To us at Earth Animal, ensuring that your pets live long, healthy, quality-filled lives is not only Another Way, it is the only way to care for your four-legged loved ones. Throughout our site, we’ll give you lots of helpful and manageable ideas on how you can improve and preserve your pet’s quality of life. After all, this is our primary mission here at Earth Animal. To get things started, we’re covering Kidney Health. Here, we’ll talk about how we can help you create a program to protect your animal’s precious kidneys and we will alert you to the silent dangers that can damage them. Kidney disease used to be a condition limited to only elderly pets, but it may surprise you to learn that today we routinely see patients with kidney problems as young as four months of age. In fact, according to WebMD, kidney failure in pets is now the leading cause of non-accidental death in cats and the number two cause in dogs.
Kidneys 101
The kidneys perform multiple jobs: they remove toxins, such as environmental pollutants like insecticides and pesticides, regulate blood pressure, produce red blood cells, support mineral balance and regulate fluid balance. Clearly then, keeping the kidneys healthy is vital to keeping your pet healthy.
Early Warning Signs of Kidney Trouble
Watch for the following signs that your cat or dog may be experiencing kidney disease:
- Frequent urination
- Increased thirst
- Loss of appetite
- Decrease in energy
- Urine that is pale in color
- Amount of urine increases
- Smell of urine on breath
- Recurring bladder or kidney related infections
- Nausea or vomiting lasting for a few days at a time
- Inability to hold urine (accidents in house, especially at night)
If your cat or dog exhibits any of these conditions, seek veterinary care as soon as possible for a physical examination and blood work. Be sure to have the Nutritional Blood Test (NBT) done through Antech Laboratories or the Healing Center for Animals as this test can pinpoint imbalances which routine blood work cannot. The NBT nutraceutical program can correct weakened kidneys which, fortunately, respond well to nutritional support.
Our Kidney Program
If you suspect that your pet is at risk for kidney problems or if you simply desire a preventative program, follow our program below:
- Switch to the purest pet food you can find which offers high quality, human-grade protein. High quality means no by-products, such as tendons, ligaments, hair, nails, etc., as these are devoid of the essential amino acids that are found in fresh meats. Alternatively, we suggest going with a lower protein food (lite or senior) if your animal is over one year of age and supplementing with fresh organic or hormone-free meats.
- Change your animal’s water supply to distilled water or filtered water that has been sourced far away from big cities (we are fans of Fiji water, bottled at source).
- Do the Nutritional Blood Test to discover which nutrients your pet is lacking so that you can return them to your pet’s body via nutritional means rather than medications.
- Add Vitamins C, B, and E to the Daily Health Nugget or call our office for a basic kidney support formula. Your veterinarian can also order kidney support remedies in the form of homeopathies, glandulars, enzymes, and herbs through the Healing Center at (914) 533-5162.
- Begin mixing several of these kidney care foods and herbs into your pet’s meals: dandelion, garlic, goldenseal, kelp/seaweed, Echinacea, parsley, asparagus, cranberries, zucchini, and pumpkin.
*Warning: Acute kidney disease or renal failure must be treated by your veterinarian using fluid therapy, followed up by a nutritional support program, preferably diagnostically prescribed and custom-blended through the Nutritional Blood Test program. This program shows excellent results in cases of renal failure.
