Miles: A Rescue

[Basenjimamma]

I am very much like you in the sense of wanting/loving to see my dogs sleep, eat and play. My husband thinks I am a loon, but I find real peace with my animals..it is not broing at all. Thank you for sharing.

[Shaye's Mom]

Congratulations on your new little guy - so happy he found you. The pictures are wonderful. It warms the heart to read and see such great stories - wish we could find and take them all in like you did Miles.

[BDawg]

So… Lexi & Miles had their yearly checkup today. We switched to a new vet since we moved and I really love the lady. She took time and was sincere with her care.

Unfortunately both Lexi & Miles had elevated kidney functions on their screenings.
Their creatinine was high and bun was on the high end of the "normal" range. I'm wondering if the food they eat has too much protein. I feed them Orijen Senior.

Here's Orijen Senior's Content Analysis:
40% Protein
15% fat
6% fiber
1.3% phos

The vet recommended I put the dogs on Royal Canin LP (prescription).
Here's Royal Canin LP's Content Analysis:
11% Protein
10.5% fat
6.2% fiber
.25% phos

Now... I don't know what to do. seems like that the recommended food is on the opposite extreme of the spectrum. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm wondering if there is some food that is not as extreme. Thoughts??

[nobarkus]

What was the Thyroid readings? If they both had the same high readings then that could be the problem. You can only try the diet and see what happens. Too much protein puts a strain on the kidneys as they are trying to get rid of the waste.

[Tayda_Lenny]

Tayda had elevated Creatinine and BUN. I originally had her on the Wellness Core - which is very high protein - around 40% I think. I switched her to a variety of lower protein foods - Blue Buffalo, Wellness Senior, Innova Senior - which were all around 18-23% and it brought her Creatinine and BUN right down.

If there is nothing else abnormal about their bloodwork - just switching their food could do the trick…

[tanza]

It has always been recommended that the protein is dropped age they age as the high protein is hard on their Kidneys. You can look maybe something in the middle range from what you are feeding.. but not as low as the one the Vet is recommending. How old are they?

[BDawg]

Lexi is 8… will be 9 in April.
Miles...well, we don't know. He was a rescue. Personally I think he's 10. He's definitely older than Lexi... in personality and fatty tumors. But I was considering trying Royal Canin Aging Care... Here's its breakdown:

25% protein
13% fat
3.5% fiber
.6 phos

These stats are all about half of those of Orijen. Do you guys recommend Royal Canin? I'm also trying to find a food that you can find at a mainstream store like Petsmart. If anyone has any recommendations on good choices(particularly ones you've had experience with) , please let me know. Thanks guys!

[Tayda_Lenny]

The blue buffalo can be bought at PetSmart, Petco or Pet Supplies Plus. It was recommended to me by someone on the Fanconi list and Tayda has done well on it. Until she decides she'd like something different, then I rotate into the Innova, or the Wellness Senior….I think the Solid Gold brand of food has a Maintenance or Senior variety that is also "lower" in protein and can be bought at the mainstream stores.

I've never personally fed the Royal Canin line.... I always thought it was a bit of a marketing ploy to have different formulations for different breeds.

[tanza]

They are pretty young to be having kidney values being high.. I would consider lowering the protein… maybe not as much as the Vet is recommending... but lower would be a good move, IMO... there is so much good/bad for both high and low protein... hard to really know what to do... but I would maybe go with something 1/2 way and have the values rechecked in 3 to 6 months.

[BDawg]

Thanks everyone. I think I'm going to try the Royal Canin– but will look around tonight when we go. I'll keep you guys posted.

[Tayda_Lenny]

I just looked up the Royal Canin on the www.dogfoodanalysis.com website and it is listed as a 2 star food…

[tsjoe007]

Mmmm, I wonder if home made food is an option ?
Just a thought …
It's quite easy to adjust the ratio of the ingredients as desired ...
Bendji is doing great on pure natural (fresh chicken + whole rice + seaweed + lecithine + eggshell powder + bio yeast flakes + fresh grated carrots and parsley + Megacutan [a special blend of poly-unsaturated fatty acids from Orthophar, a Belgian pharmaceutical company]. In 45 min I prepare his food for +20 days ! At minimum cost and … it's healthy because you know exactly what's in it !:)

[BDawg]

Wow- I don't think I'm ready to make their food. Thank you though.

I'm disappointed Royal Canin got such a low rating. I wrote down some others so we'll see what they have at the store…

[nobarkus]

Try Dr. Dodd's fish and potato diet for a few weeks. It really helped my older bw, Nika last year. It says liver cleansing but it really helps everything.

http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/Liver%20cleansing%20diet.htm

[BDawg]

So we switched over to Merrick and I have to say…Miles is WAY TOO GASSY to continue using it. OMG... it's AWFUL. Phew!! I think we'll try out Wellness next. Hopefully we'll find something we can stick with that works!!

Anyway, on a different note, I took some pics of the kids in the new house again today. Yeah!!

Lexi's close up:

Miles

Sweet Lexi

[Basenjimamma]

Sweet pictures..
I am sorry about the high fart food, I guess it is time to try the next thing, right? I have heard very good things about Wellness, good luck.
I can't tell very well, but it sure looks like Miles' ears look better….good job.

[MacPack]

They LOOK great, even if they don't smell that way (haha). Your bedroom is gorgeous! I cannot even imagine having white bedding with 3 black/tri basenjis who don't wipe their feet when they come in the dog door.

[Rita Jean]

Very nice pictures Miles very handsome. Your bedroom very beautiful thank you for pictures.

Rita Jean

[Janneke]

Very nice pics. Lexi looks like a real princess in the first pic

[BDawg]

So… my dogs absoultely LOVE chasing the water hose around the yard. I usually stand out there by myself laughing like an idiot watching them play... but today I convinced my husband we should take pictures and share this joyous occasion with others.

Don't be afraid to get out there and stick your face in it, Lexi!!