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Originally Posted by Yorkie Mom2  I agree with you about the weight. I weigh the food and feed both dogs 5 oz. of food twice a day(2.5 oz apiece, but Porsche, 5lbs., always eats more). Whatever they leave gets mixed with the remainder of the uneaten stored food.
I will say that I felt a little attacked by your posts. I am following my vet's advice. |
Karen, I'm very sorry you felt attacked. I think the intent all along - and from everyone - was to support you and help little Bentley. Ladyjane is correct, though, in saying that just because a vet is a vet doesn't mean they're always right. I had an excellent vet when my Scooby was diagnosed with kidney disease. She gave him six months or less though, and didn't offer me an alternative. I didn't much like that prognosis and ran screaming down the road! I did some research of my own, then found a vet I could work with and that would work with me to treat his kidney disease instead of waiting for the inevitable. My Scooby lived almost four more years, and was over 16 when we lost him.
As for the diet your vet prescribed, I don't necessarily think it's a terrible diet. It may seem unbalanced for the average dog but dogs with CRF have different nutritional needs. It does seem to have been written a long time ago though, and not necessarily taking into consideration more current research in the treatment of canine kidney disease. Unless your dog has very end stage disease or protein leaking into his urine, it is more important to limit phosphorous than protein. I would also be careful with feeding a toy breed dog a diet that had that much fat in it because of the threat of pancreatitis. You could clean up the diet a lot by substituting a clean, high quality protein such as skinless, boneless chicken thigh for the fatty ground beef, feeding the whole egg white and tossing the yolk (which is high in fat and phosphorous) in the garbage, switching out the instant rice for sticky (glutinous) rice, which is much lower in phosphorous, adding a good quality Omega 3 like salmon oil instead of the vegetable oil, omitting the salt. You can make your own tasty chicken broth by stewing the chicken thighs and reserving the juice. Put it in the fridge and then skim the fat off the top. Then you can control what's in the broth, as most brands usually have both sodium and onion powder. I always added a handful of carrots and string beans to the chicken because it makes for a more tasty broth and adds a few vitamins. Just a few thoughts to run by your vet.
My Scooby wouldn't touch the RX kidney diets either and he liked his diet switched up to something different every day or two. After paying for a few nutritionist diets that he quickly lost interest in and also trying Balance It, I ended up mixing and matching the ingredients from all of those diets, adding my own supplements and making my own diet. Surprise. He actually thrived on my terrible cooking and his kidney disease improved!
Again, I'm sorry you felt attacked, Karen. I think everyone here is on your side and Bentley's side.
Hugs,
Diana