My dog has renal failure

[KathyS]

I almost put him down the other day, but he suddenly got better at the vet's office and started eating. Currently I feed him the Hills Kidney wet food diet and chicken. I was giving him vetmedin for his heart disease, but quit giving him the meds as he seems to do better without them (at least as far as his kidney's go) Any ideas for supplements or foods? I'm thinking about giving him some potassium. Any advice to keep him for as long as I can provided he has some quality of life would be wonderful. Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Hi Kathy-

I'm so sorry to hear about your pup's severe kidney dis-ease but am glad tto hear that he has started eating.

Is there anything like special treats, gentle games, petting, sniffing, etc. that he is still interested in doing?

 

[KathyS]

he started going out in the yard a little bit. I think he's doing better after I quit giving him the Vetmedin

 

[KathyS]

Any ideas on what might be good for feeding him? Sometimes he eats the hills kidney diet and sometimes he doesn't. Since he probably does not have much time left I am just letting him eat what he wants to at this point.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Fantastic Kathy!

If he has any favorite foods or treats, perhaps focus on feeding him those.

Also, try to get him outside,sniffing, engaging and being happy as much as possible.

 

[KathyS]

My dog is actually doing a lot better on the hills kidney diet which has some L carnitine in it. I just started introducing a little taurine and coq10 to his diet for his heart disease. Incidentally when I took him to the cardiologist last month the vet told me it looked like his heart was actually better and the valve was not leaking as much--thanks to the wonderful guidance of Dr. Jeff and Dr. Christina! It's hard to believe that (under the guidance of the vet) I almost put him down last month. Everyone is telling me he acts like a different dog now. I'm wanting to introduce new foods slowly.

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Renal diets are deliberately ultra-low in protein/phosphorus. Feeding any extra protein (e.g., raw food, chicken, etc.) completely negates the benefits of those (very expensive!) diets. That said, I am not personally a believer in protein restriction for carnivores, regardless of kidney function. However, low protein *can* be beneficial in managing symptoms (for those animals who are symptomatic). But it's a complicated tightrope to walk!

 

[KathyS]

Dr. Jean, thanks for the feedback! I just fed my dog some chicken hearts today and yesterday, thinking that wasn't too high in protein, iron maybe but not protein. I think I will wait a few days before feeding him more of that. I so appreciate your feedback on this!

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Heart is a muscle like any other, so it's almost all protein.

 

[KathyS]

Thank you Dr. Jean! No more chicken hearts for him! I've noticed that he's definitely better being off the meat.

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Good to hear! The low protein diets do manage symptoms quite well in a certain subset of dogs and cats.