PLE & PLN – please help!

Dog Food Advisor Forums Diet and Health PLE & PLN – please help!

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #105991 Report Abuse
    Iva R
    Member

    Hello guys,

    My dog (7 years old Yorkshire terrier) was diagnosed with PLE couple of weeks ago. Until August 2017, Ralf was a very healthy, happy dog without any indication that he could get so sick. In mid-August he suddenly got diarrhea and vomiting. We have visited several veterinarians, taken various lab examinations, many different antibiotics but nothing helped. We visited then Vet Clinic beginning of October and the diagnosed PLE (without endoscopy, as this was not possible). He got his therapy: Atopica, Cortison, Omep, Semintra and Tylan, sometimes complemented with some additional meds against nausea and vomiting. After 3 weeks ups and downs, his vet called me and said that his Albumin / Total protein got better. However, his kidneys seem not to work properly as large amounts of protein escape through his urine. Looking at him, I have a feeling he’s got a lot better – he has energy, wants to walk/ play, has appetite, not much water in abdomen, etc. However, his vet results are not great. Does anyone has experience with this or something similar? PLE and PNE together.
    Concerning food, he has been on Hills Z/D. However, he hates canned food and does not even want to eat it if mixed with something he normally likes. Hills Z/D kibble is still acceptable for him. He is used to home cooking. He used to eat organic chicken or turkey breast with rice and other veggies (carrots, pumpkin, zucchini etc), sometimes white fish and kibble. As he got this awful disease, we have tried with novel protein, such as horse, rabbit and venison meat. He prefers venison meat cooked with veggies (sweet potato, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots) and tapioca. We add also every second day cooked egg white and a little bit of kefir or cottage cheese with very low fat. From time to time he likes white fish, or tuna & salmon. He still has not gained his normal weight, but seems he can digest it well (at least)? I think we are on the right way when it comes to PLE, but I am really worried about PLN as his kidneys are not working properly. So, I need to come up with a proper diet, to satisfy his daily protein needs but on the other hand I need to protect & make his kidneys work better.
    Concerning fat, we try to keep it on a very low level.
    Any tips, ideas or suggestions are very much welcome as I have a feeling we are fighting for life!

    Balance it – looks really great. However, I need approval from my vet. My dog is at vet clinic, based in Vienna, Austria. I am not sure they have balance it accounts and/or have time to create one. Any other ideas how I can approach the recipes?

    Thanks a lot for your feedback(s)!

    Best,
    Iva & Ralf

    #105996 Report Abuse
    Lori H
    Participant

    Hi Ava,

    I highly recommend reaching out to the following website: http://www.doglivershunt.com/
    Rick is amazing! He answers every question I have ever asked and is very honest. Take a look at his website. I have sent thousands of dollars on my dog over the last few years because of ongoing health concerns (bladder stones, Cushing’s disease, potential liver failure, diabetes) and needed to find someone or something that would get my pup healthy. Rick does this pro-bono and only asks for donations. Buddy has been on his program since late May and from an outward appearance he is a different dog, happy, healthy, good weight, shiny coat, spunky, etc… I had his blood work done in late October and he is now in normal ranges across the board for his liver and kidneys! My vet was preparing me for the fact that he thought my dog was going to die. He was in the first stages of liver failure and there was nothing I could do but sit back and watch and decide when the end was time. I was not willing to do that and I am so happy I found Rick! I was a skeptic at first, believing that my vet knew best, but prescription food is awful and the only reason he prescribes it is because he has no understanding of nutrition for dogs and gets a kickback from Hill’s Science Diet. He is a great vet, but I have learned through this process that he is not in the business of giving nutritional advise, but in the business of seeing an issue and figuring out how to treat it using medication and surgery. A balance of both is key and I have learned they don’t have every answer and personal research is key.

    Good luck. If you have questions, you can ask me, or you can reach out to him. He will do a free consultation based on questions answered.

    I hope you find answers for Ralf and get him healthy!

