Hi everyone,
I am new to this but I have been reading through various topic posts and thought I would start a new one.
My 11 year old jack Russell has just been diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure.
I am so confused about how to care for him and really worried about doing the wrong thing.
Can anybody who has been in this situation help me ?
He has only just started on the hills prescription k/d tinned wet food which he seems to like ( so far ) .
He is on Pronefra 10mls twice a day and also on Benefortin half a tablet twice daily.
I have been researching and trying to become knowledgeable on this condition but there are so many different views out there that I am left confused.
I really want to care for my boy the best way I possibly can.
Thank you
Gemma.
Hello and welcome to the forum. We recently had a member posting about this issue and the thread can be found here. Unfortunately Karen has not updated her thread so we don’t know how her dog is getting on.
As a result of that enquiry David wrote the article Feeding Dogs with Kidney Failure. Hopefully you will find some useful information in these links but please ask if you have any further queries. We are always glad to have updates on progress.
Hi, Thank you for replying.
I have already read most of the threads about kidney disease and I already read that article too.
Thought some extra help or advice could have been given as I am still confused as to what I should be feeding my dog.
I am unsure on foods that are safe for him to have.
He only has 20% of his kidney working and we need to preserve this best we can, I don’t want to risk that dropping by me giving him the wrong foods.
I appreciate that you would like to know exactly what to give but as you can see by David’s article, it is complex. You have started giving the Hill’s and your dog is tolerating it so perhaps it is best to continue with that for the time being. There is no commercial food that I know of which has a protein level as low as this prescription diet. Your vet will be able to determine if it is helping. The problem is that as David has said, dietary management depends on the dog’s condition and phosphorous levels. Phosphorous is not usually included in the analysis so it is necessary to contact individual manufacturers for the information. The treatment that you are giving should help with this though.
If you want to feed something other than the Hill’s, have a good look at the paragraph on meat in David’s article because he explains how to make a choice of food depending on the dog’s condition. We can help you search for something appropriate if you let us know what you conclude but you need to discuss any changes with your vet.
If not adverse to raw feeding maybe speak to nutriment re their low purine chicken & tripe…but DO also speak to a vet first if kidney function &/or other health is serious.
