[Continued from Turning Point]

I knew dog kidney disease nutrition was going to be the key to any hope of getting my little Chihuahua Pnut better and I was so thrilled when I had arrived at a better combination of necessary nutrients to sustain her life and see marked improvement with her eating from her own bowl again alongside her companions.

Having good dog kidney disease nutrition in place was such a giant step in the right direction as it raised her energy level astoundingly which further increased her appetite and ability to improve and her overall general well-being –  it starts a snowball effect.  We have a long balcony that winds around our stilt home and those walks seemed to be over when she was diagnosed but then when she got on her new diet and vitamins, minerals or herbs  it was exactly like old times again!  Boy, did I feel good and so did Pnut.

Then added fresh veggies and even fruits – especially great for dog kidney disease nutrition!

I was so excited by the concept of fermentable soluble fiber that would absorb toxins and allow them to be removed through her stool and not add to the work of the kidneys so I started with a dehydrated vegetable mix from Dr. Harvey’s which I would reconstitute and mix in with her tripe in her bowl although I learned later to separate starch and protein and fruits which is explained more further down and again on my Food Combining/Sequential Eating page.   But I realized I could steam any vegetables, cut them into small bites for her to eat out of her bowl so decided to select my own fresh vegetables and studied them closely, looking at their phosphorus levels (the lower the better) and nutrients and selected pumpkin and parsnips (especially helpful to the kidneys) to feed her in addition to sweet potato and stopped using the pre-mix which had a few items I’d prefer she didn’t get as they had diruretic properties.  And later, as her blood work started showing her becoming anemic (more further down) I looked at fruits which also had soluble fiber but were high in iron selecting blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. And even though she still attacked her tripe hungrily she became disinterested in eating sweet potato treats as she was (thankfully) getting much older and wasn’t interested in eating chunks of fruits or veggies either so for a while I mashed them with a fork adding a little purified water to make them easier for her to eat, in fact finger-feeding her the veggies and fruit (still ate the tripe just fine) but then decided I would actually puree them and bought a Baby Bullet Baby Food Maker and using their little food containers, I would freeze what I couldn’t use in 2 – 3 days, and mixing in chosen vitamins, minerals and herbs  (also following), dollop portions out on the rim of a saucer and  finger-feed her, right into her mouth.

Interesting note here is that after a while finger-feeding her for several weeks, I noticed she was beginning to lick her lips a lot which puzzled me until, after Internet research, I realized that is a sign of facial cleansing and I was leaving food around her mouth, so started having a warm, wet, paper towel in a cozy with a lid on it at feeding and upon finishing mealtime would conclude with a nice warm, cleansing muzzle wipe.  The licking stopped.     [Continued in Finding Supplements]