    Lori

    #106000 Report Abuse
    Iva R
    Member

    Dear Lori,

    Many thanks for your prompt and honest answer. I am reaching out to Rick immediately! And it is very much true that conventional medicine can do a lot up to some point, but the key is exactly in balancing both. I hope to have good results soon. Will keep you posted.

    Best
    Iva

    #106028 Report Abuse
    Susan
    Participant

    Hi Iva,
    So sorry about Ralf, but he wants to play & is full of life this is a GOOD thing very good but start feeding him his home cooked diet again he’ll get more nutrition from a cooked diet, then the Hills Z/d, my last dog was put on the Hills Z/d she had Mast Cell Tumors 2008 & I didnt know anything about pet foods, I feed cooked & raw diets never had to feed a vet diet before, I thought cause I’m paying $140 for a vet diet this must be really good food & will help my girl she hated the Z/d dry kibble & she would cry in pain at night, her vet said she was just spoilt, unbelievable some of these vets, they have no compassion, she wasnt fed a dry kibble before so of cause her stomach hurt after she ate 2 big cups of dry kibble, probably when teh kibble swelled up in her stomach, I always think of my Angie if I only knew what I know now & we had internet sites like we have now I wouldnt have Put Her To sleep she was cancer free in the end but I couldn’t handle her crying of a night & she just didnt want to be here no more, she lost that spark in her eyes, NOW I know different my next dog I rescued he has IBD & we’ve been to hell & back the first 2 yrs, listen to Ralf if he wants cooked feed cooked or raw whatever he can eat….
    I wonder if you contacted “Ketopets they do special diets for sick dogs & dogs with cancer they’re on facebook as well here’s their site http://www.ketopetsanctuary.com/ send them an email see if they have a recipe for Ralf,
    Why do you keep the fat low? I did the same with Patch then the last 6months I’ve done the opposite, after looking at the Ketopet diet it’s high in fat, high in protein & very low fiber, you only add healthy green veggies for fiber, I’ve increased the fat protein in his diet, can you increase the fat in his diet & feed healthy whole foods high in omega fatty acid fats like Sardines, Salmon, Almonds, Turkey, Mussels etc, it’s taken 3-4 years & finally these last 6months my boy has gained weight finally he’s nilly 19kgs instead of being very lean 16-17kg, his vet wont believe it when she see’s him, she hasn’t had to see him since May-June….
    Do you feed 4 smaller meals a day? I feed 5 smaller meals a day I might stop 1 of his meals now he’s gained weight…..
    Ralf will get there, I know you will get the help Ralf needs… You are both in my prays….

    #106029 Report Abuse
    Iva R
    Member

    Dear Susan,

    Many thanks for your answer & support – we really appreciate!
    Thanks also for recommending Ketopets, I will contact them too.
    It seems like our dogs know what is good. I have heard a lot of different opinions, but mostly conventional medicine suggests prescription diet.
    Ralf lives in Montenegro. We got him when he was two months old. Living is such a small country enables you to have more time, to enjoy life, to have an easy access to organic food, etc. Ralf as whole family was always having a homecooked meals. We never had a microwave. In our country, people dine. They are not in a hurry or anything, they sit for hours and eat their food. We never (there are some rare exceptions) eat food from yesterday. It is just not necessary, as people have time to cook. It is rather a rule that families get together every day around 4pm to have lunch together. Ralf, as part of the family, was not exception either. His meals were always fresh prepared, organic turkey or chicken meat with a lot of steaming vegetables and rice, that my mother cooked for him without any additives, salt or anything. As my father is hobby fisherman, Ralf got sometimes fresh steaming trout or some other fish. He loved it. In addition, he used to eat Hills kibbles (as recommended by our vet) but let’s say: 2/3 was fresh prepared food and 1/3 kibbles. He has never got anything from the table except his own food, and sometimes some cheese bites (organic goat cheese, from our village).
    End of June this year he got his vaccination, and one month after, diarrhea and vomiting started. He is on following therapy:

