Dog Food for a Canine With Liver Disease
Changing or adjusting your dog's diet could help support him in his battle with liver disease. Vitamin and antioxidant supplements should be added to a diet that is high in proteins, calories and fiber.
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Significance
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A proper diet could be an important part of canine liver disease recovery. It could help eliminate harmful toxins such as copper from the dog's liver and prevent further damage, according to vetinfo.com.
Supplements
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Vitamin and herbal additions to your dog's diet could help heal him faster. They can promote pancreas, gallbladder and liver health. They could be added to your dog's diet or used as part of a new diet to treat the disease. Helpful vitamins include vitamins B, C, E, K and Zinc.
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SAM-e
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One particularly important supplement to add to a dog's diet is SAM-e. This is an antioxidant that the healthy liver normally produces. Adding SAM-e to an unhealthy dog's diet could help the dog's liver cells function properly.
Proteins
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Proteins are an important part of any healthy dog's diet, and become even more important for dogs with an unhealthy liver. Plant and animal proteins are best for dogs, as soy-based proteins can cause diarrhea in some dogs.
Calories
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Dogs with liver disease can handle higher doses of calories and fats than healthy dogs can. Look for or prepare high-fat foods.
Fiber
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Fiber also can be beneficial to a dog with liver disease. Some of the benefits of fiber include ammonia absorption, growth of beneficial bacteria and help with binding toxins.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Jose Roberto V. Moraes
