In Need of Food Suggestions

M

mcguiregirl2248

Forums Enthusiast
Hi everyone! As most of you know, my little girl Zoe has Kidney Disease since the young age of 6. She is now 7 and has been doing really well. She hasn't really enjoyed the K/D kibble that the vet put her on but I have been able to get her to eat it until last month. Well I got the bright idea of changing to a different kidney diet kibble which she hates even more. Then I thought maybe she would eat the K/D canned food. She loved it and would eat it like crazy until last week. I made the mistake of buying some canned food for the other two girls to mix with their dry food, I thought it would be a little better for them. She got one whiff of that and now refuses to eat the canned K/D. I tried seperating her from them at feeding times and that doesn't even work, she would rather go hungry than eat the K/D food. I guess I need some suggestions as to what I can cook for her that would be lower in protein. Basically that is the idea of the K/D diet and I want to keep her as healthy as long as possible with out breaking the bank. Any thoughts? Dayna, I know you are pretty good with this type of stuff - any thoughts? Thanks!!
 
The jury is still out on whether or not kidney problems require a low protein diet. That may be out of date information, and it may depend more on the protein quality (ie. meat proteins are better than grain proteins) and moisture content than overall protein percentage. Of course, getting a vet to admit that and suggest something other than Hills/Science Diet is a long shot.

I'm not 100% educated on this particular matter, so don't feel comfortable recommending one way or the other. But I would definitely recommend against Science Diet in every situation!

If you are looking to cook for her, there are a couple of diets out there that may be very beneficial. The Healthy Adult Diet (HAD) is has been formulated with the input of Dr. Dodds and can be found here:
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/healthy_diet.htm
It is relatively easy to make, especially if you have a slow cooker.
You could also formulate your own homecooked diet plan, but it does take significant research to ensure that you have the proper supplements. A raw diet is significantly easier to balance nutritionally (though still requires research of course), but if you are following the idea of a "lower" protein diet then you may be better off with home cooked which includes a good portion of cooked/steamed/pureed veggies. The higher moisture content of a cooked diet (fed basically as a stew) will certainly be beneficial to kidney health. And remember too that meat does not equal protein. When looking at a raw cut of meat, it is only 17-20% protein when taking into consideration the moisture content. Compared to kibbles that have all moisture removed, that is really quite low.
 
Thanks Dayna! I understand your hesistation in providing advice. I just need something. I guess knowing that meat is not as high in protein as I thought, I won't feel as bad feeding her chicken breasts. I will mix in veggies too. She loves raw carrots and cooked beans. Thanks for the web link, I will look at that as well and let you know if I think it will work. Anything is better than her not eating!
 
Glad it helped a bit.

A couple of things to remember ...

If you are feeding raw, there is more to it than just "meat". You need edible bone and raw organ meats as well. Preferably more red meat than white meat. I can provide some great links with info if you are interested in more raw diet research.

If you are feeding homecooked, supplements become more important. Also for the veggies, ensure that they are steamed VERY soft and/or pureed to near liquid. Dogs are not able to digest raw veggies, so while she may love raw carrots, they aren't really doing her any good nutritionally. They certainly won't hurt for a snack here and there, but as part of a meal ensure that they are well broken down.
 
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