fine.The only animal (food) that its perfect from any aspect is the egg especially the egg WHITE caus ethe yolk has too much ARA and it acts as and proinflammatory marker.Egg white is only protein water sodium and selenium go for it.I’m on a whole food plant based diet (dont like the word vegan) with the exception of egg whites (always free range from a friends farm,real farm) and the gains are better than ever.Dont stay in the medieval times STEREOTYPES ARE THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Larry:
Those are all great ideas Red and C4c posted. I follow the download from Steve Brown C4c suggested for adding fresh foods to kibble for my dog.

I would like to suggest making bone broth. I make it once a month and feed a few cups/wk regularly to my dog. If you are interested in the easy (and lazy) recipe I use just let me know. Otherwise, you could try picking up a low sodium/no msg added broth from your grocery store. Add it to her kibble, the flavor might make the kibble more enticing for her.

[Ryan L]

Hello,
We have a 1 year and 3 month year old female Maltese Yorkshire Yorkshire Terrier Mix named Lennon. She is the light of our life, very smart and playful but has had a delicate tummy from day one. The breeder we got her from was feeding her Purina’s and we switched her quickly to Fromm Gold Holistic Puppy Dry Dog Food. She did well with that but eventually got disinterested and was not eating often enough so we tried most of the flavors such as the Surf & Turf, Lamb & Lentils etc. Between the switching she would often get diarrhea but no idea if it was from her food or not. We did practice switching her food gradually instead of just introducing a brand new food right away. Every so often she would get a bout of diarrhea and we would feed her chicken and rice with a little low sodium chicken broth to soothe her tummy. She has never had a problem when we make her chicken and rice but we are hoping we don’t have to feed her that every day.

About 2 weeks ago she got real sick and was throwing up, eating grass, waking up in the middle night with bad diarrhea and we took her to the vet. They suggested we switch her food again so this time around we went with Prarie Gold Adult Grain-Free: http://frommfamily.com/products/gold/dog/dry/#prairie-gold-adult. She has been on this for about a week and her poops are very soft often diarrhea so we are back to square 1… Sigh.

We are recent members on this site and still a bit overwhelmed with the choices if we go with a different brand a ll together. We have a Chuck and Don’s by our house and they mentioned Zignature but did not see that one included in the editors best of. I should also note we did try Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Dry but took it back after a day once we learned it was bought out by Purina. Our Lennon is very small (5 pounds)1 year and 3 month year old Morkie with a sensitive tummy and often picky. I am thinking about taking back her current Prairie Gold Adult Grain-Free (we got this because we thought the grain free limited ingredient might help) and starting over with a different brand. If anyone has any suggestions for a dry non raw food we would love to hear it!
Cheers,
Ryan & Anna Luse

[aimee]

Hi SaltiDawg,

The NRC is the National Research Council of the National Academies. AAFCO is an interpretation of the NRC recommendations. AAFCO minimums for Na are .3% for puppies and .06 % for adults with an energy density of 3500 kcals/kg diet. The proposed AAFCO.. I don’t think yet adopted, mins for sodium are .3% puppies and .08% adults with an energy density of 4000 kcals/kg. AAFCO doesn’t specify a maximum allowed sodium content in dog food.

NRC doesn’t report a min or SUL for sodium for puppies indicating that there is insufficient data. They do report an adequate and recommended sodium level for puppies of 2.2 grams/kg DM with an energy density of 4000 kcal/kg diet.

NRC reports a min sodium for adult dogs as .3 grams per kg DM and a recommended amount as .8 grams/kg diet with an energy density of 4000 kcals/kg.

Hope this helps

[Shawna]

Hi Sheila23,

Although a homemade diet is absolutely doable I would do a LOT more research before you decide on any one brand. Example — Tripe is a great food for kd dogs but it is supposedly already balanced in calcium to phosphorus. Adding a premix like Preference, that is designed to balance higher phosphorus meat, could be problematic. Although phosphorus needs to be watched, you can go too low too early in the disease.

Balance IT could be an option but I personally wouldn’t have fed my KD girl such a low protein diet (ESPECIALLY in the early stages). Based on the nutrient profile of their beef and rice early stage kd diet the protein amount is only 15.3%. That’s ridiculously low for early stage kd without any complicating issues like proteinuria. Not even enough to meet the minimum protein amounts required for an a complete and balanced diet. They also use corn oil — EEEEKK. The chicken & rice recipe is even worse at 14.9% protein.

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend looking at Darwin’s prescription KD diet formulated by vet Dr. Barbara Royal. The ingredient list is
“Human-Grade Meat: Beef Meat, Beef Tripe, Beef Pancreas, Beef Lungs, Beef Kidneys, Beef Liver, Beef Heart, Beef Spleen.

Vegetables: Cabbage, Celery, Squash, Sweet Potato, Beets, Romaine Lettuce.

