[soprano1]

I am interested in knowing if Blue Buffalo is safe for my Siberian Husky who has early stage kidney disease? I was feeding her Purina NF, but I heard some really bad things about Purina. My dog had chronic diarrhea, occasional vomiting, and lost a lot of weight. Her coat was also very bad, with big raw, bald spots, and she also really did not feel good. I believed it was the food doing it to her. Now that I switched her to Blue Buffalo, her coat is looking great, she no longer vomits or has diarrhea, she has gained weight, and she feels better than she has in years! She plays like a puppy, and she is 9 years old! Is the Blue Buffalo safe for her? If not, can you recommend a food that is safe for her? Thank you!

[RescueDaneMom]

My sister’s dog was just diagnosed with early stage kidney disease. The vet wanted her to feed a prescription diet but the ingredients in it were horrendous. I did a lot of the research for her because she is super busy. I found the best information on dogaware.com. Under the health tab at the top, click on “kidney disease” and you will find a wealth of information. My sister is homecooking for her dog now. She was using The Honest Kitchen pre-mix and adding low phosphorous meats to it but had decided that homecooking is cheaper and she has more control over what she feeds. She is on a tight budget.

Best of luck to you!

[theBCnut]

Yay for you and your sister! KD diets aren’t recommended by the manufactures for early stage KD and can do more harm than good, a fact that many veterinarians manage to overlook.

[RescueDaneMom]

Patty-

That’s good to know! I thought something seemed off. My sister’s dog has only slightly higher than normal range creatinine and BUN numbers. I thought that one of the KD diets was overkill at this stage.

-Caroline

[soprano1]

My dog was diagnosed in 2010, and she was showing no symptoms. I learned she had it, because I had a urinalysis done to find out why she was having bladder leakage. She has been on the Purina NF for 2 years, and has gotten progressively worse, but since I made the change to Blue Buffalo, she has improved by leaps and bounds! Her BUN has only been elevated once, and that is when she was on the Purina NF. her creatinine has been up the last 3 times she was tested; but dropped back to slightly higher than normal. She has always had a healthy appetite, and still does. I don’t want to do anything that would be harmful to her! She has a recheck in November, and I believe we are going to see normal ranges! What do you all think of blue Buffalo?

[RescueDaneMom]

Soprano1-

I am by no means an expert. I would suggest checking out the dogaware website at dogaware.com/health/kidney.html. I haven’t figured out how to post links yet so bear with me.

According to my research on dogaware, dogs with early stage kidney disease only need slight diet modifications. The following text is copied from the website:
“Early Renal Insufficiency: In general, creatinine values up to about 2.0 (177 µmol/L) are indicative of mild, or early stage, kidney disease (or early renal insufficiency, as my vet terms it). In cases like these, it may still help to make dietary modifications to reduce phosphorus if blood phosphorus level is above 4.5, but these reductions do not need to be as drastic as when the values are higher, and it is probably not necessary to do other treatments at this stage, such as sub-q fluids (unless your dog is drinking so much that she is having trouble staying hydrated, such as getting up during the night to drink). Adding calcium to each meal if you are feeding a home made diet (to act as a phosphorus binder) would be advisable, and possibly antacids, particularly if your dog is showing any signs of inappetence or gastric problems. I would also give fish oil supplements (body oil, NOT liver oil), at the rate of 1,000 mg (300 mg combined DHA and EPA) per 10 lbs of body weight, along with Vitamin E (50, 100 or 200 IU for small, medium and large dogs), and discontinue any Vitamin A and D supplements (including cod liver oil) added to commercial foods. Additional recommended supplements include a B-complex vitamin and CoQ10, which may be beneficial for dogs with kidney disease.”

There is a table on the website for commercial foods with phosphorous amounts listed. There is only one blue buffalo food on there and it has too much phosphorous. See dogaware.com/health/kidneynonprescription.html

I looked up your previous food (Purina NF) on the same site. It says that food is for Late Stage Kidney Disease. The protein content is 15.9% on a dry matter basis. There are prescription diets that are better suited to Early Stage Kidney Disease. I don’t know why your vet wouldn’t have put your dog on one of those. I think Patty was right and the food was doing more harm than good in your case.

You report that your dog is doing well on Blue right now and you have a recheck in November. If it were me, I would continue to feed Blue and see what her values are at the recheck. If her creatinine and BUN are slightly elevated, I would consider switching to one of the foods on the list of non-prescription foods. My choice would be the Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix Chicken Recipe and/or Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix Whitefish & Sweet Potato.

I hope this is helpful. Again, I would really recommend checking out the dogaware site. There is so much information available. I would read through it before going to your recheck in November so you can be prepared.

[RescueDaneMom]

Regarding Blue Buffalo, what recipe are you feeding? The rating for Blue varies quite a bit between the different lines. Blue Wilderness is 5 stars.

[soprano1]

I am feeding Blue Buffalo Life Protection for Senior. I chose it, because it is on a list on this site al alternatives for dogs with kidney disease.

[Author]

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