All the dog food recalls

[Mona Howard]

I'm sure alot of people besides myself are worried their choice of dog

food will be the next to be recalled. Does anyone know how early the

signs of renal failure show up? Is there anything we should be watching

for? I have never liked feeding a dog food containing corn or wheat.

Now even rice protien is suspect. I wish I knew more about dog nutrition

so I could formulate my own meals for my dogs. I'm on pins and needles

every time I see my dogs tuck into their food now......

[kelpiegirl]

Best thing you can do is to have bloodwork run. The kidneys can have reduced function down to 66%, and the animal may seem normal. After that, it is a very fast down hill slide.

Julie

 

I'm sure alot of people besides myself are worried their choice of dog

food will be the next to be recalled. Does anyone know how early the

signs of renal failure show up? Is there anything we should be watching

for? I have never liked feeding a dog food containing corn or wheat.

Now even rice protien is suspect. I wish I knew more about dog nutrition

so I could formulate my own meals for my dogs. I'm on pins and needles

every time I see my dogs tuck into their food now......

[Joe Anne]

The best information I got on nutrition overall, was from a holistic vet. Types of foods available, preventative measures, and what natural remedies are available when or if your pet becomes ill. Sometimes even the cure adds to additional problems.

There is alot of good information on the internet on pet nutrition and health in general.

We just switched in November to a grain free food, so for us, so far so good. However, now dog treats are our concern.

I am watching the news as I type, and they just came on and said, that some of the "pig" farmers are having to quarantine their animals, due to the possibility of contaminated feed for the pigs for the human food market.

They also said the contamination may have been done on purpose for the sake of the almighty dollar!!!!!

A question for you farmers out there, what do you feed chickens and turkeys?

[Mona Howard]

With renal problems, once the damage is done it cannot be reversed, am I right?

We feed our chickens some dog food. They really like it and it'll take them through

the molt quicker. They lay almost all year long too. In the winter we'll still get two

or three eggs a day from 7 hens. Not bad for dual purpose type chickens. In the

summer everyone produces an egg a day. They snarf down their dog food before

they'll touch the scratch grains or lay pellets.

[Guest amylobdell24]

At a recent CE seminar for veterinarians & staff, the quote from a leading dog food company cited that most pets show symptoms (drinking/urinating excessively, vomiting, lethargy, etc.) when as much as 75% of kidney function is lost. And no, if the kidney themselves are damaged, it doesn't come back, but it can be managed with diets lower in certain proteins and such that the kidneys work so hard to filter out. My first BC was diagnosed with chronic renal failure at 10 years of age - we caught it on his annual bood screening, as he was showing absolutely no symptoms. He lived another 6 years, thanks to the quick intervention and watchful eye of my vet. As Julie mentioned, things progress very quickly in dogs, due simply to the fact that time speeds up for their shorter lifespan. Many clinics offer a discounted wellness bloodwork panel - ours is $64 for a chem panel, CBC, & there's a free heartworm test in there too - not bad considering the HW test itself is $30. Certainly worth peace of mind.