Special Nutrient Mix: Filtered Water (for processing), Sardine oil (source of EPA, DPA and DHA), Egg Shell Powder, Parsley, Apple Cider Vinegar, Inulin, Cornsilk, Dandelion Root, Cinnamon, Cranberry, Linden Flowers, , Chitosan, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3, Aloe Vera.” http://www.darwinspet.com/our-raw-foods/our-raw-dog-food/intelligent-design-ks/

I LOVE that you are starting Alvin on Standard Process Renal Support. It is the one supplement that my Audrey NEVER did without since diagnosis. She had KD from birth (symptoms showed at just 6 weeks of age) but she wasn’t diagnosed till she was 13 months old. She was given one year to live after that. She lived to almost her ninth birthday and it was an infection that took her life not the normal progression of kidney disease.

Some other things to look at for Alvin — purified water (as much as he wants), extra water soluble vitamins if he urinates large volumes of water. A high quality probiotic and a prebiotic made with acacia fiber helps to clear BUN etc from the blood allowing for higher protein to be fed or simply helps clear BUN when necessary. This is called “nitrogen trapping”. Giving Evian (or another higher calcium, lower sodium mineral water) has been shown to be beneficial for kidney disease. I did give my Audrey fresh, raw garlic most of her life. I still believe that if I hadn’t gotten lazy and quit giving it to her near the end of her life she wouldn’t have developed the severe infection that ended up damaging her kidneys and taking her life. Enzymes to help with the digestion of his food. Certain supplements and herbs can be helpful — spirulina provides many nutrients, food grade activated charcoal given off an on in small amounts can help clear toxins, organic turmeric helps with inflammation and also helps prevent scar tissue (works best when combined with pepper or the enzyme bromelain from pineapple). Chlorella is a wonderful detoxer and it helps build red blood cells due to the high amounts of chlorphyll in it. Apple cider vinegar can help with indigestion (fed with food in small amounts or given via syringe but must be diluted first). Ginger extract and therapeutic grade peppermint oil can help with nausea (later in the illness). I also recently read that there is other therapeutic grade essential oils that can help the kidneys but I don’t remember the particulars of the article. Vet Dr. Melissa Shelton would be the person to seek out if wanting to incorporate essential oils.

I was lucky with Audrey, she was able to eat commercial raw products clear up to a few months before she passed. I’m not sure if that was because of the supplements, being fed raw from weaning or what but she did quite well. Possibly look at lower phosphorus commercial foods and then add small amounts of low phosphorus toppers (lightly cooked egg whites and coconut oil as an example) to keep the calories up while lowering the overall phosphorus even more. There are some great nutritionists out there as well that could be quite beneficial to you and Alvin.

Hoping Alvin does as well as, or better than, my Audrey!!!

Thank you Marie!

[Pitlove]

Personal opinion is I like both brands, but at heart I am a Fromm girl. My dog does amazing on it and I really love the company and the quality of the food. Only thing is the Salmon A la Veg is grain based, so if he can’t have grains that one is probably out.

INGREDIENTS
Salmon, Salmon Meal, Brown Rice, Sweet Potatoes, Pearled Barley, Potatoes, Oatmeal, White Rice, Dried Whole Egg, Salmon Oil, Millet, Dried Tomato Pomace, Safflower Oil, Cheese, Flaxseed, Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Apples, Green Beans, Chicken Cartilage, Potassium Chloride, Monosodium Phosphate, Cranberries, Blueberries, Salt, Monocalcium Phosphate, Chicory Root Extract, Alfalfa Sprouts, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Taurine, Parsley, Sorbic Acid (Preservative), Vitamins, Minerals, Probiotics.

[Patti S]

My dog’s heart murmur has recently gotten worse, plus he has also suffered a ruptured chordae tendineae, so he now needs a low sodium dog food. To complicate and further limit the food options, he now will only eat canned food, and does a lot better on a lower protein and lower fat diet.

Because the AAFCO doesn’t require sodium levels to be published (and why is that?!!) I’ve been searching for canned foods that have low to moderate sodium levels, and thought I’d share these findings. I got this info by contacting the food’s manufacturers.

Merrick canned as fed:………………Protein%……..Fat%……….Sodium% Unit Basis
French Country Café……………………9.21 ………… 7.21……….. 0.21
Turducken 13.2oz ………………………9.06…………..8.02……….. 0.17
Venison Holiday Stew………………….. 8.93 ………..6.17 ………. 0.28
Wild Buffalo Grill ……………………… 8.02 …………. 6.75 ……… 0.25
Wilderness Blend ……………………… 8.47 …………. 6.81……….. 0.20
Wing A Ling ……………………………. 9.74 …………. 6.88 ………..0.17
96% Real Beef / Lamb / Buffalo ……. 8.66………….. 9.57……….. 0.19
96%-Chicken …………………………… 9.99 …………. 9.06 ………. 0.22
Pappy’s Pot Roast Dinner …………….. 9.03 …………. 3.50……….. 0.17
Carver’s Delight Dinner ………………. 9.19 …………..6.33 ………. 0.18
Colossal Chicken Dinner ……………… 8.98 ………….. 6.16 ………. 0.16

EVO 95% Beef: 0.123g / 100 kcal. 0.16% sodium

• This topic was modified 10 years, 2 months ago by Patti S.

