Kidney Function

Question
Hello Dr Connell,

Our wonderful mongrel has recently been diagnosed with a malignant growth on the roof of her mouth. We are fighting this and it appears not to have metastasized so after we have a CT scan surgery should go ahead. ALSO, we think she may have a degree of renal dysfunction as her urine has an SG of 1.028. SO, my longwinded question is....is there any special foods/supplements/HELP(!) we can give her to help her kidney function along? Our own (very wonderful I might add) specialist hasn't been very forthcoming on this. Many thanks for your time and consideration,

Jen Gregory-Lyon  

Answer
I am sorry to hear about this growth in your dog. That is a hard battle to fight, so my prayers are with you on that.

SG in urine is a quick and not very accurate measure of the proteins in the urine. A more specific test and scale would be the protein:creatinine ratio. A BUN/ Creatinine ratio is much more tell-tale of early renal insufficiency than a quick strip test being done.

If you are concerned about her renal function then there are foods for that-Prescription Diet K/D for dogs from Hills is a good place to start. It can used as a life-long maintenance diet. I kept my cat around until he was 19 on the feline version. You can also use G/D which is for geriatric dogs that are at risk of kidney problems, and H/D which is for dogs with heart, liver or kidney ailments.Of these, K/D is more just for kidneys.

The proteins in this diet are made more bio-available to the dog so there is less for the kidneys to filter out once it goes through the liver. That is why the truest test of RF is with a BUN/ Creatinine ratio. The Creatinine is the most telling of those two.
Extra care should be taken if your dog undergoes surgery to keep her kidneys functioning well because when an animal starts to show signs of renal insufficiency, almost 80% of renal function is failing.
Good luck with your surgery and I hope that getting her on the K/D prolongs her time with you for many more years.