Help for dogs with kidney failure from poisoned pet food

[Mamabear]

I'm writing this from personal experience to hopefully help those of you who have been given the sad new that your dog has kidney failure from the tainted pet food. Don't put your pet down--there really is something you can do (websites at the end.)

My dachshund, Joey was diagnosed with kidney failure at age 13 and with the treatment I will outline below lived happily and full of energy for another 1-1/2 years (when he was sadly hit by a car.)

I took him to a veterinarian who practices acupuncture and saw a remarkable improvement with the very first visit. He showed me how to give Joey fluids subcutaneously (by inserting a needle, hooked to an IV bag of saline solution) under the “floppy” skin in the neck), put Joey on a home-cooked diet and prescribed dietary supplements for his kidneys.

I brought Joey in for acupuncture treatments at first twice a week, then once a week and within a few months just once a month.

This was his diet:

Coarsely blend (so it can’t be “sorted”) the following:
1 part boiled chicken (incl. skins and fat) – save the broth
1 part tofu
1 part steamed broccoli* (incl. stalks)
1 part cooked, brown rice

Broccoli* should be steamed fresh for each meal for maximum benefit, but rice can be boiled for 3-4 days at a time and refrigerated. A smooth blend of boiled chicken, tofu and a little chicken broth can be made in large batches and frozen until needed.

The tofu is very important because its protein is much easier for the dog’s kidneys to handle than chicken or meat. If you can get away with it, you can increase the tofu and reduce the chicken. Joey also really enjoyed tapioca (pearls) cooked in chicken broth. Soak ¼ cup tapioca pearls in 2 cups chicken broth for 30 minutes and then cook it on low heat 30-40 minutes (stir occasionally) for a Jello-like consistency. Serve as snack or substitute for rice in above mix. Tapioca is very digestible and this will keep in the refrigerator for almost a week.

The dietary supplements were Canine Renal Support by Standard Process Veterinary Formulas. (He also took a quality multi-vitamin and health food quality fish oil capsules.)

Now to the most important part (after the acupuncture, of course):

Give your dog enough to drink. My holistic veterinarian explained that “the kidneys won’t heal but they’ll compensate”. By putting much more fluid through the dog than one with healthy kidneys will normally drink, the toxins can still be filtered out of the blood OK. This is the reason for the subcutaneous fluid.

My dog then got himself bitten in the neck (of all places!) by another dog which made that impossible. So I had to think of something else. I would boil his chicken in a lot of distilled water and keep this broth in glass jars in the refrigerator. Even though it tastes very yummy, Joey still wouldn’t drink enough. (When his stools got really loose, I knew the kidneys weren’t filtering the toxins enough so they were eliminated through the bowel = diarrhea.)

So, I would trick him into it by serving it up in a relatively narrow coffee cup and float a very small piece of a “doggie cookie” on top (I used ones without wheat gluten, which he was allergic to.) He wouldn’t be able to grab it until he had drained the cup of broth—but could smell it “all the way down”! Worked like a charm. I would serve him ½ cup of broth 4 times a day. This is for a very small dog weighing about 17 lbs, so a larger dog obviously needs more. Checking your dogs poop, if loose give more to drink. You should still keep distilled water in a bowl for the dog to drink whenever he wants.

You can hopefully find a veterinarian who does acupuncture in your area through the following websites:

American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association (AHVMA)
American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association

International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS)
I.V.A.S - The International Veterinary Acupuncture Society

American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA)
Animal Chiropractic.com - Equine Chiropractic Seminars

(Supposedly, most vets who do chiropractic also do acupuncture.)

I am sure some variation on the above regimen can be used with cats as well, even though I don’t have any personal experience with it.

I wish you and you pet all the best. My traditional veterinarian told me Joey “wouldn’t live much longer” and only had kidney transplant or kidney dialysis to recommend (both extreme measures, both for the dog and financially.) Both Joey and the other dogs and owners I met in the waiting room seemed totally comfortable with the acupuncture treatments, which seem to work well for many other problems. I am so very grateful to Dr. Lowell in Reno for helping give Joey his life back. I am convinced that if Joey hadn’t been hit by a car he would have lived at least another year, maybe several, and hope yours does too.

Sarolta Green
Minden, NV

* I see in the article on foods harmful to dogs that broccoli is listed. Joey also had Cushing’s disease and we had to limit his carbohydrates (broccoli & kale are very low in carbs but still has lots of fiber so it’s filling.) Joey did just fine with it, but if you are concerned, just omit it or talk to your holistic Veterinarian about substituting with carrots, etc.

[palehorse]

Great advice, excellent post! I really appreciate you taking the time to help our readers with this.

And Welcome to Pet Health Forums!