Chronic Renal Failure in Senior

[Jax08]

I'm not sure, Ruth. I had a message from him when I got home so I haven't seen any paperwork. Her BUN is usually a bit high but nothing to be concerned with. This time her BUN has gone down slightly but her CRE is up over the norm. He said in his message that when BOTH are up, it is an indication of CRF. I'm assuming they did the test that also shows the PH/Ca levels but not sure yet.

Eggs...said great high quality protein but yolks are very high in phosphorus. One site said to give an egg + and egg white.

ETA: it does look like the duck necks we usually feed will be a good option with more calcium than phosphorus.
http://gratefulpet.com/duckneckswhole2lbs.aspx

[Rott-n-GSDs]

Originally Posted by Jax08

Diet - Raw diet. Doc suggested reducing protein. BUT..isn't the key to reduce phosphorus more than protein? Any input on this?

You are correct, reducing phosphorus is the key. Low phosphorous, moderate protein: which describes a raw prey model diet.

Originally Posted by Jax08

I'm not sure, Ruth. I had a message from him when I got home so I haven't seen any paperwork. Her BUN is usually a bit high but nothing to be concerned with. This time her BUN has gone down slightly but her CRE is up over the norm. He said in his message that when BOTH are up, it is an indication of CRF. I'm assuming they did the test that also shows the PH/Ca levels but not sure yet.

My Apollo was diagnosed with chronic renal failure.. his BUN and creatinine levels were fluctuating: sometimes both were up, sometimes one was up and not the other, and sometimes both were okay. I was basically sent home with a bag of k/d and told my dog was going to die. I wasn't willing to accept that and consulted numerous vets/specialists. The moral of the story is that we never did find out what was wrong, but his levels returned to normal without any expensive "low protein" kidney diet.

Have you checked out the K9KIDNEYS Yahoo group? I highly recommend it. Get copies of the lab reports and post the exact levels and someone there will help you interpret it.

Also, this site is fantastic: DogAware.com Health: Kidney Disease in Dogs

[Jax08]

No, haven't looked for kidney groups yet. Ruth posted the dogaware links on another forum and I'm browsing that now.

My vet didn't say here's a bag of crap, take your dog home to die. He said I"m going ahead with the surgery to pull her teeth, I have a list of home made diets for you.

Her bloodwork has been consistent the last two years with a slightly elevated BUN but something changed in the last month from her November check up to now. It will be easy for us to adjust her diet once I gather all the information in my ever so anal spreadsheet making way.

[Jax08]

Confused on phosphorus/calcium amounts. Is it an amount such as per milligram or is it a ratio?

[M&J]

The k9kidney yahoo group scared the daylights out of me! There were a lot of dogs who were crashing. I got a lot excellent help when I joined the yahoo k9kidneydiet group.

[Anja1Blue]

Green tripe is another excellent food for dogs w/kidney disease, - I bought it (and still do, it's good for healthy dogs as well) in 5 lb chubs.......Even when Blue was at his sickest, he never turned it down.
________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge

[Jax08]

That is on my list and in my freezer.

Just heard from the vet. 31 nasty teeth gone. Her CRE level was just slightly elevated by a small percentage. He said it was 1.7 in Nov and is up by 0.2. Her phosphorus levels and calcium levels are still good. He is going to print diets for me to look at and he wants to recheck her in 3 months. He is sending her home with tramadol for pain because he thinks that will be easier on her kidneys.

He thinks her peeing on the floor is partly due to this and partly due to a bit of dementia but that she did NOT have a UTI. He said to NOT restrict her water intake and just deal with the mess in the morning. Guess I need to look for some mats that will catch the pee! When I get old...I hope my kids do the same for me.

[Lesley1905]

I'm so sorry to hear about all of this. UCONNGSD has a dog with CRF and is a wealth of knowledge. You should contact her. My GSD, Brody, has had some kidney damage from what, we have no idea. I check his levels every 3 months. He's not in per say "renal failure" just yet and my goal is to keep him out of that. But, I've been doing my own research via the yahoo kidney diet group, dog awareness, and uconngsd. The biggest thing is the diet and supplements. COQ10 is an excellent vitamin for reducing creatinine levels, new studies are showing. Omega 3's are good for preventing further damage to the kidneys, along with vitamin e. I also have Brody on Renal essentials vitamins from vetriscience. Sub Q fluids are good for assisting in flushing out the toxins. But all of this depends on the dogs levels. Do you know what bloodwork numbers are? Also, depending on the numbers, depends on the protein level in the food. For Brody, his levels aren't horrible so I can still feed a decent amount of protein. Once levels are at a certain point, lower protein is better. But phosphorous is a key element you want to keep an eye on. Green Tripe like someone said above is excellent. Another thing is a calcium/phosphorous binder. Again, it depends on what levels your dogs bloodwork is showing. I would highly recommend talking to uconngsd. Her dog was diagnosed at 8 months old with CRF and is almost 4 years old I'm pretty sure. There is a wealth of knowledge out there, you can join me in learning!

[Lesley1905]

Some of the information on supplements, bloodwork numbers, diet, etc can be sooooo overwhelming. Another thing I did was make a spreadsheet of Brodys bloodwork so I can track his numbers. We also had his kidneys ultrasounded to make sure they looked healthy, thankfully they looked fine! I also test his urine frequently to make sure his urine specific gravity is ok. We do his bloodwork every 3 months. If your interested in the spreadsheet, I can email you mine and you can replace Brodys values with your dogs values.

[carmspack]

bingo -- just had a thought I know a woman who was head nurse of the dialysis unit at a major hospital (currently returned to school - one year to go to getting her ND)