Liver repair foods

charlie

Hi all,
I have a thread in the health section about my Akita Charlie and his liver infection. Could you recommend some foods to go with his medication as well as long term food's. Before he got ill, he had a cheap brand of dry food (from the local farm food shop) I would add warm water to make a gravy. Treats were, doggy chocs, Bonio biscuits and pedigree dental stiks. Non-dog foods were cheese, pink wafers and chips!
Across the net I am getting conflicting information. For now I am thinking of getting him some fish to hide his tablets in but which fish would you suggest and what else would be good on a long term basis for a healthy balanced diet but in particular for his liver. #amesylph kindly found the following information:

"high quality protein is key so having a quality dog food or even a home-made/raw diet adapted to his needs would likely do him good, and it looks like a bit of extra fat via healthier oils wouldn't hurt either. I would think something high in omega fatty acids since that is a common dog supplement anyway"
Do you know of foods/brands that cover this as he is only eating small amounts so one complete meal would be good.
P.S He is not too great with chicken, it does straight through him.

sukoshi_mom

From a list of liver repair foods for people. Sound pretty good for dogs as well:
Veggies: Green beens, spinach, carrots, peas
Meats/protein: tuna (not too much due to mercury), salmon, haddock, turkey, tofu, lean beef, (chicken)

Several years ago I came across a website on dog nutrition where the author suggested that dogs be fed according to their country of origin. His premise was that the dogs' digestive systems were adapted to the foods of their respective countries and that this might actually be reflected in their genetic makeup. An interesting idea and one that made me think about "What would a Shiba have traditionally eaten in Japan?" My answer: Rice, chicken, fish, pork, tofu,wild game, vegetables, possibly kelp in sea areas. Probably not much beef. (All good ideas, but I'll pass on the kelp!)

amesylph

Ki LOVES nori...you know, the dry seaweed? He'll even eat the seaweed he finds on the beach if I don't remind him not to. But yeah he would get leftovers mixed in with his regular fish-based kibble when I made salmon, rice, and veggies. He seemed to digest it easily enough and obviously thought it was the best thing ever. It was easy to get that sort of stuff living in Japantown though. lol But yeah Ki is a big fan of fish and rice (even brown rice and dry tuna flakes).

lindsayt

If he was actually diagnosed with liver disease via lab work, there are specific dietary needs he will have. Namely, you will want to provide lower amounts of high quality protein that are easy to process. The liver acts as a waste processing center in the body, and if there is significant damage, you won't want to burden the organ with foods that contain lots of hard to process proteins. Otherwise, I believe it's possible to suffer a buildup of ammonia and waste products in the blood. That doesn't mean you still can't offer a raw or home prepared diet. Egg, brown rice, white fishes and rabbit are supposed to be milder proteins, along with deep green veggies. Solid Gold makes a low protein diet also.

There are some supplements like fish oil and SAM-E which may assist with liver repair. I have used a calf/foal supplement called Nutritinic with cats and dogs in liver and renal failure. It is basically blackstrap molasses and full of B vitamins, iron, etc. It seems to really stimulate appetite and give them a little more pep. Kelp is also a good idea, I use a Norwegian blend and occasionally Seameal. Be sure to consult with the vet or the staff to be sure that is something safe for his specific ailments. Post op dogs may require more protein just to heal, so that is something to consider as well.

charlie

It is difficult to say exactly what the vet found, as he was not that bothered about the 'what is & what's not' of the situation, he was more interested in putting Charlie down there and then and incinerating him.
He was still distant and telling me Charlie would probably not recover when he sent him home on Friday. What I did get was two sort of diagnosis:
1. Charlie had a virus in his stomach and the liver problems was a secondary problem caused by the initial virus.
2. Charlie had a virus that attacked his liver and nothing else. Either way a virus was the most consistent thing from the vet. Even weather Charlie was improving or not, eating or not, vomiting, etc., kept changing each phone call or visit I made.
At the moment I will have to stick with the vet so if anything goes wrong the vet will know what treatments have been tried, but once Charlie has reached a certain health level I will introduce him to a new vet.
I have given him some rice which he loved, I will get him some fish in a few days, but today he has decided to eat the vets food, so I will keep him on that for as long as he is willing to eat it.