[Anonymous]

The echo is important to rule out a leaky valve, found a decent article on mitral valve insufficiency. Excerpt below: Can’t post the link but you can find the complete article at:
Doctors Foster and Smith Pet Education, Search articles for: Heart Failure (Mitral Valve Insufficiency) in the Dog

Treatment of dogs with mitral insufficiency depends upon the size of the heart and if clinical signs are present. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease in dogs are based on classifying dogs into several stages:
•Stage A: Dogs with no murmur or symptoms but who are at risk of developing valvular heart disease. These include Cavalier King Charles spaniels and small breeds of dogs.
•Stage B1: Dogs with no heart enlargement or symptoms.
•Stage B2: Dogs with enlarged left atriums and/or ventricles but no symptoms.
•Stage C: Dogs with heart enlargement and symptoms of congestive heart failure.
•Stage D: Dogs not responding to treatment for congestive heart failure.

Dogs in Stages A and B1 generally do not receive treatment, but are monitored for any changes in heart size or progression into symptoms.

Treatment of dogs in Stage B2 is controversial. Some veterinarians believe treatment of these dogs will slow progression of the disease, others do not.

Treatment of dogs in the Stage C with heart enlargement and symptoms is based on medications to help the heart pump more efficiently. Drugs that may be used include diuretics that cause the dog to urinate more and thereby remove excess fluids from his lungs. These include furosemide (Lasix) or spironolactone .
Medications such as pimobendan or an angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor like enalapril may be given to help the heart pump more efficiently. Digoxin, another heart medication may also be prescribed. If the dog does not respond well to these medications and is in Stage D, other therapies such as amlodipine may be used. Cough suppressants and bronchodilators may be prescribed is there is a chronic cough.

Diets lower in sodium may assist in decreasing the fluid build-up. It is important to maintain adequate protein intake. Attempts should be made to maintain the dog at his ideal weight. The use of omega-3 fatty acid supplements is often recommended.

What is prognosis for dogs with mitral valve insufficiency?

Many dogs with heart murmurs due to mitral valve insufficiency may live for years before developing any symptoms. They should be carefully monitored however, so treatment can be started as soon as warranted. In those dogs with heart failure, approximately half will not survive for more than 6-12 months.

[cheryl w]

 Post Pancreatitis Diet-What Worked for My Yorkie
Below is a cut and paste of what I’ve written for my dog:-

I’ve written a long post on another forum about post pancreatic diet. I’m just going to share it here as well since it doesn’t make sense not to since I’ve been a member for a long time. Maybe it’ll help someone out there that was struggling like I did. The only difference between the post and now is I do give him daily fresh blended vegetable and fruit juice that are safe for dogs as well but I do strain to remove pulp to control fibre content.

Here it goes (I’m just going to cut and paste since it’s long):-

I happened to came across this forum and I joined to say please take advice from your vet when it comes to keeping your dog on prescription foods. I know when you check online, there are so many negative comments about prescription diets but when you truly have had a very sick dog and nothing works, these prescription diets are a savior. There is nothing wrong with by-products. By-products just means clean edible parts that are not meat. Knowing my dog, he probably loves the taste of the internal organs from the food he is getting even though I find it a little grossed out but I would imagine those internal organs contains a different nutrition profile than just meat alone.

My Yorkie had pancreatitis back in April of 2014 and was in the ER for 5 days and a few more days at the vet-I am lucky to have him back. He lost 20% of his weight during that attack which is a lot for a small dog. It has been a struggle since to get his weight up especially on low fat food but last week (Jan 2015), I weighed him and he is now back to his old weight. I find that there are a few things that really helps that I will talk about below.

i) Right now, I feed him 4 times a day and I alternate the feedings with 2x dry and 2x wet. I have done the math on how much to feed per meal and I have a kitchen scale to measure his meals each time. I have mine on RC veterinary low fat gastrointestinal both wet and dry because he wouldn’t eat the Hill’s Prescription-my dog is picky but whatever. The alternate wet and dry feedings work better than when you have to mix the wet and dry in one meal in terms of digestion. I have done a lot of research and I have looked at alternatives such as Wellness Complete Healthy Weight and even though the fat is low, it is still 20% more on a dry matter basis when I compared it to RC so be careful. That is why so many people are shocked when their dog gets another bout of pancreatitis on the Wellness Complete Healthy Weight because they looked at the fat percentage and it seems fine but you need to calculate the fat on a dry matter basis. Also, a pancreatitic dog needs low fiber and moderate protein as well on top of low fat-a lot of people forgot to take that in to consideration.

