[Jordipants]

I have a 6 yr old Bouvier cross with king Shepard. He is very active. I took him to the vet and had blood work came back elevated kidney levels. Vet told me to put on kidney vet diet and to retest in 6 months. Only food I could find was performatrin large breed senior it has low phosphorus. Hese been on it two months. He hates the food and ingredients are crap. Does anyone have any recommendations on a non prescription low phosphorus and or protein diet they would recommend. I can not do raw or home cooked. He use to be on grain free kibble.

 

[LeoRose]

Hills, Purina, and Royal Canin all make prescription kidney food.

 

[DaySleepers]

When it comes to trying to get a legit medical issue under control, I'm on board with sticking with the specially formulated prescription foods if that's what your vet recommends. If I couldn't find a food my dog liked on my own, I'd go back to the vet or a veterinary nutritionist and see if they could recommend or order something different, or suggest specific non-prescription foods that meet the dietary needs that will support his kidneys. I'd be very careful about just trying a non-prescription food without veterinary guidance thinking it's "higher quality," because something that is high quality and healthy for a dog without health issues could be actively dangerous for a dog with existing kidney problems.

If he were my dog, I'd at least try to stick out the prescription food for six months to see if you can get his blood tests back down to normal, then work on finding a maintenance food that will be appropriate for supporting his kidney health going forward.

I'm not a fan of grain-heavy, highly processed foods under normal circumstances, but sometimes it's medically necessary, short- or long-term. Veterinary diets exist for a reason.

 

[Jordipants]

His kidney level is slightly elevated. Iv done a tone of research on my own my vet said it could be a early warning sign. He gave me levels to try to match the food or keep him on the same food and retest. He only has one kind of kidney diet and it only comes in 10ib bag. I will keep looking for a better food. I realise I won't fined a 15 percent protein non prescription dog food. I'm just trying to find a quality lower phosphorus and protein kibble and retest him.

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

His kidney level is slightly elevated. Iv done a tone of research on my own my vet said it could be a early warning sign. He gave me levels to try to match the food or keep him on the same food and retest. He only has one kind of kidney diet and it only comes in 10ib bag. I will keep looking for a better food. I realise I won't fined a 15 percent protein non prescription dog food. I'm just trying to find a quality lower phosphorus and protein kibble and retest him.

I don't know if it's available where you are, but Lotus has a 'senior' oven baked kibble that's right at .5% for phosphorus & 18.5% protein. That's the lowest I've seen outside of a Rx diet.

 

[Jordipants]

Thank-you I'm looking into it. There website doesn't list phosphorus but it's low protein.

 

[parus]

My understanding is that lower protein is a purposeful and necessary part of kidney preserving diets.

High protein intake may lead to increased intraglomerular pressure and glomerular hyperfiltration. This can cause damage to glomerular structure leading to or aggravating chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Dietary Protein Intake and Chronic Kidney Disease
(This particular article is about humans but the same principle applies to dogs.)

Hills seems to have a more appetizing to dogs formulation than some other prescription diets IME.

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

Thank-you I'm looking into it. There website doesn't list phosphorus but it's low protein.

You have to dig a bit - it's listed under 'detailed nutrients'

Lotus Pet Foods

www.lotuspetfoods.com

 

[Jordipants]

Thank-you. I found it. It only come in 20ib bag. My dog weighs 114ib. Wouldn't last long at $100.00 including tax. Better then the performatrin it has no corn but still has alot of carbs and better fillers

 

[parus]

By definition a low-protein diet is going to be carb heavy. That's a feature, not a bug. To get the protein percentage down you have to raise the percentage of carbs and/or fat. And you can only raise the fat so much without inviting digestive upset or even pancreatitis.

 

[Jordipants]

Yes I realise that it's either high meat source or high carbs . Not much inbetween in kibble. I called my vet today he is going to look into a food and get back to me.

 

[parus]

Yes I realise that it's either high meat source or high carbs . Not much inbetween in kibble. I called my vet today he is going to look into a food and get back to me.

So, if your dog is having kidney issues and the vet has recommended a low-protein, low-phosphorous diet, why are you looking for kibbles that have more meat? Or am I misunderstanding you?

 

[Jordipants]

He doesn't do well with grains. Vet called back and said mature consult by Royal canin or look for regular line of royal cabin senior or mature formula. 101.00 13kg bag.

 

[Jordipants]

The vet originally said KD diet and know hese telling me to try the mature consult. I can't even find a phosphorus level on there website. It's higher protein. He said to wate 6 months to retest. Any food recommend ? I can't afford $100.00 a bag. He doesn't have grain allergies he just doesn't have proper energy after being off the grain free. Hese always hungry.

 

[DaySleepers]

Okay, glad you have numbers to follow.

I've found Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Sweet Potato and Venison formula, which is higher in protein (20% min) but only around 0.6 in phosphorus (Limited Ingredient Diets® Sweet Potato & Venison Dry Dog Formula | Natural Balance).

It's still not exactly cheap, but under $3 a pound on a couple websites I checked, at least?

 

[Jordipants]

They've been on recall . I found a blue Buffalo formula but don't trust all the recalls they've had

 

[Jordipants]

I decided to try a bag of vibrant like chicken and vegetable dog food. It's fairly low in phosphorus. Has anyone tried this food before?

 

[Jordipants]

Talked to vet. My dog is stage 1 renal. Royal canin Mature consult is the only food he knows of if anyone knows a food in comparison please let me know.

 

[Jordipants]

I had to return the vibrant life bag said 0.5 phosphorus and company called and said 1.4 max. I'm glad I didn't open it

 

[parus]

Hill's K/D Diet is 15% protein. Royal Canin Mature Consult is 21%, which is very much not a low protein diet. It's designed to help older dogs maintain body condition. Are you sure your vet didn't suggest one of the Royal Canin kidney formulas? I looked on their site and there is a "Royal Canin Mature" (not consult, just Mature) formula that is designed for kidney health, which makes me wonder if he was referring to that.

This may seem counterintuitive but for a dog with impaired kidney function, lower protein foods (in combo with low phosphorus) can actually allow the dog to process MORE protein. When they eat a meal that has normal or high levels of protein, the kidneys are overloaded by the protein and the dog cannot process it. Think of pouring a steady trickle of water down a partially blocked pipe versus dumping in the whole bucket at once. The former overflows and makes a mess, the latter gets through to the drain. And for a dog, that mess can exacerbate the kidney damage, making the problem even worse.

Obviously a low protein diet is not ideal for an active younger dog, and may have some undesirable side effects. You have to decide whether preserving existing kidney function is worth the trade-off.

If you go to a site like Chewy.com and search their foods you can filter for special health requirements including kidney/renal diets. That should give you some options to choose from at various price points and from various brands.