    Prednisolon 5mg (1x per day ½) –his dosage is 2.5mg per day
    Tylan 80mg (1x capsule 2x per day) – his dosage is 80mg per day
    Atopica 25mg (2x per day) – his dosage is 50mg per day
    Omep Mut 10mg (2x per day ½)- his dosage is 10mg per day
    Semintra (1x per day 1.4ml) – his dosage is 1.4ml

    In addition, he gets therapy for his eyes (as he got eye inflammation, after spending a night at the Clinic, when the vets said, his immune system has weakened. We are still fighting with it. Left eye got healthy again, right eye is still not healing. Vet said again that this is due to his general condition, and it can get better only when his immune system gets better and stronger)
    Vigamox drops for eyes (we give every 2hours 1 drop in his right eye)
    Soloseryl cream for eyes (every 2 hours in his right eye)
    In addition, we put cotton pads soaked in the lukewarm tea on the closed eyes for ten minutes.

    Right now (this and last week), he is eating: venison meat cooked with veggies (sweet potato, pumpkin, zucchini, carrots, mangold) and tapioca. We add also every second day cooked organic egg white and a little bit of kefir or cottage cheese with very low fat. This week he got trout once. All veggies and fish are steamed. As he loves venison meat, he can eat up to 300-350gr/ day together with veggies. Therefore, his kibbles stay untouched most of the time.

    During October, he was on horse meat (sometimes fresh, sometimes PERRO canned hypoallergenic 100% horse meat https://www.perro.at/hund/nassfutter/perro-premium-pur-pferd), with a lot of veggies such as sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots, zucchini and mangold). Apart from that he got once or twice a week fresh organic tuna or salmon, as well as kefir and low-fat cottage cheese. Two or three days we fed him with a young beef my mother brought from home for him. In addition, he got Hills Z/D kibbles, and was eating maybe 100gr per day. But kibbles are always the last thing he would eat. Not to forget, we put from time to time a teaspoon of linseed oil in his meals.

    No snacks. We got Hills Z/D snacks from our vet. However, he does not like them. He would rather lick a bit of kefir or yogurt than eat anything from Z/D.

    I am not sure if we are on the right way. I am very much worried about kidneys and not sure if we are treating them properly. The only medication he gets for kidneys is Semintra (1.4ml). Last labor results showed that his kidney values drastically increased: creatinine in urine 22.700mg/dl, protein in urine: 535.50mg/dl (reference: 6-53) and protein/creatinine ratio 23.59

    I am pretty much sure, conventional medicine can’t help much here. They did what they could. I have been desperately searching for alternatives.

    Apart from that, my dog looks OK. He is skinny (now 4.65kg / used to be 6.5kg) but he is in a good mood most of the time, likes to play, walk, sleeps properly and has appetite (picky eater). We do try to give smaller meals (let’s say 3 per day).

    Thanks a lot to all of you who is posting here, this means a lot!

    Best
    Iva

    #106043 Report Abuse
    InkedMarie
    Member

    Just wanted to say good luck. I had a dog with PLE quite a few years ago.

    #106049 Report Abuse
    Iva R
    Member

    Thank you InkedMarie!

    @Lori
    : would you mind if I contact you privately, as I have couple of questions concerning Ricks program? Maybe you can give me your email adress.

    Thanks! Best Iva

    #106050 Report Abuse
    InkedMarie
    Member

    Iva, I dont think I can help much as this happened a dozen years ago. I only remember the diarrhea & vomiting; diagnosis of PLE caused by lymphangectasia (spelling prob not correct). She was on metronidazole and ate Purina HE food. Well, she tried. She didnt like it much. I dont have my vet records any more.

    #106052 Report Abuse
    Iva R
    Member

    InkedMarie, thanks!
    I asked Lori H if I could contact her 😉
    Best, Iva

    #106056 Report Abuse
    Lori H
    Participant

    Hi Iva,

    My personal email is [email protected].

    Look forward to your response.

    Cheers,
    Lori

    #106138 Report Abuse
    Iva R
    Member

    Thanks Lori, I sent you an email! Looking forward to hearing from you!

    Best
    Iva

Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.