Diets for dogs with liver disease

[SkipHiLad4me]

My 14 yr old Boston came home Monday from a 4 day stay at the NCSU Vet School. Fortunately, she is really doing great. :yes:

The diagnosis was pancreatitis, a liver infection, and possible liver disease. They won’t know for sure until after we resolve her infection how much of her elevated liver enzymes are from the infection or how much of that was an exisiting condition. She’s currently on antibiotics for the next 4 weeks along with Denamarin and Ursodiol to promote bile flow (her gall bladder was mineralized).

She’s currently on the Hill’s Prescription i/d canned food which was what they were feeding her at the vet school. They’ve told me that I can transition her back to her normal food after a period of time - however, I feed Taste of the Wild Prairie formula dry food. Everything I’m researching about liver disease says I should stay away from animal meat protein sources and stick with veggie or milk/egg proteins, as they’re easier on the liver to digest. So this means the TOTW is totally not what I need to be feeding her. I’ve also seen a lot of discussion about adding vitamin E as an antioxidant. Most of the liver diets shoot for higher fat, but since she has dealt with the pancreatitis, I think that limits me on feeding the higher fat diets. (Hence the reason why the Vet School might have put her on the i/d food rather than using the l/d hepatic version.)

I’m trying to decide whether to stick with the canned Prescription diet or try to find another commercial or prepared diet to put her on. I don’t mind feeding the canned food and she likes it. I just want to make sure that her body is getting adequate nutrients and that I’m doing all I can to support her liver health during her recovery.

Does anyone have experience with this? I’m planning to call the Vet School back today or tomorrow to discuss with the vets on her case but wanted to do some research ahead of time to know what the “norm” was for feeding a dog with this type of condition.

[tradewind]

For right now I would stick with what they were feeding her at the hospital. Honest Kitchen makes a more vegetarian diet for dogs, that you can add some meat into, what you need to find out is if it will sustain your dog without the addition of lots of meat. I just went through a similar situation with a clients Aussie. Also Natural Life makes a vegetarian diet for dogs. It has been around a long time, and is complete in and of itslef. It is expensive and can be hard to find. But seriously, I would not switch until your dogs infection is resolved. Prescription diets are restricted in different nuturients depending on formula to help manage accute and chronic diseases in pets. I am sure the vets at the hospital selected the one that is restricted in the nutrients associated with your dogs condition. Incidently, Dr. Hill developed the original prescription diet KD to prolong the life of the first guide dog, Buddy who was in kidney failure and no replacement dog was immediately available. Hope your dog recovers well and has no relapses. Bostons are one of my very favorite breeds.

[wendy]

I would think the “correct” diet would depend on what caused the liver problem in the first place- also, you may need to feed a low-fat diet for some time, possibly forever, for the pancreatitis, which may be a more over-riding concern than the liver issues.
So it’s complicated and individual.
If the liver problem was caused by an acute insult- infection- then once the cause is removed you can return to your usual diet. Since low-protein and vegetable protein diets are unhealthy for dogs for many reasons, you probably shouldn’t consider them unless there is a real, overriding concern. It would be foolish to feed your dog a diet intended to protect the liver and then have that diet damage the kidneys, heart, and weaken the dog’s immune system and muscles, ultimately causing the dog to die from the diet damaging a different body part- if you understand what I am saying?

[SkipHiLad4me]

Yes I understand what you’re saying. This would be for the short-term to address the issues we know are at hand now and to help her heal the best way possible. When we pull blood again in 3-4 weeks, we can make a better determination of whether she actually has conditions that will need to be managed for the long term -and would require a permanent diet change.

Tradewind makes a good point though that it may be best for me to keep her on her prescription diet for now. That way her GI tract isn’t also stressed by switching foods and can focus on healing.

[Bluey]

Our toy poodle spent her last two years, already in liver failure, still happy and feeling good on the prescription diet food.
I am surprised they told you you can change to any other.
The protocol for what ailed our dog was to keep her on that diet for best liver function and appropriate nutrition.
Maybe your dog’s case is different?
Our vets and us thought we had those two good years because of the specific diet she was on.

Just be careful and don’t believe everything you read on the internet, work thru your vets, that know your dog best.

Glad the dog is home now and good luck.

[jetsmom]

Mine also lived out her remaining years on the Hills prescription diet.

[wendy]

There are many problems with the so-called “prescription” diets. The biggest one is that most of them are formulated to have an “active component”, which might be supported by science to be good for your pet’s condition, but then they put that good aspect into a very poor quality diet overall, and thus one has to wonder- I’m doing X to support one aspect of my pet, but then the poor quality of the rest of the diet is damaging the rest of the pet’s body? For short-term recovery, there’s nothing wrong with using one of these diets. It’s when you start talking about feeding them for months to years that their lack of actual nutrition starts to become a concern.

So for any of the prescription diets, the best strategy will be to identify the “active” component , and then see if it is possible to combine the benefit of the “active” component with a high-quality diet. Some of the prescription diets are quite easy to replicate using other commercial diets and/or supplements; all of them are quite easy to replicate in a high-quality format if you’re willing to home-prepare.

The other big problem with the “prescription” diets is that the science supporting the use of the active components is often quite shoddy, of limited quality, limited quantity, non-existent, or even countrary to its use. In some cases the current science indicates the active component of the prescription diet is entirely the wrong approach. Many people mistakenly believe these diets are regulated by the FDA or something, and that solid studies proving they work have to be submitted to some regulatory agency- but this is not true. In fact, they aren’t even required by law to be sold on “prescription”: the “prescription” aspect is just an informal agreement between your vet and the manufacturer.

[tradewind]

Prescription diets have stood the test of research and science for quite some time. The reasona they are available from a vet only is that the are nutrient restricted for the management of specific diseases. They are not intended for the normal healthy pet. Sometimes they are needed for brief periods, sometimes long term. I have been to the prescription diet plant several times and it is the cleanest food facility I have ever been in. Human, animal, period. Of course the holistic people do not like it, it runs counter to their belief system. Many drugs that manage disease in humans have bad side effects in pets. Nutrient restriction in a set formula has proven extrodianarily beneficial to many pet owners who would like to prolong the life of their acutely or chronically ill pet. And before anyone asks., I have never worked for Hills, and have never sold the normal Hills Science diet.