Kris, I am so sorry that your pup has been diagnosed with kidney disease. My little guy is 15 now and was diagnosed almost two years ago with stage 1 chronic kidney disease. He did not do well on the RX kidney diet because of the high fat content (he got pancreatitis right off the bat) so our vet had a home cooked diet formulated for him. The fattier cuts of meat are usually recommended for kidney disease because they are lower in phosphorous and higher in calories, but we have had to stick to skinless, boneless, boiled chicken breast, egg white or baked white fish to keep the fat content low. Yorkies are one of the breeds that are prone to pancreatitis but if your baby doesn't have an issue with the fats, you can feed boneless chicken thighs, a fattier mixture (such as 80/20) of ground beef or the green tripe. Egg whites are also a good source of low phosphorous protein for a CRF dog. I purchase glutinous (sweet Asian) rice from Amazon or the Asian market because it is much lower in phosphorous than regular white rice but still calorie dense. My little guy also eats a lot of steamed veggies (green beans, cabbage, kale, broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash) with his meals, and he eats fruit (peeled apples, pears, watermelon) for snacks. We also add fish oil, coQ10, and a B vitamin to his meals. All the veggies and fruits I listed are low in phosphorous. If you are going to feed your pup fresh human food, you can check the website nutritiondata.com for the calorie, protein, phosphorous and fat amounts in many different foods. You can check with your vet as far as what he recommends for protein and phosphorous amounts based on the stage of kidney disease your dog has. We keep our little guy at about 1.5 grams of animal protein and 15 mg of phosphorous per pound of his weight per day. He's done well on those amounts in his diet and has maintained his weight and his kidney disease has not progressed in almost two years. Good luck with your baby. He is right where he needs to be right now. The IV fluids will help to lower his creatinine, BUN and phosphorous so he feels better. Talk to your vet about doing sub q fluids at home once he's released so that you don't lose the ground you gained with the IV fluids.
Diana and Scooby |