Low Protein

[totallyhip]

Our old guy seems to have one kidney that is working and one that is not. Our vet suggested to put him on a low protein diet. He used to be on raw but stopped eating it (my other guys are on raw). We were feeding him homecooked with rice, pasta, and cooked ground chicken with some canned food and supplements. Any suggestions or recommendations?

 

[Cami]

Low protein diets for kidney issues have been revised. A more common theme (over the past 10-15 years) is to feed a high quality form of protein versus the lower quantity.
Low protein diets lead to loss of muscle mass which can occur within weeks/months. A decreased intake of protein can also affect the heart which is a muscle.
*Most* vets will suggest a prescription diet (income generator for them) and these diets are pretty low quality.
Since you are feeding raw it would make more sense to prepare meals yourself and they would be a lot healthier than what you could buy!

You can do a search and find days worth of reading online but here is a link to start you off.
http://dogaware.com/files/bovee.pdf

 

[Jan]

I agree with Cami. When there are kidney problems, I think it is very important that you feed a high quality protein, not low protein food. It is the bones that Luke is not wanting to eat. Maybe you could feed boneless meals and give him bone meal to make sure that he gets enough calcium. Home cooking would be an option as well.

 

[totallyhip]

Thanks guys. The more I've researched this the more I find that it is the Phosphorus is what they need to avoid. Every low protein/kidney diet I've seen contains meat! I think he is doing well on the current diet he is on. Let's face it he is almost 10 and has DM and his kidney's are just getting old.

Last night I came home to the wonderful smell of roast turkey. Matt was roasting a turkey in the oven for LUKE!!! We will continue with his diet and let you all know how it goes.

 

[silly24boxer]

Nutrition facts, calories in food, labels, nutritional information and analysis – NutritionData.com This web site will help you figure out the amount of phosphorus amount in food items you are feeding. There is alot of good information out there to use. Just google around. Cooked egg whites are good also cooked barley.