ii) I do supplement enzyme to his food because I couldn’t get his weight up for the longest time and I believe the enzyme really helps. He also acts like he is hungry all the time which makes me think he could have some symptoms of EPI as a result of the pancreatitis or it is just because of the low fat food. I test him by giving him some plain cooked white rice and my dog won’t eat it when he is not starving and he really isn’t. Talk to your vet and do your research about enzymes but I find that enzyme from an animal source works better. My dog’s weight went up when I switched from plant based enzyme to an animal based enzyme.

iii) Food moisture-I do mesh up the kibbles and put some warm water in there before adding enzymes. I mesh up the kibbles to help his digestion because I was struggling with his weight for a while and the moisture just helps. I just don’t feel good when my dog ate a ton of dry kibble and then drink a lot of water. For that, I place a mortar and pestle on my kitchen island. It is quick to clean and easy to use. The low fat kibble is also somewhat salty (yes, I’ve tried a piece or two) so adding some warm water helps to dilute the sodium as well.

iv) I do work the feedings out to include tiny bit of fresh food. I do give him some boiled skinless boneless chicken breast mashed up for easy digestion (of course there are some enzyme in there as well). He also gets about 8 blueberries a day in between feedings because he likes it. He also gets some coconut water in the am for electrolytes. Make sure the ones you buy are pure with no sugar added.

I’ve also heard people who said you could put your dog back to normal food when it has passed but I have asked my vet and I do not think it is a good way to go because pancreatitis can reoccur and he has seen dogs getting it again and again.

Again these are all just suggestions and steps I have taken for my Yorkie that has been successful post pancreatitis. I just hope that someone else who reads this could use the experience I have had and hopefully, he/she will have less sleepless nights than I did.
__________
As of today, the only changes I’ve made to what I’ve written above is I don’t feed him daily coconut juice anymore but he still gets veg fruit juice daily. I’m mainly feeding RC canned now with a 5% of RC dry because of the sodium content. He still gets blueberry daily but I peeled off the skin first.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 3 months ago by cheryl w.

[Nick G]

I started cooking for my dogs recently and would like to know if the recipe I came up with is suitable for my dogs’ nutritional needs.

2 pieces of wild caught cod (about 1-1.5 lbs.)
2 7.5 oz can of low sodium pink salmon
4 eggs(shells included)
1 16 oz bag of split peas
1 cup of quinoa
1 cup of brown rice
1 16 oz half bag of broccoli
1 1/2 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 cup of blueberries
2 tablespoons of flax seed
2 tablespoons of virgin coconut oil
probiotics and vitamin supplements added

This feeds a 120 lb and 50 lb dog for about a day and a half.
I give my big guy human grade glucosamine.

I think my portions in the recipe may be off. If anyone spots other problems please let me know.
I’d like to alternate fish proteins only as I don’t approve of the inhumane treatment and filthy farm factory environments on which poultry, beef or pork are processed . If anything I may consider adding free range chicken as a supplemental protein along with the fish if necessary. I bought some wild caught mahi mahi for my next batch. I was unable to find information about that type of fish’s benefits or detriments in a dog’s diet.

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Allison A]

It is an exhaustive process, for sure. There was a moment that I thought it could be the fat content of the food, but he had diarrhea with Natural Balance LID Fish and that has 10% fat. Normal-ish stool on Hills Adult light, and that has 9% fat. Obviously that 1% isn’t making that huge of a difference, so it has to be the fiber content.

We slowly titrated up to 3 TABLESPOONS of psyllium a day, which would cause major changes for a 200-lb man, and there was no improvement. All it did was give him gummy stool that he strained to get out, and it was still so mushy that his anal glands started bugging him.

Here are the Hills ingredients:
Chicken Meal, Pea Bran Meal, Whole Grain Sorghum, Whole Grain Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Corn, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Lactic Acid, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, L-Lysine, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Oat Fiber, L-Carnitine, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Beta-Carotene, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors, Dried Apples, Dried Broccoli, Dried Carrots, Dried Cranberries, Dried Peas.

I’m trying to figure out which of the fibers in there is the magic bullet. If it’s the corn and wheat that helps his stool but makes him itchy, then that stinks! Beet pulp absorbs a ton of fluid (have experience with that as a component of horse feed), but I haven’t been able to find a quantity of beet pulp for purchase that’s less than 50 lbs.

I have no issue cooking a completely home-prepared diet for him, but if he’s going to need something like kangaroo protein, then a commercially available food is going to be more economical.

I am not a fan of probiotics. A two-week trial gave him explosive diarrhea; same thing with three of my previous dogs. Personally, I have an extensive GI condition, and probiotics have been the worst thing for it. I know some people and animals have great results with them, but that hasn’t been the case in my household.

