Sorry that it took me so long to get back to you! As other prey modelers can attest to, once one feeds prey model, meat sales and scoring free or at least cheap meat becomes an obsession and that's what I did today!
Ok, there's a lot of complex info in your post and I can appreciate your concerns since those levels ARE elevated to high. I would like to address the protein loss in your dog(s) which is not surprising given is the fact they're eating cooked, processed protein vs. RAW. Dogs only survive on kibble but do not thrive which is what we're looking for. Especially kidney and liver compromised dogs benefit from a raw diet as cooked nutrients put a strain on an already stressed system. Any vet who will deny the scientific fact that a dog is a member of the canis lupus family, sharing most of its DNA with the gray wolf and therefore is designed by nature to eat like one, is somebody who might mean well but who needs to re-educate himself and foget about the IAMS sponsored nutrition class he had in college! Looking inside a dog's mouth should clear up any confusion as those teeth were made for bringing down prey and ripping, tearing and chewing through those bones and dense meat is a piece of cake! Also looking at a dog's body from the inside and comparing that to a wolve's is more than what I needed to know and I'm not a vet! It's like if he recommended feeding a gold fish hey! There are raw friendly vets out there and while my vet does not endorse it per say, he supports me because he sees the results with my own dogs. Maybe that alone might convince him one day, but I won't hold my breath! That being said, he's a good vet who does not push yearly boosters on me as he knows that I don't vaccinate my dogs anymore beyond the 3-4 rounds of puppy shots. I come in for check-ups and things like that and I'm happy to report that my dogs are healthy beyond anything he's ever seen. The proof is too much to list here but I am convinced enough to never ever feed anything but raw to my dogs that I have now and in the future. My vet also understands that a raw fed dog will have higher red blood cell and blood urea nitrogen levels than kibble fed dogs thus the reference should probably be revised for raw fed dogs as kibble is not a natural food source for our dogs thus those levels are not realistically healthy nor normal. Translation; he doesn't freak out over my dog's blood analysis as there will be different levels than what he's used to seeing from other patients, he did do that research! Finding a vet/specialist who at a minimum will support your feeding decision is vital! I know this sounds whacky right now and I'm NOT trying to be rude, but nobody can guarantee that the switch to raw will be uneventful for your dogs. My own personal take was that if my 12 year old was to continue to eat this way (kibble) he was going to die anyways as messed up as that sounds, but he was in BAD shape. So I said that either starting raw will save him or push him over the edge! I held my breath and made peace with my decision, gave him raw and within 1 month, his health was better. He did experience detox though! Which can be expected from a dog with extensive damage! Raw is not fattier than any brand of kibble in fact, it's lower. NV raw chicken has 6% vs NV kibble 22%. Phosphorus is also lower in raw vs. kibble; raw 0.256% vs kibble brand X 1.43. Phosphorus is a vital part of a dog's diet and so is calcium. Again, we're talking about the RAW forms of those as the cooked versions cannot be properly utilized. I don't feed pre made anymore because I want to mimic mother nature as close as possible. A prey animal is made up of approx. 80% meat, 10% edible bone and 10% offal (organs). You could take a whole chicken (skin, bones, organs and all) and grind it up if you're not into whole. That would be the perfect ratio! I do not believe in veggies, fruit or any other supplements as everything a dog needs is in prey. However, if I can't get ahold of fresh, whole fish then I will substitute with wild sockeye salmon fish oil capsules. Enzymes are useless because the raw has them already. Probiotics are good when the dog is taking antibiotics for something. I'm not trying to convert you to prey model, sorry if it seems that way. Just want to point out that NV does not have the secret recipe to successful raw feeding. It's just a more convenient way! Many raw feeders grind their own food. Many feed ground raw AND give whole meaty bones to chew on because a diet, solely made up of ground does NOTHING for a dog's teeth long term! Some even get upset stomachs from pre made ground. One of my other posts addressed that previously. I understand your fears and have some websites for you to check out. the first one is geared for prey model BUT it has good answers for questions regarding the bacteria questions and such. If you already know this one, good for you! rawlearning dot com. If you need more info, there's more but I'm not sure what you already looked at.......
sorry for the extensive post yet I still don't feel like I've addressed all of your concerns but I'm not going anywhere!
My Yorkies are Toy (12 years, 10 pounds) Gia (13 months, 5 pounds) and Mahli ( almost 6 months, 19 ounces) and they all get raw meaty bones and offal. Even the tiny one! She tears through a chicken wing like a little pirahna
Her mouth is so small that I'm having a really hard time brushing her teeth so this prey model thing is perfect for her!