I don't get this

[nancy in AZ]

I discovered Wysong has developed prescription diets for dogs, but in comparing their "Heparone" canned food with Hill's l/d for liver support there appear to be vast differenced in protein content. How does that reconcile? Wysongs has 50% protein, 48% fat content and Hills has 4.5% protein, 6% fat. The first ingredient in Hills is water. I'm not too fond of all the variations of corn product in their food either, but I thought the goal was to reduce protein for liver support.

 

Here are the links:

http://www.wysong.net/PDFs/heparone.pdf

 

http://www.hillspet.com/hillspet/products/...845524441760538

[bc friend]

Wow! As you know, Sara just had @ 40% of her liver removed and liver cancer will likely reoccur gradually. She was being fed EVO due to her grain sensitivities. My vet recommended I take her off EVO because of the high protein content but refused to recommend any of the liver prescription diets. Instead she suggested I find an organic diet w/less than 30% protein. So far my search for a commercial food has been less than successful and I am currently cooking for Sara - lots of stews with meat/poultry, veggies and brown rice or potatoes, some fruit and cheese/yogurt, etc. for treats. She also takes Denosyl, a nutraceutical, and milk thistle.

 

With the difference in the protein (and the ingredients) in Wysong and Science Diet, I can understand why my vet refused to recommend a prescription food!

[juliepoudrier]

I think with liver issues the issue isn't so much quantity if protein as quality, but I don't really remember. Do a Google search on protein and liver disease and you'll get lots of information (I've done it before, I just don't remember everything I read or I'd share it here.)

 

J.

[nancy in AZ]

I brought these to values into my vet while Minnie was having blood drawn for the 3rd time today for a Cushings test. I get so confused by this stuff. Julie, like you, my initial understanding was it was the quality/digestibilty of the protein that is of importance more than actual protein content. But a different vet in the office emphasized low protein. So today my vet reiterated it is the *digestibility* of the protein, and that protein content per se can be misleading. I complained to him again about how much I resent paying premium prices for crap food with water listed as the first ingredient and tow tyupes of processed corn among the top ten. And I was doubly outraged to learn that Minnie has lost 5 lbs since her last visit, (20% of her weight !!)which wasn't very long ago. I've been feeding her within the recommended range and had noticed that she had dropped some weight but had no idea how much she had dropped. And it isn't due to lack of appetite. Anyway, he said he didn't have a problem prescribing the Wysong if I wanted to try it, so I think I will.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

You're comparing apples and oranges here: dry vs. kibble. You have to convert the 4.5% protein of a canned food into dehydrated terms to be able to compare the protein levels of these two foods. Canned foods are generally about 78% water (yep, you pay twice as much for 22% of the can to actually be food). The l/d actually has 17.9% protein listed as the "dry matter" value but if I do a calculation based on the can being 78% water, I get a protein level of ~20.5% (of the 22% that's actually food, not water). That's still a vast difference compared to the Heparone, though, which doesn't make sense. Check out the percentage of CARBS in the l/d...50.7%!?! That can't be even remotely healthy.

[nancy in AZ]

Neither of them are kibble. Wysong's is freeze dried, but I think I see what you mean and it's very helpful to my understanding, thanks Debbie. I just got off the phone with a Wysong rep and their Heparone is intended to be supplemented with other food, their recommendation was Wysong senior canned or kibble.

 

I may be back to ask more questions. Wysong has a tech support person that should be able to answer many of them.

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

Ahhh, okay. I knew with only 3% moisture it couldn't be canned. Essentially it's canned food without water. Add back the 78% water and voila! Canned food. But still, I am curious as to why one manufacturer thinks 50% (of the dry matter) protein is good and another manufacturer thinks ~20% protein is good. It seems like research would prove how much protein should be in a food made for liver issues and all manufacturers would have approximately the same percentages of protein in their liver foods. Strange, really.

[nancy in AZ]

Well this is what has made it so hard for me to understand too. And I've been trying to do alot of research on it. My vet's fill-in vet emphasized reducing protein in the diet to a minimum, but when I had a long talk with my regular vet he emphasized the digestibility of the protein source, i.e. how easily it is broken down by the liver as the determining factor.

 

From what I've gathered, eggs are considered the benchmark of digestibility. I left a message to speak with one of the tech support reps at Wysong. The overriding principle there is feeding food that has nutrients that hasn't been degraded by heat. There is so much conflicting information out there on nutrition, it's making my head spin.