5 Things You Don’t Know About Canine Kidney Disease
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As an animal lover her entire life, Alex Roberts mission is to help every pet live their longest, happiest lives. She has been using holistic remedies on wildlife and pets since she was a young child, and now has 18 years of professional experience in the pet industry. After receiving her Clinical Pet Nutritionist certification, she started Healing Bay Pet Nutrition LLC to dive deeper into helping more pets benefit from the world of holistic modalities, especially those suffering from chronic disease.
Well, hello dog lovers, we are going to learn something new today as I chat with Alex Roberts about the 5 things you don't know about canine kidney disease. Alex, welcome to the show!
Hi, Krista. Thank you, I'm really excited to finally be here.
I know we set this up so long ago, and the day is here. And I can't wait to learn from you. So before we get started, I'm going to ask you to please introduce yourself. And tell us why you wanted to cover this topic of kidney disease on the show today.
Yeah, so my name is Alex Roberts. And I of course am a lifetime animal lover of all creatures great and small. But I became a certified clinical pet nutritionist a few years ago, and I started a business doing one on one consults with pet owners. And due to the nature of being a nutritionist, I see so much chronic disease. And it's chronic disease that from a holistic perspective is very preventable in a lot of ways. And many cases, from a conventional perspective, not necessarily. But with that holistic scope and through a holistic lens, we can do so much more to help these patients in chronic disease states. So that's why I'm here today is hopefully to help some more dogs and maybe cats because a lot of things are pretty similar across the board with the two. Hopefully help them live longer, healthier, happier lives.
That's what it's all about. Well, let's get into this. Kidney Failure is really an irreversible process. And studies show that one in 10 dogs suffer from kidney disease. So is it true that an early diagnosis can help your dog survive longer?
Can Kidney Disease be Cured?
Yes, I definitely agree with that statistic. It's something that I do see, I think, a disproportionately high amount of these cases. Again, just sort of because of the nature of being a nutritionist, I get all these chronic disease cases versus being a veterinary clinician, you're seeing chronic disease and acute disease. So like you know, viral infections, things like that. Those are most common things that would fall into the acute disease category, or injuries and as a nutritionist, I'm not seeing those things. So across the board, that you know, about 10% of dogs are diagnosed with renal failure or chronic kidney disease at some point in their life is true and for me personally it is a massive amount of my patients. It's around like 40% of my personal patients have renal failure or chronic kidney disease, which is it's horrible because it's not reversible. But I want owners, caretakers, pet lovers to know that there are things you can do. It's not like this totally hopeless, you know, black hole that your, your fur baby has been diagnosed with. There's a lot more you can do. It's just that we can't completely reverse it, unfortunately.
Right. Well, let's dumb it down. For those of us, you know, we have kidneys too. But can you tell us what is the function of the kidneys?
What is the Function of the Kidneys?
Yeah, so the kidneys are our major filters in our bodies. And generally, when I use the word, our I'm referring to mammals. So dogs, cats, humans, elephants, mice, horses, we do have a lot in common, but we all have a lot of differences we have a lot in common too. And our kidneys all work the same way. So they're filtering out all of the… well, I shouldn’t say all of… because almost all of our organs have their own waste products that they filter out. But the kidneys are our major waste product filtering device, so and they're able to rid our body of these harmful metabolic wastes through urine, which is a sort of beautifully simple mechanism compared to some other metabolic processes in the body. But definitely don't have time to get into that today. That could be like, many hours long. Conversation, even though it's relatively simple
And I think I read, which is not good that typically, kidney disease goes undetected until the organs are functioning at only 33 to 25% of their capacity.
How is Kidney Failure Diagnosed?
I'm glad you brought that up. It's something I wanted to mention. So it's true. And it's something that even though so this is kind of weird. So even though we know that to be true, so the blood and urine markers that we're looking for when diagnosing kidney disease, they're not going to flag kidney disease until they're down to that sort of 1/3 or less function. We simultaneously once we've diagnosed it, have no way of knowing what percentage of function is actually left. That's a little bit of a weird paradox, which isn't helpful doesn't make things any better. But there are there are really only a few markers that we're looking at in the blood, urine gets a little more complicated because there are markers in the urine that can be indicative of a lot of other things. But normally, your vet will run a blood test first and if they suspect kidney disease, then they'll do a urinalysis to verify that those markers they’re looking for are there. But in the blood traditionally, we look at BUN, which is blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, which if anyone out there is a workout enthusiast, they might take a creatine supplement, and creatinine is then the waste product after your body metabolizes creatine, and some ends up in the urine, some in the blood. So we're looking for basically how much creatine how much urea are in the blood. When those become excessively high. That was really traditionally our only way to say we're diagnosing this pet with renal failure, kidney disease. So recently, there is a new marker called SDMA. And it's nice because you look at SDMA, and if SDMA is over 14, which is this nice, cute little number, then you can say allegedly. Okay, we are in renal failure we are we have chronic kidney disease. The generally accepted consensus is that this new SDMA is the best marker that we have for more accurately diagnosing kidney disease. But it's again, it's far from perfect, and it's something that honestly, we just don't know enough about. There are vets that are like, I don't trust this whole SDMA thing. I'm putting, you know, no faith in it whatsoever. Because it is relatively new, and although we think it's the best marker we have, we don't even really know how accurate it is. Yeah, even diagnosing kidney disease is really far from straightforward.
