Quote:
Originally Posted by IDPiper  Isn't that addressed here?
cut and pasted from Darwin's website
Kidneys that are not functioning well need help with phosphorus binding. Integrative KS contains chitosan (Vetequinol’s Epakitin™) which can help bind phosphorus in the food, before it gets to the kidneys. The diet itself is low in phosphorus. Raw foods can naturally contain lower levels of phosphorus than processed foods.
How is it not formulated to meet the criteria of a good kidney diet? I'm not being argumentative, just curious should the issue ever come up. I'm still in the learning stages of raw feeding and I only have what I've seen in my own dog to base my opinions on.
I feed Darwin's to my little and she is doing awesome. |
The first goal in treatment of kidney failure is to lower phosphorus intake. Why would someone want to feed extra phosphorus only to have to bind it? At 1.4, this is not a low phosphorus food by any means. Also, chitosan (the binder used here) works in the intestines. So it doesn't matter that it is an ingredient in the food. It would work the same if it was given separately.
The very high level of animal protein will come with a higher level of phosphorus. Protein doesn't necessarily have to be lowered right away, but the recommendation is to lower it was the BUN starts to rise. While protein does not cause kidney problems, it can make them worse both through excess phosphorus consumption and extra, unnecessary nitrogen.
I'm not sure if they have published their clinical trials done on dogs with kidney disease. That would be of interest. Currently, the studies do not say high protein, moderate/high phos, etc.
I could not feed my dog a diet that goes against all current research. This diet makes no scientific sense to me and I would personally need more than anecdotal evidence to consider it.