# Chronic kidney failure.....



## tansox (Jun 22, 2011)

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all well. 

I've not been here for a while now, but now I have a problem, so I hope you don't mind me asking for help.

Yesterday, my two year old Terrier was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure and only 25% of each kidney is working. I now need to put him on a diet (he's been fed raw for over a year, we got him at 10 months). This diet has to be suitable to ease the work what kidney he has left, does. I know about filtering water and today we're off out to buy a proper filter rather than boiling and cooling water.

What I need to know is what I should and more importantly, should not feed him.

Needless to say, I am devastated with the news as he is such a lively little dog, he never stops, will chase his ball all day if he was allowed and we had the time to throw it, so we're pretty upset that this whirling dervish's life is to be cut short. 

The vet (who is marvelous) has taken a biopsy of one of the kidneys and we'll hear the results within a day or two, but he has cysts on his small kidneys too, but we need to know what these cysts are.

Any help anyone can offer would be very welcome. 

Many thanks.
Christine.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I can't help you but I am so sorry about this. I hope some one else that has much more knowledge about this will be on soon to help you.

I would think you need to get lots of fluids in him. Maybe chicken broth. Good Luck. Thoughts and prayers are with you.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Traditional kidney diets are low in phosphorus. Most meats are pretty low in phosphorus. Bones and organ meats unfortunately are high in phosphorus but are still a necessary component to a raw PMR diet. Is he able to handle less bone? how much organ do you feed him?

Yokes are also high in phosphorus. So feed whites only. 

What does your weekly meal plan look like?


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Would egg shells be lower in phosphorus, was just thinking?


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## tansox (Jun 22, 2011)

Thanks for your replies.

His diet mainly consists of chicken, carcasses, necks as well as freshly caught rabbit, some fish (usually in some type of oil) he will eat virtually anything, he loves offal. 

Here in the UK some of our vets aren't that keen on raw diets, so you can imagine what type of reception I got when I pondered the whats-ifs etc. of how I'd go about giving him absolutely everything he needs. Now my husband has jumped on the band-wagon and wants to feed a commercial dog food to make sure he gets everything he needs to help with his prognosis. I'm having a hard time trying to convince husband that we can still feed a natural diet if we know what to give and what not to give, but it's not going well! - but I'm not rolling over yet!!!


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## Roo (Oct 17, 2010)

So sorry to hear about your dog, my parent's 13 yr old lab had CRF in the end, and it was heartbreaking to watch the decline. The first vet my mom consulted told her to feed Hills K/d, but she had two other vets tell her it was better to stay with raw/home cooked if possible because it would have a higher moisture content than the dry, and the fresh foods would be easier for the dog to process given that the kidneys weren't functioning normally. He lived longer on the mix of homemade raw/cooked than they thought he would, and didn't suffer some of the side effects of CRF like mouth sores and acidic stomach. The day they ended up putting him to sleep he still managed to walk into the vets office, when the vet checked his blood work he was surprised and said he didn't know how the dog could still be alive, much less be able to walk some with the numbers that came back, he was in some discomfort and was having a difficult time breathing, had lost interest in eating over the weekend, and basically had spent the weekend lying in his bed, so sadly it was time to let him go.

I know my mom changed the raw diet some to fit the needs of CRF, she sort of followed Dr. Pitcairn's homemade kidney recipe and substituted the cooked meats with raw. She fed ground eggshells for calcium instead of bone (you can also ask your vet about getting a binder supplement to give along with the eggshells), she fed as little of liver and kidneys as she could and I think did kidney support supplements instead sometimes to reduce phos levels, she fed a lot of cooked egg whites, cooked white jasmine rice, cooked sweet potatoes, some homemade broth (usually chicken or beef) for extra liquid), raw beef and lots of raw green tripe. I know she gave him mega doses of fish oil (spectrum kind from whole foods), CQ10, and Milk Thistle too. She did also limit his protein amounts some during his decline, you can look up the nutritional info on the different meats to see which ones are lowest in phos, the cooked carbs and some veggies were added in because he wouldn't be getting enough food otherwise.

The SubQ fluids really helped too.

Some good diet resources for CRF are. . . 
DogAware.com Health: Diet for Dogs with Kidney Disease

Kidney Diets and Treatment Options | B-Naturals.Com Newsletter

http://www.facebook.com/CRFDogs

K9KIDNEYS : for owners of dogs with Kidney Disease


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## tansox (Jun 22, 2011)

Oh thank you so much for those links; I've joined the FB group and have book marked the other links/sites. Like everyone else whose dog has recently been diagnosed with this illness, it's so much of a minefield, which is made all the more difficult when my head is still spinning and nothing appears to sink in. 

Once again, thanks to everyone who has helped me.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

I was just going to give you a really good link; but it looks like you already have it. The Dog aware info is great. Thought we were going to have a dog with kidney disease. turns out it was an acute case.
Here is more info from Merck. After reading, it seemed not so dire, and very manageable. Merck Veterinary Manual

Good luck!


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