Right. But I guess this goes to show that, you know, annual physicals, at least for your dog, and at least the annual blood panels along with that gives you a blueprint or a base of how to read the values in the future. So you have something to compare, correct?
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. 100%. Any, vet out there will, you know, no matter how conventional they are, will tell you, you know, they'd love to get a blood sample from your dog every year, even if they're totally healthy. And it's extremely important as they get older, I would argue the older they get, the more important it is, again, no matter how healthy they seem, specifically because of their kidneys. But on top of that, at any age, you really should ideally be getting blood every year, again, no matter how healthy they seem. Because although within a given for every marker within that blood test, there's a given set of values, a low end and a high end. That is averaged throughout a certain population of dogs that was originally you know, taken to establish those values. Your dog could have a normal for them that's above or below. And that goes for anything. So that to me, by itself is a great reason, just to as soon as you get your dog get blood done, and just keep doing it at least once a year. There's no such thing as too much honestly, but once a year, just a nice convenient time when they go into their physical.
Okay, so are there any outward signs that your dog is experiencing kidney disease?
Signs of Kidney Disease?
Yeah, the most simple is when they start drinking a lot and start urinating a lot, which can also be a sign that the other big thing that that's a sign of is diabetes, it can be a sign of a bunch of other things too. But honestly, that sort of a big one to look out for. And it's a little tricky because especially if it's a multi dog household, it can be hard to tell how much your dog is drinking. But that really just goes back on how important it is to keep keep up on the bloodwork and you know again, the older they get, the more important it is to keep up on their bloodwork.
Okay, well all good information. And we are going to take a quick sponsor break. But when we come back, Alex promised in the beginning that there are things we can do holistically to help treat canine kidney disease, also known as renal failure. And we're gonna get into that so everybody hold tight, we will be right back.
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And we're back with Alex Roberts and Alex, you are getting into the nitty gritty now what everybody wants to hear about the holistic approaches to treating canine kidney disease. So you mentioned that about 40% of your clients are experiencing kidney disease. Why do you think that's on the rise? What is happening to our dogs?
Why Is Canine Kidney Disease on the Rise?
Yeah. So the conventional wisdom is, honestly, the conventional wisdom in this case is there really is no good answer. But the holistic wisdom is that there are very clear answers. And unfortunately, a multitude of causes. So the epidemic as some like to refer to it as of kibble. And just mass processed food being fed seems to be a there seems to be a really big causative link there. And I do have a specific definition for that, as well. On top of those two really big, standalone factors, you have a ton of other environmental factors. And technically vaccinations and food are both environmental factors. But flea and tick prevention chemicals, heartworm chemicals, what is in your water supply, house chemicals, lawn chemicals, such just so many factors, laundry chemicals, it's just everything, you know, all these little things that we're starting to see more issues in humans that we're linking to these chemicals that have come up in our lives. And unfortunately, our pets are suffering the same way. But I want to I want to go back to my statement on over vaccinating and specifically what I mean by that. So I personally believe that vaccines should you should have these individual tailored approach to what vaccines are or are not appropriate for your individual pets in your individual area for your individual lifestyle, because those are all things that factor into whether or not vaccine do or don’t make sense for your pet. And we're not going to get into the whole vaccine thing. Because yet again, that can be its own conversation. But I just want to make it clear that I you know, I don't believe that no vaccines is the answer. But unfortunately, in vet school, we're taught the standard operating procedure for vaccines, which is based on the vaccine company’s recommendation. And it's really not based on good science, all of the good science tells us that we do not need any vaccine every year. But the other unfortunate reality is that that's how, as veterinarians, we make most of our money. So just something to keep in mind.
Thank you. So if I were to simplify all of this, you know, you mentioned the kidneys are really a filter. And because we're living in environments that are so toxic, you know, you just went through the list. Kibble, over vaccinating, and all the environmental chemicals that our dogs live with, is it that the toxic load to the kidneys is just so overwhelming, especially as they're getting older, and therefore they're in that disease state. Is it that simple?
