I have a twelve year old Lhasa apso on NF renal food , is there another food I could use because she only eats it under sufferance and I do find it expensive ie £26 3kg ! The vet thinks she may be on it for ever .... help please anyone..
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Dog Renal function problems - What Food to Give?
- Thread starter lindy loo
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Hi Lindy Loo, welcome to dogforum 
I'm afraid that when animals end up on renal food it is generally for the rest of their life. It's expensive, but if you think of it as medication rather than food then it's easier to afford- one of my cats was on prescription food from when she was 6 months old, and she lived to be 15.
It is my experience that renal food is particularly unappealing to animals for some reason, even though the bladder stones diet, hepatic diet and several of the others are perfectly acceptable. Perhaps it's the fact that the animals are used to food that has a little salt in it to make it appetising and this is not present in the renal diet.
If your little one really doesn't want to eat that food then I'd go back to your vet to discuss if any other brands of food are available and suitable for him as a first instance. If there is no alternative to the food then you could ask for a prescription for Renalzin, which is a powder which you can put on normal food to reduce the impact on the body of the phosphates in the food, or you could discuss what you could add to the food you're buying at the moment to make it more palatable.
With kidney disease for treats you need to be thinking about things to use as a treat which are lower in protein and salt, but could be higher in fat (whereas with a liver failure diet you'd go for low fat but protein could be higher). That could mean that a little bit of cheese grated into his food, or cheese spread mixed in, or a bit of butter, or a spot of beef dripping, could make the food/medicine a lot more palatable and therefore can keep him well longer, because you really don't want him losing weight and becoming frail just because he doesn't like the food that he's being offered.
I hope you find the things that make him like his food again soon.
I'm afraid that when animals end up on renal food it is generally for the rest of their life. It's expensive, but if you think of it as medication rather than food then it's easier to afford- one of my cats was on prescription food from when she was 6 months old, and she lived to be 15.
It is my experience that renal food is particularly unappealing to animals for some reason, even though the bladder stones diet, hepatic diet and several of the others are perfectly acceptable. Perhaps it's the fact that the animals are used to food that has a little salt in it to make it appetising and this is not present in the renal diet.
If your little one really doesn't want to eat that food then I'd go back to your vet to discuss if any other brands of food are available and suitable for him as a first instance. If there is no alternative to the food then you could ask for a prescription for Renalzin, which is a powder which you can put on normal food to reduce the impact on the body of the phosphates in the food, or you could discuss what you could add to the food you're buying at the moment to make it more palatable.
With kidney disease for treats you need to be thinking about things to use as a treat which are lower in protein and salt, but could be higher in fat (whereas with a liver failure diet you'd go for low fat but protein could be higher). That could mean that a little bit of cheese grated into his food, or cheese spread mixed in, or a bit of butter, or a spot of beef dripping, could make the food/medicine a lot more palatable and therefore can keep him well longer, because you really don't want him losing weight and becoming frail just because he doesn't like the food that he's being offered.
I hope you find the things that make him like his food again soon.
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Hills make K/D dry and tinned food, Royal Canin make a renal diet complete food and I'm sure most of the other big companies make kidney diets, its just a matter of finding one that your dog likes and is happy to eat, most companies will offer you some free samples to try for a few days and Royal Canin offer a money back guarantee if your dog wont eat their food. Good Luck
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I think they are pretty expensive but necessary
Welcome to Dog Forum! I am Anna
Welcome to Dog Forum!
I am AnnaI am finding that all these special diet foods still are not very tempting to Sasha ,she is eating them only because I'm scared of give her anything else! but it takes her all day eating mouth full at a time ...it's a real pain . Another problem is that I have another Lhasa and she is just greedy! I have had her on a ( loose weight diet) she has lost enough now.. but keeping her away from sasha's food ...you can imagine. So sash eats on the settee away from libby! The next problem I have is sasha has finished yet another lot of antibiotics about 2weeks ago now, and she has blood again in her urine.......she has never been better fitness wise ! I don't know what to do next! anybody had this trouble?
I know if it go's on I will be back at the vets but it's hundreds every time and I just carn't afford ! Any help would be much appreciated.
I know if it go's on I will be back at the vets but it's hundreds every time and I just carn't afford ! Any help would be much appreciated.
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Speak to your vet, but I have a cat in Kidney Failure, we decided after her not liking the KD food much that we would go for a quality of life rather than a quantity..
Therefore I feed her the same amount of wet food as the KD dry twice a day and this keeps her symptoms under control but she looks forward to meal times and more importantly is eating!
Therefore I feed her the same amount of wet food as the KD dry twice a day and this keeps her symptoms under control but she looks forward to meal times and more importantly is eating!
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Its all we can do ((hugs))
Can we see a picture of your dog please?
Can we see a picture of your dog please?
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