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| Title: Long Term Use Of Lamb and Rice Diet? | |
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Date Posted：01/26/2009 10:10 PMCopy HTML Long Term Use Of Lamb and Rice
Diet? Straight Lamb/Rice diets
were NEVER meant to be used as a long termed diet. It was designed to be used
for a short period of time while the dog was dealing with
allergies. There have been known
issues from long term use of this food, Taurine
deficiency and heart disease. Chronic liver disease from
copper toxicosis. Dogs lose muscle mass - heart
is the biggest muscle in the body. I personally have found
that lamb and rice diets doesn't give danes enough fat and protien.
The stay way to skinny on this
formula. Email From Dr. Jean Dodd! Dear
Renee: There was a time about
10-15 years ago when lamb and rice foods were used for dogs that were allergic
or intollerant to standard other foods. But, over the
years many dogs have now become reactive to lamb especially, as it now is
"overused". When you couple that with the increasing incidence of chronic liver
disease from copper toxicosis in young adult dogs of
an increasing number of dog breeds, reducing the copper content of commercial
foods becomes very important. Most cereal-based kibbles marketed today have
16-33 ppm copper -- way above the 8 ppm minimum or the 11-13 ppm of
the foods that are properly balanced in copper. The companies putting in so much
copper say that they counteract that by adding more zinc -- what a stupid way to
offset the copper (by adding too much of another mineral !). Lamb is a high
copper containing food, so we want to restrict its use. See attached.
Jean COPPER TOXICOSIS/ CHRONIC
ACTIVE HEPATITIS W. Jean Dodds, DVM Hemopet Abnormal accumulation of
copper in the liver leads to chronic liver failure, and is an heritable or familial trait recognized in an increasing
number of dog breeds, including the West Highland White Terrier, Bedlington Terrier, Skye Terrier, Doberman Pinscher,
Labrador Retriever, Keeshond, and American Cocker Spaniel. Other breeds may also
be affected. Certain diseases of the liver, especially those that cause blockage
of the bile duct or bile flow (cholestasis), also can
result in excessive hepatic copper accumulation. While the level of copper
and other metals stored in the body generally tends to be higher in newborns,
levels in the dog remain fairly constant throughout life, and are higher than
those normally seen in humans. The mean copper concentration in the liver of
normal dogs of any breed is 200-400 ppm on a dry
weight basis. Dogs with copper toxicosis (also known
as chronic active hepatitis) may exhibit concentrations of copper up to 10,000
ppm, while levels of 2000 or greater ppm are excepted to be
toxic. Copper toxicosis, a copper storage disease, is known as Wilson's
disease in people. A similar disease was first recognized in the Bedlington Terrier breed, and there
is now a specific genetic DNA screening test for this trait. Investigators at
the Clinical and Pathological
Findings In affected dog breeds,
whether the defect is an heritable trait involving the
metabolism of copper itself or is a copper storage disorder --- such as might be
involved with the Doberman pinscher --- does not affect the outcome. There are
three progressive stages of copper toxicosis. In the
first stage, the dog is young and not clinically ill, copper levels are
beginning to accumulate in the liver, and values are reported to be as high as
1500 ppm. Regardless of the breed, this accumulation
begins very early in life, and the rate of accumulation will vary among
different breeds and also within individual animals. Wedge biopsy of the liver
at this stage will look normal, although special copper stains of biopsy tissue
will reveal the excess copper. Stage two of copper toxicosis occurs when the copper level in the liver reaches
2000 ppm. The dog is typically not ill at this point
but wedge biopsy of the liver will show hepatitis and is the definitive test to
make a diagnosis. Laboratory findings at that time may include an increase in
ALT and alkaline phosphatase enzyme levels, but these
are nonspecific findings, not necessarily indicative of copper toxicosis. As an elevated ALT enzyme concentration reflects
specific hepatocellular disease, it signifies a toxic
or other form of injury to the liver cell. There are other pathological changes
in blood profiles which can include: low platelet counts, thyroid dysfunction,
increase bilirubin in the blood and/or urine, hypoalbuminemia, and anemia. Finally, in stage three disease the dog becomes clinically ill, may have a poor
appetite (anorexia), depression, abdominal pain, vomiting, excessive drinking
(polydipsia) and urination (polyuria), icterus or jaundice,
ascites, high amylase and lipase concentrations, and
weight loss, the latter is commonly seen and may be the only clinical sign.
