I need help for my senior dog

[bella5255Participant]

Can anyone suggest a homemade recipe for a dog who has renal issues( low protien) and can not tolerate too much fat ( pancreas issues) It seems to be difficult to fine the right balence for my 13 year old Wheaton who has mild to moderate kidney disease and who just had a pancreatic attack due to the high fat renal food he was eating.

Help would be greatly appreciated!!

[Hound Dog MomParticipant]

Hi bella5255 –

If your dog is in the early stages of renal failure he shouldn’t need a reduced-protein diet. You don’t want to reduce the protein levels until the final stages of renal failure (when your dog is uremic – BUN is over 80 mg/dL, creatinine is over 4 mg/dL and the dogs is starting to show clinical symptoms of nitrogen buildup). The high quality protein provided by a homemade diet will not be hard on the kidneys in the way that low quality rendered proteins in most kibbles would be and is fine for dogs that have not yet become uremic – reducing the protein levels during the early stages of kidney failure will do more harm than good. I would just feed a standard balanced homemade diet and use very lean meats. Fish oil has has shown to help with kidney disease – because your dog has pancreatitis though, don’t give too much. Glandular supplements can help – Standard Process makes a great supplement called “Canine Renal Support.” Another supplement that I see recommended frequently for dogs with renal failure is “Vetri-Science Renal Essentials” – it contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs shown to be beneficial for dogs with renal failure. Here’s a link with some good info: http://dogaware.com/health/kidney.html (there’s even some sample homemade diets for dogs with kidney failure here).

[Mom2CavsMember]

My mixed breed, Lucy Mae, has a “mass” on her bladder. We don’t know yet if it’s malignant….didn’t want to do any biopsy yet (found it on an x-ray) because she’s acting great and kidney/bladder numbers seem okay for now. She’s also turning 12 years old and with her age, we’re in a wait and see mode. Anyway, she is eating Merrick grain free kibble topped with various canned food or freeze dried raw and water added. She is getting Standard Process Renal Support per my holistic vet. She also gets another urinary chew by Naturvet a couple times a week. So far, I have not reduced protein or anything like that and she’s doing fine. I know this may not be the same as your dog, but I still think a higher protein diet is best. Of course, I’m not a vet.

[pugmomsandyParticipant]

Articles and recipes here:

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjpancreatitis.html

http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjlowfatdiets.html

http://dogaware.com/health/kidneydiet.html

My dogs love green tripe!

[mlp576Participant]

I have been using a whole food supplement and my dogs have been doing amazing. There moods are calmer yet they seem to have more energy. The coat looks amazing and my oldest is getting up the stairs easier. http://www.friendsfurlife.rockyandbella.com I totally recommend it. I use Pedigree maintenance however surviving and thriving are 2 different things all together. My Aunts dog is diabetic and told me that she has been able to cut down on the amount of meds for him so that is a testimony in itself.

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