[Diane J]

My dog has diabetes insipidus. I would like to find a dog food low in sodium or a dog food that will be best for maintaining a healthy level of electrolytes. Recently my dog underwent dental surgery. Following the surgery, his DI symptoms (increased water intake and high volumes of urination) cleared up completely for a week and a half. Also his fur coat and energy level was the best we had seen in years. We are not sure what triggered the temporary cure. I had hoped that the required wet diet following oral surgery was a factor. However, as his DI symptoms have returned, I have also added his kibbles to his wet food diet. He is back on his medication (desmopressin as needed) and the need for careful monitoring of his water in-take. His dull fur coat, slight increase in weight and low energy level is back. We feed him Wilderness dog food which is very good but I would like to get him on the best diet possible for his medical condition.

[Pitlove]

This is the GA for the Hill’s Metabolic and Mobility:

Average Nutrient and Caloric Content
Dry 3210 kcal/kg (291 kcal/cup†)

Nutrient
Dry Matter1
%
Protein 28.0
Fat 14.6
Carbohydrate (NFE) 36.2
Crude Fiber 14.9
Calcium 0.95
Phosphorus 0.7
Sodium 0.37
Potassium 0.88
Magnesium 0.159
Carnitine 400 ppm
Vitamin C 324 mg/kg
Vitamin E 741 IU/kg
Chondroitin Sulfate 1174 mg/kg (ppm)
Glucosamine 738 mg/kg (ppm

The protein is highER than most of their formulas and the carbs are low which is why it is meant to help your dog lose weight. I agree that the ingredients are sub-par. Prehaps look for a food with better ingredients but very very close %’s on the GA. This food also contains Chondroitin and Glucosamine for the joints. I’m not sure if a senior formula would contain those ingredients but be high enough protein and low enough carbs to help your girl lose weight. If you switch to something that is better quality and the same %’s on the GA make sure you add a joint supplement.
I have heard really good things about this product: http://www.naturvet.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_images.tpl&product_id=39&category_id=7&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=4

Edit: Remember a “weight loss” food does not work if they are taking in more calories than they are burning. If your senior dog is less active make sure to decrease the amount they are eating as well to aid in weight loss. Also senior dogs have a increased need for quality animal protein, not a decrease. Perhaps consider looking into a raw diet for her?

• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Pitlove.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 5 months ago by Pitlove.

[C4D]

You can feed cat food to dogs but be careful. They often use Menadione Sodium Bisulfate complex (Vit K3) in cat foods as it’s allowed. It’s in many cat foods, including Weruva & Stella & Chewy’s Freeze Dried!

[Aj K]

I make a home made stew of ground turkey, 85% lean, chopped frozen spinach, frozen or fresh green beans, frozen carrots & peas, Sw potato(occasionally)cook I low sodium broth until all is soft ( I cook turkey first & mash it up) . Then add 1 tsp of cinnamon & turmeric, those are both good spices that are anti-inflammatory. Then I add 1/2 c oatmeal for fiber. I have a part breed Rotty, 13 yrs old with bad teeth ( soft food needed) missing a back let and hip dysplasia in the other back leg. She doesn’t get much exercise, therefore, the oatmeal, for fiber. I also have grain-free kibble in the 4-5 star cat short from dog advisor.com,for the additionals vitamins and pro biotics. I mix it half & half. She also get Rimadyl & an maintainer joint supplement for her dysplasia. We freeze 3 containers and work out of one. I just have to make it once a week. Then get another container out and warm the portion (1/2 c) in microwave ( mixed with the 1/2 c of kibble) We feed her twice a day.
I also give her Adequan shots once a month.
I am a medical doctor, not a vet, but after much research, I believe the cheaper brand dog foods some are giving their pets are causing Cancer….. Just like the foods, you hear about that can cause cancer in humans.
My dog still gets around even though she has bone grinding on bone. We do all this to keep her lean, so she can ambulated better. She’s right at 47/50 lbs.
I wanted to get a cart for her, but she keeps living longer than we’ve expected. She was a rescue & had to have her back leg amputated. Hope this helps!

[DeAnah G]

Thank you for your response CockalierMom, I was hoping someone on here could relate. I was thinking of doing the same, cooking her own chicken and rice but didn’t know how she would get all her nutrients. The senior multi vit added is a great idea. I will call the vet tomor in regards to the changes I would like to make. Besides, if she is already taking a diuretic why be on such a low sodium diet? I don’t want her to get dehydrated..? I would much rather her last years be happy ones rather than miserable. He also said her heart won’t get any better anyway unless she gets a heart transplant, so what’s the point right? I will check into the correct natural foods and vitamins that will be best for her, thanks again!! 🙂

[DeAnah G]

I have a 11yr. old 4lb Yorkie, she has been THE BEST dog ever!! I recently took her to a Vet for her annual teeth cleaning and physical. Come to find out she has COPD, Enlarged Heart, Fluid in her lungs, Arther, and Tracheal problems due to the enlarged heart. He put her on 5 different medications and prescription dog food (which she hates!) Heart controlled, very low sodium. Anyway, he said she can live for another 5-10yrs with this controlled diet but I don’t want her last years to be miserable. I’m fine to keep her on the meds but the food even looks gross! I was wondering if anyone suggest a more natural type food that she can enjoy that will also give her the vitamin nutrients she needs? Also, has anyone ever given their dog these meds and how well have they worked for your pet? Furoquid and Enalapril
Thanks for your help! 🙂

[cms60]

I used Dog Food Advisor years ago when my sweet Betty was first diagnosed with allergies. Wish your site was active then! I’m going to have to try something new now, so I’m glad to have it! The only allergy Betty has that isn’t listed is peanuts, but they don’t seem to be in any of the foods she can have otherwise since you kindly listed the ingredients.

