If you have been living with a pet suffering from kidney disease or hope to prevent it in the future, the following info is definitely for you.

Chronic kidney disease or chronic renal insufficiency is one of the most common conditions of cats and slightly less common in dogs. Symptoms include increased drinking and urination often followed by lack of appetite, vomiting, and muscle loss and general deterioration.

Kidney tissue is composed of very fine and sensitive kidney units that filtrate the blood, eliminate toxins and regulate water balance in the body. These units are highly prone to damage due to toxins or immune system dysfunction.

The conventional belief is that kidney disease is genetically predisposed and that other causes such as bacterial infections, poor diet and toxins, compromise the very fine and easily affected kidney tissue. While all these are true, the kidneys’ health mainly depends on the general health and harmony of the whole body. Back issues, muscles spasm, injury and stress especially in the region around the third lumbar vertebra appear to be especially connected to kidney health. The immune system plays an important role in protecting the kidneys, however, if not finely tuned, it starts creating antibodies against still functional kidney units and destroys these along with tissue that is inflamed. This leads to irreversible and often serious damage.The clinical signs such as increased drinking, urination and increased levels of kidney toxins, start showing up only after 75% of the kidney tissue is destroyed.

However, I have seen animals living good lives years after they reach this stage if treated properly. The damaged kidney units can never be regenerated and the main goal of the treatment is to stop the kidney destruction and preserve the remaining kidney tissue.

When I started practicing, I saw many cats looking like walking skeletons, wasting muscle mass and not doing well at all. I was taught that this is caused by the kidney disease itself however, I was not convinced.

I suspected that the low protein prescription diet was the main cause of weight loss. We were told by the pet food companies that low protein diets are important in reducing the kidney toxin levels. However, I could see that animals fed this food were showing signs of protein starvation and deteriorated fast.

It took me a few years to dare to go against the conventional recommendations and started suggesting high quality raw protein diets for patients with kidney disease. In addition to glandular supplements supporting the kidneys and homeopathic remedy individually selected for each patient.

The results were surprisingly encouraging. Most patients with mild or moderate kidney disease maintained good body weight, showed great energy and didn’t seem to deteriorate as fast as patients on low protein food. They appeared to live longer than expected.

My own cat Mina was diagnosed with kidney disease at the age of 10 years. When I adopted her in 1991, I did everything according to the book . I fed her dry processed food and administered yearly vaccines until I woke up and realized what was happening.

Mina was my great teacher and one of the first cats I have used my new treatment protocol on. She is 18 years old still enjoying her retirement.

Over the years, I have finely tuned my treatment protocol and despite the need for individual assessment of each patient, I would like to provide you with:

General guidelines for holistic approach to treatment of chronic kidney disease

DIET

• Feed a good variety of high quality protein diet, ideally raw.
• Do not feed beef , buffalo or bison as they have a higher content of inflammatory factors which affect the immune system function.
• Avoid so called low protein kidney or senior diets.
• Dry food especially stresses the kidneys by “absorbing” water creating a persistent state of dehydration.
• If you do not want to feed raw, canned diet is better however canned food can never measure up to what nature intended.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

• Homeopathic remedies bring stability and neutralize the body’s energetic state that leads to the disease itself. It is important to work with an experienced animal homeopath to use this form of treatment.
• In my experience, internet reference is not a sufficient basis for homeopathic prescription and often leads to confusing the situation.

GLANDULAR SUPPLEMENTS

• Renafood* for dogs or Feline Renal Support* for cats protects the kidney tissue by neutralizing undesirable antibodies against the body’s own kidneys and provides necessary nutrients specific to the kidneys.

PROBIOTICS

• The beneficial bacteria from the right probiotics is capable of using excess kidney toxin called urea for their own growth. My favorite brand is Immunity Probiotic by New Chapter Organics. You may click here for prices 20% lower than suggested retail.

VITAMINS AND MINERALS

• GreenMin is a new generation of whole food, certified organic mineral supplement containing 20 essential trace minerals. Unlike many synthetic supplements, GreenMin is algae based, USDA certified organic product. It replenishes minerals lost through excessive urine production.
• Tiny Tabs by New Chapter (Dogs) and Feline Whole Body Support*(cats) are my favorite vitamin supplements. They too are whole food based and I use them for my own pets and patients.

* Please note that  supplements marked by * are available only by contacting us at contact@peterdobias.com   The manufacturer – Standard Process doesn’t  not  allow  any online sales as per their policy. However, you can  obtain these products by  contacting us directly.

HYDRATION

• If you pull the skin on the neck and it stays up for longer than 1 second, your pet may be dehydrated. Simple administration of electrolyte solutions under the skin such as Lactated Ringers or Sodium Chloride (0.9%) will help pets in more advanced stages of kidney disease.

BACK HEALTH

• Check your pets spine especially around the 3rd-4th lumbar vertebra. This region directly supplies energy meridian flow to the kidneys. Increased heat, inflammation, muscle pain, spasm and sensitivity of this area will compromise the kidneys.
• The best techniques for treating the back are physiotherapy, intramuscular needle stimulation ( a form of acupuncture technique ), gentle chiropractic treatment and massage.
• Ideally, do not use any anti-inflammatory drugs such as Aspirin or Metacam as it is contraindicated in patients with kidney disease.
• I have neither seen any clear benefit of Enalapril, a drug that modulates the blood pressure. It is my experience that these drugs are detrimental to the long term prognosis.

WELL BEING AND FAMILY

• Don’t forget to do all you can to look after your own needs. I see direct correlation between the degree of health of people and their pets.
• Good exercise, at least 2 walks a day for dogs and access to the outdoors or the balcony for cats makes a big difference.
• Pets who spend a lot of time alone, do not get walks , play time and attention are more disease prone in general.

FURTHER SUPPORT AND RECHECKS

• If your pets condition is stable, a quarterly or semi annual recheck is highly recommended. This way, you can adjust the treatment and supplements as needed and avoid unnecessary complications.
• If your pet is vomiting, lethargic and has no appetite, hospitalization and further diagnostics may be needed.

If you are unsure what the best treatment decision is, especially because of the pressure from a conventional practitioner to follow the conventional drug and processed food route, you may be interested . If you are interested in how to choose the right vet click here to read my blog post.

Tags: back health, cat, diet, dog, dr peter dobias, homeopathic treatment, homeopathic vet, kidney disease, probiotics, supplements

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 12:08 pm and is filed under Health Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.