What wonderful advice from Benny's Mum Kelsey in supporting him with his kidney disease as best she can - we applaud every decision that she has made and too important not to share!
"I wanted to write to you with a little positive news. I'm a bit superstitious, so I don't like to 'jinx' things (silly, I know), but Benny had his bloods done for a six month check up for his CKD (chronic kidney disease), amongst his other markers, and although of course, CKD can't be cured, his creatinine and urea levels were actually a little lower than six months ago, and although not huge, it was an unexpected bit of hugely positive news!
For some reason, the only food we could get him to eat was Green Crunch, so we've been thoroughly soaking it to increase the moisture content as much as possible.
We mix it with your liquid Omega oil every day without fail. He also has a B vitamin on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
In addition, he likes blueberries, so we frequently add these into his dinner and as a snack. We also make a great lick mat paste made of pure sweet potato, so he has that to keep him entertained, and it's good for his kidneys too, so I'm really glad he enjoys it.
I have stopped feeding him any of my own food that is salted or high in protein. I will often keep a bag of low protein treats with us as we eat so he doesn't feel left out after we finish dinner.
He's doing really well with his arthritis too. He's not on Librella currently because with physio exercises and the omega oil, they seem to be helping as much as Librella was, although he is being referred to a stem cell specialist to discuss that. Anyway, I just wanted to share Benny's full story this far.
Anya our previous rescue was advised to take milk thistle by her oncologist because of it's high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
It got me thinking that perhaps it was beneficial for the kidneys too, and I have searched through some academic journal articles and it does indeed suggest that it may have beneficial effects in CKD in dogs too.
My husband is a doctor, and although he doesn't practise adult medicine anymore, he is aware that there is promising research in humans too, particularly in diabetic kidney disease using milk thistle, so this is something we are adding to Benny's diet too.
I forgot to mention, he has a vegan probiotic daily too 😊
I just hope we can continue to keep Benny as healthy as possible for as long we can. He is going to be 13 in January and he's a happy boy, as you can see in the photo, so long may it continue 😊 I certainly never regret putting any of my dogs on a vegan diet.
I have had many criticisms and nasty comments directed at me over the years, but surely three dogs in double digits can't be a bad thing?!
We'll keep doing what we're doing and ignore the chatter. I think what you do is amazing and I hope with continued exposure, people will realise that plant-based lives for our doggies should be the first choice 😊🐾🐶" - Kelsey
Thank you Kelsey for so many wonderful tips and advice in how she manages Benny's kidney disease - how we applaud ALL that you do!
Kelsey emailed us after we had published this post with this feedback -
"Thanks for this wonderful article on Benny! We're trying to optimise his feeding regime as much as possible over the next few days. He had his stem cell implantation last Friday and as it can affect the kidneys, we really need to do everything we can to keep them as healthy as they can be. He is quite stiff at the moment, which is understandable given the cells were injected into his joints, so I'm keeping a careful eye on him.
I was actually shocked that some vets still use stem cells from the umbilical cord from horses. Retrieving cells from the adipose tissue of the dogs themselves has been found to be more effective and there are less complications, as you probably already know, so it's kinder for Benny and doesn't have to involve another animal, which is really important to me.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted on his recovery. I'm really hoping he gets some relief from his arthritis, but nothing is guaranteed. I see that you now stock Zooomy Megahyaluronic Acid Joint Supplement which looks superior to Metacam that I cannot give Benny with his kidney disease.
I was thinking last night that I wished there was a supplement I could give to Benny with hyaluronic acid minus the glucosamine (which shouldn't be given to dogs with kidney disease, and why I cannot give Benny Gold Dust), because he is still sore after his surgery, and I remember you saying how soothing Zoooomy was for joints! I'm going off to buy some now!
I was concerned about how the Hyaluronic Acid was excreted and whether it would affect Benny's kidneys, so I emailed the company with my concern, and here is their reply from the owner (a vet😊)
"Hi Kelsey,
Thanks for your email.
HA is mostly broken down around the body in the tissues but yes some does make it to the liver where it's also processed. It's an entirely natural substance so it's safe for dogs with CKD and it won't affect the progression of their kidney insufficiency. We have a lot of dogs with similar diagnoses that do well with Zooomy so I wouldn't be worried at all.
It would make sense that the high molecular weight HA wouldn't get through the glomerulus into the kidney but there is no way that HA can cause damage either way, whilst it has 'acid' in the name it's neutral in the body and it just acts as a gel-former, it doesn't react with other molecules or build up in a bad way so I wouldn't be concerned at all.
I hope that helps?
Thanks for being in touch, and do let us know how you dog gets on?
Humphrey Grimmett BVetMed MRCVS"
Kelsey 😊
Best wishes and thanks again!
Read more here about kidney disease and plant-based dogs
“If nobody changes then nothing changes but if somebody changes then everything changes!”
- Dr Arielle Vegan Vet