Here is my problem: She is now a little older and the vet says she has an alarmingly high Calcium Oxalate concentration in her urine. They recommend the prescription dog foods, but the only ones she can have with her allergies are the wet ones, and I’m not a fan of the all wet diet. My dogs have always had great teeth, and I can’t discount the fact that I make them crunch some of their food. I add anything wet immediately before they eat.

Her allergies are: alfalfa, barley, carrots, peas, rice, soy, sunflower, and peanuts. My personal research indicates she could benefit from a diet higher in protein, sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and moisture and contents with decreased urine acidifying potential. The dry food has a greater potential for problem than wet (no moisture). In contrast, there is some evidence that diets higher in fats and lower in protein and potassium are likely to increase urine acidity and cause the Ca Oxalate to precipitate out.

Do you have any suggestions about this since you seem to have thoroughly studied the ingredients? I have been feeding Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream formulation for years. Currently, I am adding a lot of water to it to increase water intake.

Thanks!
Carolyn S.

[DogFoodie]

Hi RebeccaRose,

I would have no problem at all with the low sodium canned chicken stock! If you are so inclined, you could whip up a bunch of bone broth in the Crock-Pot. It takes a minimum of 24 hours, but it’s so nutritious and delicious. My dogs love it!

My Cavalier is by no means picky and she’s a very good eater. I rotate her foods constantly so she’s eaten lots of different foods, but she’s eating Fromm Four Star right now and she literally goes crazy for it at meal time! The Fromm Four Star Whitefish and Potato has 12% fat. Have you ever tried Fromm?

[RebeccaRose]

She is starting to refuse the new Wellness Healthy Weight now. I honestly can’t tell if it’s illness or picky eating… But I suspect the latter. Because she is back to her old self in all other ways… Playing and pooping.

I really need some recommendations on a low fat commercial kibble. I don’t mind trying canned but do not want to do that exclusively.

This morning the only way I could get her to eat was to spoon one plastic spoonful of chicken broth over the kibble. When I did that she ate it right up. It was broth from a can… Low sodium. I know people say not to give them commercial chicken broth only homemade but I never buy chicken with bones so this would be challenging for me. I’ve only done the broth a few times it is not a regular thing.

The deal is, a lot of people say of a picky eater… Just take the food up & they’ll eat later. Well I can’t do that with her because she will get sick & start throwing up. And then it starts a vicious cycle of not wanting to eat because of nausea & the longer she goes without eating the sicker she gets.

I’m going to abandon Wellness, she just doesn’t seem to like them anymore. I don’t know where to look next though. I looked at Halo, but their healthy weight food for small dogs had a min of 12% fat…. That’s not low fat.

[Brian S]

Hi there,
I have a 10 year old Staffordshire that was having recurring diarrhea. After her Xray showed up nothing and blood work showed calcium and protein deficiency plus raised white blood cells ,we knew there was a pretty major problem absorbing nutrients in her digestive tract,she had also lost a lot of weight.Without surgery and a biopsy ($1400 +) there was no way to know for certain but the vet thought it could be anything from pancreatitis to cancer.Ultimatelyshe was treated with anti-parasites and antibiotics to rule out those as a cause and then a course of steroids to reduce inflammation. The only food she could eat without getting diarrhea was Royal Canin gastro intestinal which of course is ridiculously expensive and here in Canada at least is only sold by vets. After much research I found that it wasnt because this was so low in fat that she could tolerate it but in fact because of the addition of a naturally occuring compound called Zeolite which Royal Canin add to the food. It is listed on their ingredients as Sodium aluminate silica. It works as a powerful anti-diarrheal and has also been tested with some success as an anti carcinogenic (http://www.researchgate.net/publication/11905741_Natural_zeolite_clinoptilolite_new_adjuvant_in_anticancer_therapy). The only other non-prescription dog foods that I can find that contain it are Royal Canin Sensitive digestion and Derma comfort which are available in pet stores.These are more affordable than the gastrointestinal one and do have higher fat and protein levels. You can also buy Zeolite as a food supplement online and that will be my next step.

[Dog_Obsessed]

I assume you are talking about the dental treats? Here are the ingredients I found:

Potato flour, rice flour, glycerine, water, natural flavor, gelatin, canola oil, titanium dioxide (color), monoglycerides of edible fatty acids, flaxseed oil, citric acid, magnesium stearate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate

Not horrible, but not great either. I’m not a fan of the ingredient glycerine, (more info here) but other than that they look okay. There isn’t much nutritionally redeeming about them though.

