kidney disease with cushings and diabetes

[margie]

My 14 plus year old terrier mix dog has a host of medical issues. She has been living with diabetes and cushings and blindness for close to 4 years. She has developed a heart murmur too. (vetmedin and Lasix as kept it under control) She also takes .30 Trilosatne for over 3 years. Doing good, too, EXCEPT
My recent dilemma is Toto has become extremely picky about her diet because I have reduced her protein since early this year. Especially in the mornings. She is not a morning dog :) So to add to my dilemma, yesterday she was vomiting and with diarrhea. Vet ran tests and indicates she has bacteria in intestine. She is taking flagyl with probiotics. She has improved, BUT vet said I must reduce her protein even more! Her blood test yesterday revealed BUN was 59, up from 27 since Aug. Most of the time, She will not eat anything, other than only pure baby food, 20% ground chuck, chicken meat. She does not want to eat any rice with her food. Sometimes she will eat white bread. She is weird. This morning she wanted to do nothing with egg whites. This noon, I made myself an egg white with toast and she was barking her head off for some of my dish. Vet said feed her baby food while she is recovering from this infection, but I need to reduce her protein in a few days. Any suggestions? Any helpful receipes? Is chicken broth or beef broth safe to give to kidney disease patients? Thank you!

[Squirt's Mom]

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[JLG]

Hi Margie, I like you am new to this forum and have a dog with Cushings and Kidney disease, and would dearly love to have some guidance from someone who knows what I can safely feed her.

My Mollie, a JRT whose 10.5 years old, is currently eating Purina NF Renal food which is low in Protein, but like your little one she is getting fed up with the same old food every meal. I add boiled/steamed carrot, green beans and a little pasta to the meal to give it some substance, but that's all I am brave enough to do at the moment. I haven't tried her on totally home produced food including egg whites etc. so far as her Protein levels are still very high. She has just had her Fortekor (Benazepril) increased from 2.5 to 5gms today in a further effort to reduce them.

I look forward to seeing any response you get on this Margie and that Toto, gets some food she looks forward to eating soon. :)

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and your girl!

I have had 2 dogs that were diagnosed with kidney disease, and trust me, an elevated BUN alone can not be the basis for the diagnosis of a kidney issue. Dehydration is the number one cause of the BUN being high, and since a dog is generally fasted for their chemistry/CBC blood panel this can cause a dog to be dehydrated. Is her creatinine elevated, how about her phosphorus and potassium?

Hugs, Lori

[margie]

hi All,
Thanks for your replies. I didn't mention, too, that Toto also has diabetes, along with a heart murmur. Her BUN was 59.4, Creatinine 1.3, phosphorous is 5.2 (I have been adding Aluminum Hydroxide to her food and that has lowered her ph from 6.2 to 5.2)
Her food must have a strong aroma for her to show interest. She loves baby food, liverwurst, 20% fat ground chuck, chicken. But I have been told to add 3 oz of carbs, 3 oz veg and 1 oz of these foods. She wont eat it. I may just have to blend Hill's KD canned and force feed her. I don't know what else to do..

[Harley PoMMom]

Could you add the reference ranges for the creatinine and phosphorus? Here's a list of some foods you may try to entice her appetite:

Yogurt mixed with honey
Yogurt mixed with a dash of garlic
Potato boiled in meat broth, mashed with a *little* chicken fat added
Grated parmesan cheese as a topper on the regular food
Drizzle sardine juice (water packed sardines) on the food
Mash a sardine into the food
Mix a dab of tomato paste into the food
Add a bit of warm meat broth to the food
Sprinkle of garlic powder
Eggs; scrambled or hard boiled
Tripe

Why does the vet think she has kidney disease?

[margie]

Hello Harley Pom mom,
If you mean the reference range, here they are : Her ranges are as follows: BUN 9 to 29 mg (Toto's is 59.4) Creatinine .4 to 1.4mg( Toto's 1.3; range for phosphorous 1.9 to 5.0mg (toto's is 5.2)
Thank you for the tips to add to her food! I didn't realize that garlic could be a great additive. Is chicken broth OK to add, too? I always wonder if these broths add to the protein value. Thank you again!

[Harley PoMMom]

Meat broths are fine as long as onion/onion powder is not listed as an ingredient.

Thanks for those reference ranges, and now I see why Toto's vet suspects a kidney issue. When phosphorus is elevated it can make a dog nauseated and a phosphorus binder is usually added.

I'm including a link to an article on the dogaware site that I found very informative when my dogs were diagnosed with kidney disease: http://dogaware.com/health/kidney.html

Has Toto's blood pressure been checked recently? High blood pressure can really damage a dog's kidneys. My boy, Harley, had elevated BP and for some reason it was a bugger to get under control.

Hugs, Lori

[margie]

Hi Lori,
I am not sure about her BP, but she is taking 1/2 tab a 5mg Benazepril for blood pressure. I guess because she has a heart murmur.
At this moment, its morning where I live, and Toto was not thrilled about her k/d blended with chicken broth. So I offered her K/D kibble with a few tablespoons of homemade chicken broth. She slurped up the chicken broth with a few kibble. Then I mixed .5 oz of liverwurst with the leftover kibble. She carefully picked out the liverwurst and ate maybe a tad more kibble. I finally forced fed her some blended Hills K/D.
But as we sit and eat our bacon and eggs, toast, she barks up a storm wanting some. I know the yolk is high in phosphorous, too.

[molly muffin]

You could give her just the egg white and not the yolk. You're right that is high phosphorus.
I'd also make sure that any broth is low or no added sodium.

They sure do get picky. I have to rotate canned food with the renal LP food and she still isn't thrilled and will sometimes leave it, but if I cook something for her, she is much better. So I cut up steamed baby carrots, chicken breast etc. (although in your case carrots wouldn't be great for the diabetes too high of sugar content but another veg like green beans might work. I do those too with some garlic minced on them)