Yeah, I honestly, I think that is the perfect way to try to simplify and sum it all up. 100%. That's perfect. And with that toxic load, and you know, as we get older, all of our organs just need to work a little harder, but the kidneys, in all mammals, again, they just tend to naturally wear out with age, you know, really old humans no matter how well they take care of themselves, their whole lives. And their kidneys tend to wear out. It's just one of those things that eventually happens. And some pets now are living to extremely old age. Unfortunately, average age is decreasing, but you have some that are living longer and that can you know, that certainly factors into the average as well when no matter how well they're cared for their whole lives. Kidneys just wear out is the unfortunate reality of being a living, breathing creature, with kidneys.
Well, let's talk about how we can holistically approach a dog that has kidney disease? What are your recommendations to help support what kidney function they do have?
How to Holistically Approach Canine Kidney Disease
Yeah, so probably predictably, I'm gonna say the number one biggest one is food. And although I do say that with just about every chronic disease, honestly, any holistic or integrative veterinarian or clinician will agree with me, it's not just because I'm a nutritionist that I say this, I promise. It really is. It's the basis of everything. And the way I like to look at food, too, is, you know, not just because it's what fuels every process in our body. So of course, it's important, but it's the one really major determinant that we have complete control over when it comes to gene expression. So honestly, as far as I'm concerned, I believe every disease out there, especially all of the common chronic ones, have some form of genetic component. And there's nothing we can do to change our pet’s pedigree, genes, family history, right? We have no control over that. But what we eat, does control how many of our genes express proteins, which is just how all the cells in our bodies function with pretty much everything. So food is just so so important. I don't even know how to drive home how important it is. But that's, that's my, that's my way that I hope makes sense to someone at least, to really drive that home at home. So what does that look like? Then? You know, what food do I feed an animal that kidneys are struggling? So number one, and conventional and holistic veterinarians will both tell you this. So this is a good one. It's not super confusing. Unlike everything else out there is moisture is super important. Moisture is the number one most important factor. And so along with that, you know, kibble is not only extremely low moisture content, but it is so dry that when your pet eats it, it literally sucks moisture out of their body just in order to be able to digest it. So I think kibble has a place. You know, I think everyone needs to do what they can for their pet, I do not believe in you not being able to buy groceries for the week to feed your pet. Think that your your pet is lucky to have you have someone that loves them and feeds them. So you know, everyone needs to do what they can do within reason for them. But if at all possible, this is really, really a disease that we want to avoid kibble. Canned commercial food is even a lot better. However, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan, because it can be really expensive. There are actually a lot of better food options out there that are less expensive than a canned food. So on top of all of that, your veterinarian will often supply you with some subcutaneous fluids that you can do at home. And it sounds really scary. But most animals do really well with it, and your vet will go over how to administer them with you. It's not as scary as it sounds, and it's totally worth it. And if it's not something your vet mentioned, ask them about it. Because what I found is a lot of times vets won't bring it up unless the pet is in really advanced renal failure. So I recommend all my clients after but about it if that hasn't already brought it up to them because I've seen it make a really big difference. Good point. Yep. For subcutaneous so you know, we're not talking IV where you know, have to hunt down a vein on your animal, blood everywhere. Like there's no blood. It's a tiny little skinny poke, like between their shoulder blades. And it's a lot of people just think like, oh, that sounds so scary. I could never do that. But then once your vet shows you how to do it. It really is like, oh, okay, I can handle that.
I've done it. So yes, I agree.
We have to wrap up shortly. So I wanted you to have a chance to tell us more about optimal diet. What should it include and what should it not?
So the next big one after moisture is protein. And this is really confusing because there's so much contradicting information out there. If you have a conventional veterinarian, normally, they will tell you, you need to decrease protein in the diet. However, there's actually zero, good science, zero data that supports lower protein, helping the kidneys at all. But what we do believe to be really important is the quality of the protein. So again, unfortunately, I feel like I'm bashing processed food this whole time. And you know, again, it's not ideal, but gotta do what you can do, the more heavily processed the food is. So canned food, and kibble are really at the top of the most processed list. With the poor quality, the protein normally is going into it. But no matter what the quality originally was, the more it is heated, the less bioavailable it becomes, which basically means as far as the body is concerned, it's poor quality protein. So the less processed the protein is, the better. So in a perfect world, best case scenario is you make a homemade diet tailored to your individual critter. And you know, with all of the perfect balance everything to make their kidneys happy. That's not realistic for a lot of people. And I get that some of my favorite options going with a commercial food, Steve’s Real Food (use code WOL 20 for 20% off) is a frozen, actually they make a freeze dried as well. But freeze dried, it's always going to be dry. So unless you're adding moisture back in, I do recommend frozen. It's a frozen raw commercial diet, but is a really nice balance of everything. There are a bunch of other brands I like too. Steve's is really good. Honestly, it's a good bang for your buck, a great price per pound. And it's just a really nice balance of nutrients, specifically for animals in renal failure.
