Here's another canine renal diet from my clinical nutrition textbook, based on an 18 kg dog: 237g cooked white rice 78g cooked regular beef (not lowfat) 20g boiled egg 50g white bread 3g vegetable oil 1.5g calcium carbonate 0.5g iodized salt 1 adult vitamin per day This is a reduced protein (21%), phosphorus restricted (0.22%) diet, appropriate for early renal failure. Sounds a lot like the one you already found. Dr. Pitcarin's for dogs is: 1/4# hamburger (not lowfat) 2 3/4# cooked white enriched rice 2 large beaten whole raw eggs 1/4 cup cooked carrots 2 tablespoons cold-pressed safflower, soy, or corn oil 1 slightly rounded teaspoon eggshell powder 1/8 teaspoon iodized salt 20 milligrams vitamin B complex 1000 milligrams vitamin C optional- 1/2-1 clove minced garlic Mix and serve raw if accepted. Or mix everything except the vitamins together and bake 20 minutes in a moderate oven and wait until it cools to mix in the vitamins. Occasionally substitute 1-3 teaspoons liver for part of the meat. Will feed a 40# dog for 1 day. Provides slightly less protein (17%) 25% fat, and 55% carbs, low phosphorus. If you can calculate recipe nutrients or have a program that can do that, here are the recommendations from my clinical nutrition book for dogs with early renal disease: Phosphorus: 0.15-0.3% dry matter Protein:Sodium: Potassium recommendations vary based on individual- some animals especially cats become hypokalemic, whereas dog may become hyperkalemic. If Taco has normal potassium levels now, try to feed the same amount but make sure you monitor her renal profile including potassium on a regular basis so adjustments can be made. omega 6: omega 3 fatty acid ration There has been considerable debate on when to restrict dietary protein in dogs with renal disease, and by how much. I would definately have the urinalysis done on Taco to determine if she has proteinuria. If so, she needs more restricted protein than if not. However, the protein in either case should be high quality and easily digestible, like the eggs and hamburger meat, not plant-based which is harder to digest. My personal belief is that you should restrict the protein as little as necessary and monitor the pet to see how the diet is working. If you switch diets and the BUN (especially sensitive to dietary changes) goes up, may have to reduce the protein a little bit and recheck. The appropriate protein level will vary among individuals and by the stage of renal disease. You have to adjust as needed. It is not 100% true that there are no meds to help with kidney disease. Any medications are based upon the symptoms of each individual pet, and applied on an as-needed basis. For example, if Taco is protienuric, an ACE inhibitor such as Enalapril may be beneficial. Secondary hyperparathyroidism may require more restricted phosphorus or phosphorus binders. Anemia may require erythropoietin. If she is dehydrated and cannot drink enough water to compensate, she may need subcutaneous fluid maintenance. If she has GI signs such as vomiting or nausea, then histamine blockers (cimetidine) or proton-pump inhibitors (omeprazole) may help. If she develops hypertension, the ACE inhibitor may help but if that is not enough then can add calcium channel blockers. Proteinuria is managed through the diet. Keep in mind that you can only safely restrict the protien by so much, since protein is required for a healthy immune system. Also at some point, restricting the protein more can contribute to worsening protein-losing nephropathy, which is definately not wanted. Chronic renal disease affects pretty much the entire body. But quality of life and survival can be enhanced by careful frequent monitoring (I'd do blood pressure, CBC, renal chemistries every 3-6 months depending on progression of signs) and appropriate treatment of signs as they occur. It is not easy nor inexpensive, but I think it's worth it to keep on top of things. The single most important thing to be careful about, as others have alluded to, is water. Even a short episode of dehydration in a pet with kidney disease can be devestating and send the animal over the edge and into failure. Second most important thing is to make sure she eats well. Eating doggie junk food is preferred over anorexia, even in animals with kidney disease. The best thing though, as always, is the easiest- provide lots of love and attention as you already do. Good luck.

Doctors are just as capable of believing and promoting pseudo-scientific hogwash as those who are not doctors. Should someone who is 100 lbs overweight avoid red meat? yes. But it is because they are 100 lbs overweight, not because they are any particular blood type. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that high levels of "bad" cholesterol are detrimental to heart health, and some people have "genetic factors" that make them more prone to "bad" cholesterol based on dietary-cholesterol intake, but as far as I am aware no study has indicted blood type as a statistically significant indicator of these "genetic factors". And given how many studies have been run and how much money has been spent I'm confident that if there were any statistically significant correlation between blood type and a genetic pre-disposition for "bad" cholesterol it would have been detected. The surface of all cells have antigens, a sort of signature for determining friend or foe. When the body detects foreign antigens it it reacts with an immune response, which, in part, includes developing antibodies to help detect and react more quickly and more forcefully when these foreign antigens are encountered again. Human blood has three critically important antigens: "A", "B", and "D" (as well as a few dozen less important antigens). "Blood type" as expressed by the common parlance of "A+" "A-" B+" "B-" "AB+" "AB-" "O+" "O-" simply indicates the presence or absence of the three critical antigens on the blood cells of the person in question. They are a useful shorthand for determining whether a transfusion from one person to another would be life-threatening or would be likely to not be life-threatening. If you receive blood in a transfusion that has antigens that your blood doesn't have, your body can react with an immune response that can make you sicker rather than helping you. In the case of the A B and D antigens it will make you sicker and maybe kill you. That's it. That's what "blood type" means. Those who attempt to ascribe anything more to it such as red meat is bad for people with type A blood, or type O should avoid tomatoes or whatever are guilty of the same sort of specious (and sometimes dangerous) reasoning that says blond people are unintelligent, or those with darker skin are somehow less that human, or that eating ground up tiger penises will make you virile. I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm attacking you. I'm not. I'm upset at the unwarranted certitude of the supposed doctors (who may in fact just be calling themselves doctors) who seem to believe that just because they went to school for a number of years, and they passed a test and they haven't yet killed enough people to have been stripped of their medical license that therefore any idea that they "really, really, really believe to be true" is scientifically valid. Lastly there is absolutely no relationship between the type-A personality type, and the blood type A except for the fact that they both chose letters from the same end of the alphabet.

Thanks for the interest, I had a happy outcome after almost giving up hope. (Photo attached isn't the best but the 'White Tigers' are doing great in my Canberra garden). After sending out a lot of emails to wholesale nurseries I finally found a very helpful person at plantsgalore.com.au (in Victoria) who had some in stock but could only supply to local retail nurseries... again after contacting a number of local Canberra nurseries, who honestly weren't very helpful (one nursery owner actually told me they wouldn't do well in our climate and winter frost would kill them), finally the lovely people at 'Yarralumla Nursery' got them in (after months on their waiting list, I'd given up) even the guy who delivered them to me was impressed by the plants. And I'm proud to say they are thriving beautifully and continued to look great even through last year's frosty winter.

Mine was 3 days of restrictions, with the final day being the severe one, just liquids (excluding anything red). I had water and chicken broth. I'd bought apple juice but that stuff was too sweet to drink more than a little. And when it was time to drink that nasty laxative, I didn't add the fake sweetener they provided on the side... why make the taste any worse than it already was? The early restrictions were things like no seeds (tomato, raspberry, that sort of thing). Four years ago so I don't remember the rest. Although I probably never will shake the memory of the night on the throne...