microvascular dysplasia

[LittleDogFan]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and need some advice. In April, I rescued a tiny dog who was wandering loose. Every bone in her body was visible and she weighed slightly over three pounds. Several months later, she still only weighs 3.4 pounds, but looks healthier and seems happy. My vet has tested her and we suspect she has Microvascular Dysplasia, but short of doing a liver biopsy, we can't be certain. From my research, she needs a food that is 15-20% protein and 15-30% fat. Most of the higher quality foods contain much higher levels of protein. Anyone on the forum have any suggestions?

[NatureLover]

Little dogs may be more predisposed to this condition than large dogs but your vet may just be surmising that this is what is causing the symptoms. I wouldn't assume the problem is either genetic or unavoidable. Most people don't realize how much guesswork goes into veterinary diagnostics, especially lacking true evidence like bloodwork or urinanalysis, as is apparently the case here.

Actually, the question of whether it's a genetic issue or not should not really alter your course of action. If it's genetic, it's going to be especially important for you to feed optimally so that the dog is able to utilize as much of the food as possible, given her compromised state. If it's not genetic, this will also be important because it will allow recovery from the condition to whatever extent is possible.

What are her symptoms? If it's only that she's 'underweight' and everything else is good (eyes clear, energy and alertness high, coat soft & shiny, no scratching, scooting, bile vomiting, etc.), then there may be no problem at all. Dogs are supposed to be much thinner than vets recommend, because the standard they judge by is the weight of a typical kibble-fed dog. Even though it might be practically universal, the extra padding that kibble fed dogs carry is unhealthy. In fact, no matter what they are fed, thin dogs are healthier overall, and they live much longer. In addition, humans have different body “types” (ectomorphs, mesomorphs, endomorphs) and there are different body types in dogs as well. This may account for your dog being thinner.

Often what happens with these kinds of diagnoses is that the owner is advised to feed a "special" commercial food (low protein, etc.), which must be purchased from the vet, and which only makes the dog sicker. When the symptoms get worse, the disease is blamed when it's really the food making it worse. That's because commercial foods can meet the criteria of being low protein or low fat while still having lots of indigestible ingredients that exacerbate disease. “Regular” commercial foods are worse, of course, especially for a dog with impaired digestion, but special commercial foods aren’t much better. A home-prepared diet can easily be designed for the dog who needs to eat less protein or fat, and this would be super cheap and easy for a small dog like yours.

[DaneMama]

Hello and welcome! It is great that you rescued that little dog and gave her a wonderful new lease on life.

I would also echo what NatureLover has said about a home prepared diet. I feed all five of my dogs a prey model raw diet and they all do fantastic on it. It's low protein despite what people think. Since raw meats are typically 70% or higher in water content, it "dilutes" the protein present. Most meats fall somewhere between 20-25% protein. Fat content really depends on what type of meat you feed, some are much higher fat than others but the good thing is that you can always trim excess fat off of raw meats and bones, where in kibbles you can't take things out or add things in...what you buy is what you get.

I definitely suggest heading over to the raw section to learn more about how to transition her over, if this is something you'd be open to giving a shot.

I wish you the best of luck! Don't hesitate to ask any and all questions!