Kidney failure diet and original cause?/ twitching begins

[babygirl6152]

My schnauzer/golden Dog has been dx with kidney failure last month. He hates his powder med, was told helped bind "phosphates?" Sometimes flat out won't even eat the food we put in it so I offer it with ham instead, which is probably a poor choice instead of renal food. But when I mix up how I dispense it, every few days,he's sometimes eaten the meal along with powder before he realizes it.
He's only this week begun to twitch and jerk every so often. My vet who knows him inside out is on maternity leave although I know she has left his chart, there is only a sub vet so I want to ask here....
Is it closer to the end when the twitches start? He still plays and "dances" with me, snuggles a lot more. Buddy is only a 4 year old baby, the sweetest, lovable friend I have ever had.
His brother who is no longer living here used to attack my Buddy out of jealousy, the brother could not stand me to pet his brother. I had never had dogs like this. We tried to keep them apart, but sometimes we goofed. Then Buddy got mauled and of course I felt horrible. Could this have caused kidney failure. His bloodwork was fine in January! then he was attacked several times! then his dx came in September.
He had IV flush for 8 days, added iron and tramadol and this powder mix with renal diet, and he feels much better but kidney levels are still bAD.
Are the twitches the end or do we have a while?

[Misfits4Me]

Could it be his food or treats? There have been many recalls lately on both!

[babygirl6152]

Thank you very much.the IVs brought his levels down a bit. Was tested for lepro since bloodwork showed slight signs of infection. It was negative. There are absolutely no chemicals around unless it was from another yard? He does lick his paws a lot. We looked at everything in the yard, garage house and have wracked our brains, as the vet was sure h got into poison also....
The twitching is a jerk like one has when falling asleep suddenly wakening.

Thanks for the link and the recipes.
You have been very helpful.
I'm glad it's not from the dog bites.

[Misfits4Me]

Recipe #1
Mix 1/2 cooked sticky rice (sushi rice) cooked in unsalted butter with 1/2 HIGH fat hamburger or dark meat chicken (lower in phosphorus than white meat). Add two cooked egg whites (no yolk) per cup. You can make as large a batch as needed and freeze for daily portions. Save the egg shells, and add back one teaspoon of egg shell (dry overnight, grind in a coffee bean grinder) per two pounds of food. The egg shell is good for calcium and also acts as a phosphorus binder.

Recipe #2
Cook Malt o Meal and add one tablespoon of unsalted butter per cup. Cool, and add two tablespoons of heavy whipping cream (don’t need to whip it!). You may add a bit of meat (hamburger, ground chicken) and some gravy for flavor. I have also added chicken skin or beef fat for variety.

Recipe #3
Cook sticky rice (sushi rice) and add unsalted butter. Mix at 1/3 sticky rice, to 1/3 boiled sweet potatoes, and add 1/3 either ground pork, lamb or fatty hamburger. Add one egg white per cup. (You can substitute boiled potatoes for sweet potatoes).

Green tripe is also a pretty good food lower in phosphorus than other foods. You can buy this frozen at outlets that sell frozen raw diets for dogs, or buy it in cans called Tripett. It is also good to occasionally add beef kidney, a bit of liver and egg yolks. While these are high in phosphorus, they do provide needed nutrients. . You can also mix either the rice or the vegetable mix with drained mackerel or salmon for variety and the fish already has bone steamed with it, so it is balanced properly for calcium. Because of the bone, fish is high in phosphorus and so should be used in very limited amounts. Do not feed tuna, as it is high in mercury. Again, save your eggshells, and dry them overnight. Then grind them in a coffee bean grinder and add to the food served at 1/2 teaspoon per pound.
It is important to select fatty meat. So pork and lamb are also good choices to mix with the rice and they add a nice variety. Fat offers calories for energy and weight gain, and fattier cuts of meat are lower in phosphorus. Do offer a variety to keep your dogÕs interest and appetite hearty. More severe kidney problems can lend to loss of appetite and at these times, offering almost any type of food may be necessary. - See more at: http://www.b-naturals.com

[Misfits4Me]

Here's the link:

www.medhelp.org/posts/Dogs/4th-stage-renal-failure-in-my-dog/show/425814?page=1

[Misfits4Me]

First, let me say how sorry I am for your dog's diagnoses...No, the attack did not cause the Kidney Failure....However, In such a young dog with bloodwork perfect 6 months ago, I feel there is a source causing the failure....What did the rest of his bloodwork look like? Anything else off?
Any signs of infection?

What do you feed (Before the renal diet) including treats?
Any chance that he has gotten into any poisons (Rat or Anti-freeze)?
Drinking any stagnant water from a pond or lake?

I've read 1000's of reports of Kidney Failure & to my knowledge, can't remember one of them mentioning twitching! Do you mean shivering?

What are his Kidney levels? Did they not get any better with the IV's?

We have a lengthy Kidney thread on this forum.....Let me locate it for you....You will find some of your answers there.....I also will send you some KD recipes you can make yourself that are much better than the prescription diet.......Karla