PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
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Senior wellness testing on Goldie, a 12-year-old golden retriever, revealed early kidney disease. She has no clinical signs
and eats Hills® Prescription Diet® w/d® Canine pet food. Would it be a good idea to switch her to Hills® Prescription Diet®
k/d® Canine pet food?
Food for Thought
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I am glad to know you are performing wellness tests on your senior patients. If Goldie's results show early kidney disease,
I would recommend gradually transitioning to Hill's® Prescription Diet® k/d® Canine pet food. Even in dogs with a lesser degree
of azotemia, clinical studies have found that k/d Canine pet food delayed onset of a uremic crisis by approximately five months.
It has also been shown that dogs eating k/d were 50% less likely to suffer clinical signs and experienced a 72% reduction
in the rate of kidney disease progression. Proper nutrition can give our patients a better, longer life! Remember, as Goldie
has a tendency to gain weight, healthcare team members should calculate the amount to feed, divide this and recommend twice-a-day
feedings, and review this with the owner.
I get confused when discussing the importance of therapeutic foods for cats with kidney diseases with their owners. I thought
the main purpose of a therapeutic food for cats with kidney disease is to reduce protein, thus diminishing the workload on
the kidneys. I explained this to an owner who refused to believe that reducing the dietary protein for carnivorous animals,
like cats, could be good. I had no idea how to answer. Help!
Nutritional management is the cornerstone of treatment for dogs and cats with chronic kidney disease; it is one of the most
effective treatments the veterinarian can implement for prolonging the life span in these patients. Therapeutic foods are
not focused simply on one nutrient, but are an entire nutritional package for those patients suffering from kidney disease.
Healthcare team members should educate owners that therapeutic foods can help patients with kidney disease by: avoiding excess
protein, phosphorus, and sodium chloride. These foods also have increased levels of potassium (for cats), omega-3 fatty acids,
antioxidants, soluble fiber, B-complex vitamins, and increased buffering capacity against metabolic acidosis. The benefits
associated with feeding these foods include reduced kidney workload, reduced stress on the kidneys, and reduced renal cellular
oxidation, all leading to a slowing of the progression of kidney disease.
We have clients that decline wellness testing on their mature and senior pets. We try to explain the need for senior wellness
testing, but they say their pet looks fine and is slowing down due to old age. What else can we tell them to raise awareness
of the need for senior wellness testing?
I believe that one of our major roles as technicians is to educate our clients as to the importance of wellness testing and
the results that may be uncovered. The pet may look fine, but kidney disease is called the "silent killer" because signs may
not appear until the pet has lost nearly 75% of its kidney function. This kidney function loss is irreversible. Kidney disease
affects more than one million pets each year, and is one of the leading causes of death in dogs and cats. Healthcare team
members should be asking clients about their pet's activity at home. Open-ended questions exploring the drinking and urinating
habits of their pet; energy and appetite of the pet; breath odor and gastrointestinal function of the pet. These questions
will help owners think about their pets' behavior and maybe the subtle differences they are in fact seeing may uncover a more
serious condition.
