January 10, 2022, our dog Sadie turned 15 years old.
November 22, 2021, she was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD.)
She wasn’t eating. She was lethargic. Her breath smelled like death.
By definition, chronic renal failure (CRF), or chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the inability of the kidneys to efficiently filter the blood of waste products.
The vet said to try to get her to eat potatoes, rice, minimal protein. He started her on an antibiotic and basically said enjoy what time you have left with her. We were absolutely devastated.
I cried my tears, loved on her. And then put on my big girl pants and went to work searching google like a maniac for anything that could possibly help. I refused to just give up.
I knew from my own nutrition back ground that while protein could be hard on her damaged kidneys, she wouldn’t survive with NO protein. It’s literally the building blocks of our cells. Without it you’ll experience muscle waste along with lots of other things, and eventually, death.
Through a TON of research I learned that while she needed a low protein diet, what she really needed was a non phosphorus protein diet. With a little hope in my heart I started her out on sweet potatoes and rice. She ate it! Score! I continued this diet of sweet potatoes and rice for a total of three days. Her energy was back! Her bad breath completely went away!
From there I started adding in egg whites because they are non phosphorus and the most bio available for of protein. She wasn’t loving how the rice was sticking to her mouth so I added in barley as well as green beans. From there I tried 80 lean ground beef. If I noticed her breath was a little funky, I backed off on the beef a little. Not really a very scientific approach. But all in all my girl was back. With more energy than she has had in the last year!
We re-checked her levels one month later and they were almost normal! It’s now been two months and at her last re-check we had to modify a little more, but all in all, her quality of life is back.
It got me thinking. While at 15 years old, Sadie has basically met the far end of her life expectancy, we’ve been able to prolong the inevitable. I don’t know for how long. Right not I’m just enjoying having my old girl back to her happy self. BUT if taking her processed dog food and putting her on a whole food diet with foods prepared in their most natural state, could help her…what about all of the preservatives and chemicals in our (human) food?
I never fed my dog “junk.” She was on a “premium” dog food. But in the end because of her condition, it was still poisoning her. Let’s compare that to “premium” frozen/ boxed pre-prepared food.
What would happen if you cut out even just a few processed meals a week?
How much would your health improve?
What about your weight loss goals??
I won’t lie to you and tell you cooking her food hasn’t been time consuming. At this point I make huge batches, portion and freeze.
What if you were able to make one large batch of fresh roasted veggies a week?
How much could that help your health?
Sadie is worth the time and investment to me.
How about you?
Is your health worth it?
**Disclaimer- I am in no way telling you to change your dog’s diet. Every situation is different. We are in unique circumstances. Please speak to your vet before making any changes in your own animals diet.
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Michael Allen
Author Bio
Michael has been working with clients in the gym and countless adults in a physical therapy setting since 2013. He spent 3 semesters working at Towson University with student-athletes from nearly every sport at the school. He served as the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for Kennard-Dale High School during the 2019-2020 school year. His goal is to always get better and give you the safest and most effective use of your time at First Capital Gym.