What about supplements? Should we adding anything?
So there are definitely some things to add. One thing you do want to watch out for, and this is something that even conventional vets will often say is you want decreased phosphorus. And this is something that depends on the individual patient. This isn't necessarily true for every patient in renal failure. But the best way to do that when at least we're thinking of what supplements to add, or maybe you are homemaking food, you don't want to add bone to the diet or bone meal to the diet. But instead you can add egg shell. And long story short that is a source of calcium with minimal phosphorus. So reading labels for bone really and making sure they don't have a bunch of bone or bone meal is important with any supplements. And that one is really specific to kidney disease. I just want to let people know, in healthy animals, I'm a big fan of bone is really specifically in this case that I recommend that but some other supplements to add. So number one is a probiotic, I've seen some supplements on the market that I've had some vets recommend that are called like dialysis in a bottle or something. And it's literally probiotics and it's like two strains of bacteria. Like oh, that's quite the quite the claim you're making there. Probiotics are really, really important for so many reasons. And along with a probiotic. So having the actual live bacteria in there. You do want to have a prebiotic ruscoe oligo saccharides to be sort of the best option, but as long as there's some kind of probiotic, some kind of fiber in there. Normally it makes it much more available in the digestive tract. And a bonus is adding a digestive enzyme along with the probiotic and prebiotic that's like your your perfect world if you get that trifecta. So another another one that I can recommend just across the board is some form of glandular or freeze dried kidney. So we feed kidneys to support the kidneys, very traditional Chinese medicine approach to things and there have been studies done on it over the years. Not a ton of great science has gone into it honestly. Some studies have shown that it's really helped Some studies have shown that it just doesn't do anything. But there's nothing out there to show that it could hurt. So it's like a why not. And honestly, it's something that I personally have had a lot of success with. And it's not terribly expensive. So it's just like, it can't hurt. I've had really good luck with it, and it doesn't cost a ton of money. So it's on the top of my recommendation list. Next one, that is again, just blanket recommendation this, this goes for anyone is some kind of fish oil. I really like recommending a krill oil, probably the most widely “available” fish oils are either salmon or Pollock oil. The only reason I don't love those as much is because they're big, predatory fish. So they end up with biomagnification of contaminants in their tissues, which means basically, by the time you are consuming the oil from that fish, you're getting more heavy metals and other yucky things that you don't want to be consuming. Whereas if you're consuming krill at the bottom of the food chain, you're getting minimal to none of those contaminants. So tends to be a little bit more expensive, but you need less of it as well. So, okay, kind of balances itself out. And there are lots of good brands out there. I don't really have you know, one brand that's like my favorite or anything.
So do your research. Well, Alex, we are already past our time. So I know you're just going to mention a few herbs, if you could mention those. And then yeah, we'll talk about an offer that you're making.
Herbs that Can Help
Okay, so my last little tidbit, these are a little bit more individualized, but dandelions, specifically dandelion leaf, Hawthorn herb, astragalus, and marshmallow herbs can all be really helpful. But it does depend a little bit on the individual patient, but none are going to hurt anyone, none hurt to try.
All right. Oh, my gosh, this is such good information. So as we leave here today, Alex, where can everyone find out more information about you and your company Healing Bay Pet Nutrition?
Yeah, so my website is the best place to go. I don't think I mentioned that during the podcast, but I am a full time veterinary student, so any references made to veterinarian just because I do know firsthand I am in those shoes as well. Due to that consuming my entire life right now. I am atrocious at keeping up on social media but I do have an Instagram I have a Facebook and I have a LinkedIn. Instagram is the only thing that I like remotely kept up on and it's still far from it. But my instagram handle is @healingbay.pet.nutrition. All right, and
Social media:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/healingbay.pet.nutrition/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/HealingBayPetNutrition/
LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-eaton-9457701b9/
All right, and all of this, the URL and the social media links are all going to be in the show notes for everybody. And since we're out of time, I am going to say thank you, Alex, for taking this on. Unfortunately, we're seeing a rise as you said, it's an epidemic of kidney disease and kidney failure. But it's all about educating people. And that's what you're doing. And we're very grateful.
Oh, good. I really hope that there's some some animals that can benefit from this today.
Absolutely. Well, thank you, everybody. Check out https://www.healingbaypet.com/ for more information. Thanks, Alex.
Thank you.
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Hey Winston was that another tail wagging episode?
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