Since they are a edible chew, a dog could potentially swallow a large piece. It is important to know your dog’s chewing style and always supervise when giving chews. Occasionally, less digestible chews can cause digestive upset or an intestinal blockage. I don’t know about the digestibility of these, but that is something to be aware of.

It says on their website that all ingredients come from North America. There can be loopholes in these claims, but it is a good place to start.

On a final note, these treats look pretty high-calorie, at 89.5 calories for a small and 179 calories for a large. They wouldn’t be something I would recommend feeding daily.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Dog_Obsessed.

[InkedMarie]

Nate: two foods to look at are Wellness Core reduced fat and Annamaet Lean.

Derek: dogs generally don’t drink enough water, that is why a wet food is “best”. Adding water to dry with a little canned is an easy way. You can try a little of the lowest sodium chicken breath you can find to the water to entice drinking.

[Dori]

Peggy I’m wondering if your dogs are thirstier because of the addition of PB wet (stews and gravies). First ingredient for their wet foods is a broth. I’m wondering if they have too much salt in their broth and then eventually on their ingredient list you will see that they have added “salt” again. There may simply be too much salt in their diet which is why they are drinking more. I have no personal knowledge as to whether their broths contain salt or not but I did notice that broth is listed first.

I disagree that the reason your dogs are drinking more water is because you are feeding your dogs a diet containing too much protein. I personally feed my three dogs foods with really high protein levels and would not feed foods with proteins as low as you do and my dogs are not any thirstier. I do however monitor any sodium that may be in their diets.

Are they as thirsty if you were to only feed them the dry food? I’m not suggesting you do, I’m just wondering when you started to notice the difference in their water intake.

Sorry, I meant to mention that their wet foods I believe also contain kelp which is salty tasting also.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by Dori.

[Kelley P]

It’s called Butchers Selects. These are the ingredients:
Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, soybean meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA and citric acid), corn gluten meal, dehydrated gravy, natural flavor, salt, natural beef flavor, potassium chloride, chlorine chloride, dried peas, dried carrots, color added (red #40, yellow #5, blue #2, yellow #6), minerals (zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, mangfnous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate), vitamins (Vitamin E supplement, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, biotin, D-calcium pantothenate, Vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), riboflavin supplement, folic acid (Vitamin D3 supplement)

The brand website is http://www.butchersselects.com

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi Peggy –

Canned salmon is perfectly safe for dogs to eat and is, in fact, a great way to add omega 3’s and protein to the diet. Most canned products do tend to be high in sodium although high sodium isn’t a huge concern for healthy dogs so feeding it on occasion shouldn’t be an issue. There are low sodium options though. When I give my dogs canned salmon I use Raincoast Trading No Salt Added Salmon which only has 25 mg sodium per serving (75 mg per can).

[jakes mom]

Well I hesitate to post anything else here but I just got the KBPF and thought I’d list the ingredients for anyone who’s interested. It’s been a bad weather week in Ohio, lots of long commutes and snow shoveling and below zero temps so I have not had a chance to buy any meat to make the mixes. I have a few days off next week so will give it a shot then.
For the Better in the Raw mix: egg yolk, calcium lactate, beef liver powder, gelatin, whey protein, psyllium husks, EFA from fish oil, taurine, kelp, barley grass, Vitamin E succinate, Vitamin B complex.
Nutritional info based on “as fed” mixed food using ground chicken (average daily meal size 1/4 lb) :
energy 133 kcal
protein 17.29%
carb 1.2%
fat 6.0%
ash 3.19%
calcium 231 mg
phos 74 mg
mg 74 mg
sodium 144 mg
Potassium 201 mg
The U-stew mix for cooked meat has the same ingredients as above plus digestive enzymes.
The company suggests turkey, chicken, beef, venison, lamb or pork with 20% or less fat content.

[Shawna]

Hi Kim S,

Pugmomsandy sent me an email letting me know you might have some questions for me. Thanks Sandy!!

Nitrogen trapping has been very very useful in helping to keep Audrey feeling well. When her breath gets a bit funky or she seems depressed I give her Garden of Life Primal Defense probiotics and Fiber35 Sprinkle Fiber as the probiotic (both are products marketed for humans). I tried other “fermentable” fibers (like barley, apple pectin etc) but Sprinkle Fiber had the best results.

The product I absolutely MUST have for her however is Standard Process Canine Renal Support. She’s been on it for over seven years. I can explain why I feel so strongly about this product if you wish — kinda technical.

Some other things that I rotate in her diet are spirulina, chlorella, food grade activated charcoal, burdock root (another really good fermentable fiber (but she got tired of the strong taste)), milk thistle and more. I mix five or so super foods/supps with an equal amount of enzymes and sprinkle on most of her meals.

Turmeric would be very beneficial for dogs with kidney disease as well but sadly Audrey doesn’t tolerate it well.

