OT: Sorta... Renal Failure in Dogs and Omega-3 vs. Omega-6 vs. Saturated

[Guest guest]

We have an older dog who is begining to show signs of renal failure -

drinking lots and lots of water. He is 13 years old so we don't want

to do anything drastic but would like to make him as happy and

healthy as possible for the time that he has left.

I have done a bit of research into the subject and it looks like the

most important thing is a low phosphorus diet. Low protein may help

or hurt but definitely doesn't extent their life. I've come up with

a normal protein and low phosphorus diet that I think he will love

but I need to use some sort of oil in it to get enough calories while

keeping the phosphorus low.

Here is just one of the articles I have found:

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/2167/dietarylipids.pdf

Others have stated that Saturated Fats are probably bad, Omega-6 PUFA

can slow the progression of the disease in severe cases while Omega-3

might reverse it in mild cases but since Omega-6 and Omega-3 are

antogonistic you should focus on the ratio - pick which one you want

to use depending on the stage of the disease and use predominately

that one.

Supplementing with a lot of Omega-6 goes against my gut feeling so

what can I use that is high Omega-3 and I can use in the quantities

needed (3-4 Tablespoons/day) without breaking the bank? Should I

just use Saturated Fatty Acids anyway with a little bit of fish oil

even though they are supposed to be bad?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated,

[Guest guest]

Get him tested for lyme, ASAP. There's a " Snap-3 " test they can do

and give you the results in minutes. Any dog with renal failure

should be tested. Mine had it and first symptom was her hind legs

stopped working - she could barely walk just overnight. I read up on

it and a very frequent sign of lyme is renal failure in dogs. It

attacks their bladders. She needed two rounds of antibiotics (it

came back after the first course, a couple of months later) but has

been fine ever since.

Another thing is diabetes. My vet said all cats can eventually get

diabetes from their cat food because their digestive systems aren't

set up to digest the large amounts of carbs in their diets. She said

dogs get it too but not as often as cats. Switching to a bones and

raw food diet should clear up diabetes pretty quickly when you get

the carbs out.

Other things that can cause renal failure are exposure to toxins -

you never know what those dogs will eat! So if the dog has had

access to any chemicals or cleaners lately you may need to check for

that.

I wouldn't supplement just the omega fatty acids, 3 or 6, but maybe

some fish oil or cod liver oil - more complete nutrition. Boy, dogs

really love the cod liver oil!

Best supplements for an ailing dog - a touch of vinegar (raw apple

cider vinegar), garlic, bee pollen, iodine, and maybe milk thistle

extract if you suspect buildup of toxins.

--- In , " nrscase " <nrscase@...>

wrote:

>

> We have an older dog who is begining to show signs of renal

failure -

> drinking lots and lots of water. He is 13 years old so we don't

want

> to do anything drastic but would like to make him as happy and

> healthy as possible for the time that he has left.

>

> I have done a bit of research into the subject and it looks like

the

> most important thing is a low phosphorus diet. Low protein may

help

> or hurt but definitely doesn't extent their life. I've come up

with

> a normal protein and low phosphorus diet that I think he will love

> but I need to use some sort of oil in it to get enough calories

while

> keeping the phosphorus low.

>

> Here is just one of the articles I have found:

>

> http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/2167/dietarylipids.pdf

>

> Others have stated that Saturated Fats are probably bad, Omega-6

PUFA

> can slow the progression of the disease in severe cases while Omega-

3

> might reverse it in mild cases but since Omega-6 and Omega-3 are

> antogonistic you should focus on the ratio - pick which one you

want

> to use depending on the stage of the disease and use predominately

> that one.

>

> Supplementing with a lot of Omega-6 goes against my gut feeling so

> what can I use that is high Omega-3 and I can use in the quantities

> needed (3-4 Tablespoons/day) without breaking the bank? Should I

> just use Saturated Fatty Acids anyway with a little bit of fish oil

> even though they are supposed to be bad?

>

> Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated,

>

>

[Guest guest]

> I have done a bit of research into the subject and it looks like the

> most important thing is a low phosphorus diet.

As I understand it, this is only the case when the serum phosphorus level is

elevated beyond a certain level (I don't recall what that level is).

Low protein may help

> or hurt but definitely doesn't extent their life. I've come up with

> a normal protein and low phosphorus diet that I think he will love

> but I need to use some sort of oil in it to get enough calories while

> keeping the phosphorus low.

Have you had a renal panel (done)? If not, how have you determined he is in

renal failure?

I found a few of the canine kidney very helpful when I had an

elderly dog that I thought was having renal problems.

One main thing is to try to lower the uremic toxin load. I think that's what

eventually does the dog in. I've read some studies that indicate that

certain probiotics can help do this and possibly other compounds that bind

with these toxins as they diffuse through the gut.

Lots of stuff you can do to slow down the progression or possibly halt it.

The lists are a good place to start and of course Google.

> Supplementing with a lot of Omega-6 goes against my gut feeling so

> what can I use that is high Omega-3 and I can use in the quantities

> needed (3-4 Tablespoons/day) without breaking the bank? Should I

> just use Saturated Fatty Acids anyway with a little bit of fish oil

> even though they are supposed to be bad?

The conventional wisdom is that cod liver oil is a no-no as supposedly, vit

A is contraindicated in renal failure. I don't know if this is true or not.

I do know a lot of folks use fish oil, but as you mentioned, it's shown

benefit at a certain stage of the disease and I'm not sure if the long term

effects have been studied.

Oh, and I gave my renal girl Rehmannia 6 - a TCM herbal product that several

people on the K9 Kidney lists use. There is also Rehmannia 8 and you're

supposed to use the one that fits the symptoms best.

Suze