These clinical signs usually result from liver necrosis, which is triggered by
copper concentrations above 2000 ppm. In the end stages of copper
toxicosis, the concentration of copper in the liver
may actually decrease, as the cells that die during the necrotic process are
those that have accumulated copper. Because of the progressive nature of the
disease, most affected animals are not presented for diagnosis and treatment
until the late stages, when clinical symptoms are present, or after some
significant body stress event such as a pregnancy. In fact, most of the severely
affected, fatal cases in American Cocker Spaniels have occurred in females
within a few weeks to months after a pregnancy. An intriguing possibility is the
potential relationship between the high incidence of autoimmune hemolytic anemia
in American Cocker Spaniels [the breed with highest risk worldwide] and copper
toxicosis due to the free radicals produced by copper
accumulation. Such a relationship has been suggested in the Bedlington Terrier. Management and
Treatment Treatment of copper toxicosis can include dietary, medical, or a combination of
these methods. Please see the accompanying two-page handout
which discuss dietary modification to reduce copper accumulation. When
copper accumulation is detected early on and the dog is asymptomatic, initiating
treatment at that time may slow down the accumulation of copper before
irreversible damage to the liver has occurred. In addition to the dietary
changes mentioned in the accompanying handout, chelating agents can be used
which bind or chelate copper, thereby enhancing its
excretion in the urine or bile. The most commonly used chelating agent is
d-penicillamine given at 10-15 mg/kg. However, the use
of this copper-chelating drug is somewhat controversial because it also binds
zinc, which made deplete tissue levels of zinc and have undesirable side
effects. Also, d- penicillamine has other side effects
such as anorexia, nausea, and vomiting. In treating some canine cases, the
adverse effects of d-penicillamine were counteracted
by using a homemade low copper-low protein diet with additional zinc
supplementation. Other drugs that have been used in chronic active hepatitis are
corticosteroids, such as prednisone, and colchicine.
Of the two drugs, prednisone would be preferred as it helps the body excrete
excess copper while fighting the inflammation and fibrosis of the liver. Side
effects of both these drugs include inducing liver enzyme levels, and colchicine often produces nausea. Selected
References Dodds W J. Pet food preservatives and other additives,
Chapter 5. In: Complementary and
Alternative Veterinary Medicine. Mosby, Dill-Mackey E. Chronic hepatitis in
dogs. Vet Clinics Dodds W J, Donoghue S.
Interactions of clinical nutrition with genetics, Chapter 8. In: The Thornburg L P. A study of
canine hepatobiliary diseases, Part 4: copper and
liver disease. Comp An Pract,
2(7): 3-6, 1988. Hardy R M. Chronic
Hepatitis in dogs: a syndrome. Comp Cont Edu Pract Vet, 8: 904-914, 1986. Thornburg L P, Polley D, Dimmitt R. The diagnosis and treatment of copper
toxicosis in dogs, Can Pract, 11(5): 36-39, 1984. ______________________________________________________________ Lamb and Rice Diets Linda
Arndt ~ Canine Nutritional Consultant http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/lamb_rice_diets.htm
_ Here is a portion of an
email that Linda sent me. The Premium Select (lamb
& rice) should only be used for skin problems, and not long termed use, even
Eagle will tell you that, and that is true of all Lamb/Rice (straight lamb and
rice formulas) because it won't hold muscle mass over the long haul. Especially
with showing,working and I do
not suggest it for pregnancies or young weaning puppies. Use all lamb/rice diets
for times of digestive upset and/or food allergies. That is the original intent
of all those diets and when we feed them on a daily basis, we have not place to
go if there is a real need for them. Linda Food Allergies: The Truth
About Lamb and Rice Mixes http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/showarticle.cfm?id=113 |