Giving ultra clean (like RO) water is important too. Evian water is both clean and a good source of a specific kind of calcium called calcium bicarbonate. Mineral waters higher in calcium (and lower in sodium) have shown some benefits for kidney disease.

I would recommend raw to any that can feed it, gently home cooked if raw is not an option or canned if raw and home cooked are not options.

Absolutely no chemicals like flea/tick or heartworm meds and no vaccines (including rabies).

I’m not sure how much info you’re wanting so sorry if I went overboard. 🙂 There’s tons more I can tell you if interested (like keep oil soluble chlorophyll on hand in case of anemia).

[Dog_Obsessed]

I know onions are toxic to dogs, but it takes quite a bit of it to harm a dog. Still, if you can do it without the onion, it would probably be better, because I have heard it can have an accumulative effect.

On a similar note, I have noticed that almost all commercial broths have onions in them. It is usually pretty low in the ingredients, but I don’t know how much they really put in there. I want to use low-sodium chicken or beef broth to make dog treats, but I am afraid of the onion and I can’t find one without it. Does anyone know if this would be harmful?

[Akari_32]

You guys know I’m always on the look out for a deal, and to better the dogs diets at the same time. I was surfing around and came across Hare Today. I know several of you guys use it, so I decided to check it out.

I’ve figured out that I need to keep it at $3.89 and less, to keep the price competitive to what I am doing now, which is See Spot Live Longer, and sale meats (lots of sale whole roaster/frier chickens @.@). Which should be easy, I think.

However, what is shipping like? Is there a “free shipping when you spend so much” deal they do? I need to stick with less than $30 a month. If it needs to be bought in bulk, thats fine with me. Shipping is a huge factor on this right now.

What makes me really like this idea, though is that the prices are cheaper than in store (which means nothing if shipping is too much lol), and I can get Bentley more than mass amounts of chicken, because the variety here sucks. Its either chicken, beef, chicken, pork, chicken, maybe some random organ someone ordered at Publix but never picked up, more chicken… Everything but the chicken and some pork is just so pricey, $5 a pound and up! I’m thinking he is still having problems with chicken though, because even though he’s been on raw for some time now, he still breaks out and gets red and itchy and yeasty at times. I know the grass and rain and other pollens has something to do with it, but I can’t help but wonder if completely cutting out chicken would help him even more, or maybe cutting out the pre-mix, if its something in the SSLL.

If I can cut out the SSLL, are the meat/organ/bone grinds on Hare Today balanced? Like this beef blend, for example?

“Ground Beef/Organs/Tripe/Bone, 5 lb $19.20

Hormone and antibiotic free beef. This is approximately 80% meat, 7% tripe, 7% organ [heart,liver, lung, and kidneys] and 6% bone.
Fine Ground

This food is low in Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin B6, Phosphorus, Zinc and Selenium, and a very good source of Protein and Vitamin B12”

I would think yes, but I figured I’d make sure. According to the calculator, he’d only need about 3.84 oz. He currently gets a 5 oz chunk of whatever meat I give him and SSLL, and a little coconut oil because the princess won’t lap up the SSLL anymore without the coconut oil, or a good deal of blood from the meat. Rotten little dog lol

Also, since I’m considering cutting chicken from his diet, should I also cut out other birds, and stick with beef, pork and maybe fish? He didn’t really like fish based kibbles when he was a puppy, and he’s not a huge fan of fish oil, but maybe he’d like raw fish? The whole sardines or anchovies, or whatever they were, on Hare Today are right in my price range at $3.85 a pound, and I know whole fishes are balanced meals. I’d also like if you guys that know the site better than I do to recommend some goodies that are in my feeble price range. Mixes of meats to make balanced meals are also good, as well. Just keep the average price per pound in my price range 🙂

As far as bones and RMB, I can just get those in store, I think. Some prices are cheaper at Publix than Hare Today, so I’ll price shop for bones first before deciding where I’ll buy them.

I’d also like to know if there are any other sites like this that may be cheaper, or have other things. I’m also looking at complete freeze-dried and dehydrated meals, if anyone can recommend any that are going to be about $30 or less a month for an 8 pound dog.

Thanks a bunch guys!

[Julie L]

When I got my little “thow away” puppy I had no idea what to feed her. She was all of maybe 7weeks old. I knew from my other dog to stay away from Blue (way too high in protein). I thought about wet food, but dislike having to feed that so I thought I’d just try her on what I had my 2yr old on. I gave her Wild Calling. According to the label it’s good from puppies to older adults. I started her on elk,whitefish mixed with a little warm water and she took to it right away. No problem with stools. She is now 7mo old still on Wild Calling (I rotate thru the different tastes). She’s a small one about 9-10 lbs now and I have always given her 1/3cup w/warm water twice a day. If you go on their website I think you can still get free coupon for buy 1 get 1 free.
BTW with chicken broth make sure you dilute it half/half even the low sodium one.

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by Julie L.