Kidney values question

[BijouK]

Nitro, 11yrs, Male, Neutered, Shepherd/Lab, 82lbs, BEAM great. Young for his age!
Diet-95% vegan with small amounts of kangaroo. Organic & homemade fermented foods, seaweeds, Golden Paste, MyCommunity medicinal mushrooms, Natural Balance kibble, Kangaroo Feast, org salt free/sugar free peanut butter in kong.
Believe he was vaccinated many years ago but I stopped when I adopted him. Toxin free house as much as possible.
Unable to hold bladder when we moved into a new apartment which had carpet and landscapers in 2021.
Improved with lots of greens, spirulina & Rheumania Eight Formula TCM
Salt triggers frequent trips required to urinate. Excitement used to trigger loss of control.
Please see attached for kidney values.
Low potassium High Na K Protein +1
Renavast made it worse almost immediately years ago.
Vet indicates kidneys look good but I'm concerned. Seems like I should introduce more potassium rich foods and eliminate all salt such as in human foods. I believe that my homemade kraut is what is causing this so I've learned to make it without the salt and just use probiotics.
He had 1/3 of his intestines removed due to IBD/S in 2015. Hence the vegan diet plus I'm vegan and consulted with Dr. Armaiti May the Vegan Vet back in 2015 . Lamb & kangaroo are the only two things he could handle and then lamb became increasingly problematic so I'm reintroducing kangaroo if/when I can afford it.
@DrJeff I have an upcoming phone consultation with you Oct 3 but wanted to get some opinions on the urinalysis before I respond back to my vet.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Seems like I should introduce more potassium rich foods and eliminate all salt such as in human foods.

Yes, that would be a great idea.

If he can tolerate any of the Vimergy Micro-C (or my vit C++) that would also be good to add.

Perhaps get some urine test strips to monitor his urine pH and protein at home.

 

[BijouK]

Thank you so much Dr. Jeff!

 

[BijouK]

Where can I find yours? The Vimergy looks like something I might find useful too but I'd like to compare the two

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Thank you so much Dr. Jeff!

YW Bijou!

Where can I find yours?

Holistic Pet Support Vitamin C++ - HomeVet

www.homevet.com

 

[Dr. Jean Hofve]

Sodium is a vital and necessary nutrient, so eliminating it is not possible. Adding potassium-rich foods is fine, but do not add potassium supplements. The body balances sodium and potassium very carefully, and it's not wise to interfere too much.

It's possible (though unlikely since this is probably a dietary issue) that this is early Cushing's disease, just something to keep an eye on. Would repeat labs in 3 months just in case.

Also, try increasing moisture in the diet to resolve the brewing urinary tract issues. Add protein to acidify the urine. If kangaroo is cost-prohibitive, maybe other meats (bison, water buffalo, elk, emu or ostrich for example) might cost a bit less? Egg white or whey powder might be helpful. Vegan diets are well known to predispose dogs to struvite crystals and urinary tract infections.

Just a stray thought, but I've learned to listen to those little inklings... add some taurine to the diet. Kangaroo itself is low in taurine. It's cheap and very safe, and many dogs are deficient. It does many interesting things in the body, so might be worth a try.

 

[BijouK]

Thank you. Right he needs sodium. He's getting sodium in his nutritionally balanced dog food. The excess sodium is coming from my food. I make sure to give them. That can and should be reduced. I make a homemade purple cabbage kraut with probiotics and sea salt. I can make it without. Same with the nut cheeze I make. I mix this with a homemade golden paste and blended organic salad. The greens really help the kidneys. I was adding more salt in the due to mold but especially now with the colder weather I can eliminate the sea salt. I'm just giving him bananas & looking for alternatives. No potassium pills.

Eggs would kill him. Even lamb disagrees with him now. I gave up trying since each time it's a failure it's too painful to watch him deteriorate and it's not worth it. I worked with a vet in Louisiana who had all of those stocked up in her fridge for sale and we tried them all. I'll contact Dr. Arimaiti May and get her input. They should not be having crystals or issues. My other dog is on the same exact diet because I can't afford cross contamination and she has no kidney issues. They get lots of lspirulina and hempseed for protein but I can add more and more leafy greens. That always seems to help.

I'll look into Taurine and retest in 3 months and I'll keep an eye out for Cushing's Thank you.