My 13 yr old Shina Inu was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease in February this year. Blood levels were a high stage 2. We have had her since she was 6 (adoption). She’s a good dog, but has never really bonded with either of us and has had the classic aloof personality of the breed.
She’s ALWAYS been a picky, difficult eater, so I’ve been cooking her low phosphorous, low protein, low sodium meals from scratch and rotating proteins, veg, fat, and filler to keep her eating. Once she gets tired of a protein or fat source, I’d switch the another. I used a recipe calculator to make sure the calories and other values were in the recommended thresholds. She did great on this diet for months and was happy and spunky.
Now she won’t eat pork (raw or cooked), salmon (raw or cooked), chicken (raw or cooked), turkey (raw or cooked), eggs in any form, cod (raw or cooked), or smelts (too high is phos but it was a last ditch effort). She’s never been able to tolerate beef and doesn’t enjoy duck. The only additional protein I can think of would be lamb…I forgot about it.
The biggest issue is that she won’t eat any type of filler at this point. She absolutely won’t eat rice, oatmeal, white potato, or our homemade white bread. Not with butter, oil, or chicken fat added.
We tried 2 of the canned kidney diets, but she would barely eat a single meal and they are wicked expensive to waste.
If she doesn’t eat, she gets upset belly and vomits stomach bile, then it’s even harder to get her to eat. Previously, I could make her little rice and fat balls and poke them into her mouth (gap where tooth was extracted) and she’d eat it and feel better enough shortly to be spoon fed, and then later eat on her own, but now she spits it out.
Out of desperation, my husband went back to offering her regular senior dog wet food. She eats it enthusiastically, but after just a couple days of this, she’s hunched and getting that “far off” unhappy look in her eyes like when she was originally diagnosed. After talking to our vet, we tried anti-nausea pills, but they haven’t made a difference in her willingness to eat her kidney diet.
The vet’s other recommendation was an appetite simulant, but I’m torn on whether to try. She seems like she wants to eat and she WILL eat, she just doesn’t want to eat her kidney diet. She will eat regular dog food and tries to get at the cats’ food, but if I mix the wet food she likes with rice to dilute the protein,etc, she won’t touch it.
My husband wants to put her down. I feel like if we can get her eating properly, she can still be ok for a while. I’m open to thoughts and suggestions and appreciate the consideration if you read all this.
