High Cholesterol

[Kerry Daly]

hello, one of my goldendoodles has been diagnosed with high cholesterol.  Now, he is my problem child (ate 5lbs of dog food as a puppy (we wont discuss), he got an auto immune disease that we caught and cured so he is living a full life, but because of this has PTSD and high anxiety to the point of eating drywall, carpet etc ( he is in the care of a behavioral medicine vet at The Ohio State University so he is getting help he needs, he is on two anxiety and he got a cataract at 2 years old... if it is going to happen it will happen to Apollo!)  So the vet has told me we need to put him on low fat prescription dog food to reduce his cholesterol.  Both boys eat Fromm Chicken ala Veg.  I talked to the vet about trying other measures first before going to prescription because I am already paying hundreds a  month to keep him calm, let a lone feed him!  Has anyone used the weight management Fromm Gold or used the white fish 4 star and seen a drop in their cholesterol?  Trying to decide between the two.  WM is 10% fat where whitefish is 11.  He is currently eating food that is 15%.  She wants to take him to 5%.  But is willing to let me try to do this for a month with more exercise and then retest.  I really do not want to alter his diet along with all the meds and the other stress he has... it just may be too much for him.  Help?  anyone get told your dog has high cholesterol???

[Stella]

You might get a better response by posting this as a discussion in The Food Group :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I've never heard of a dog being diagnosed with high cholesterol, and there are not many canine health conditions that I've never heard of, lol. In fact, it was my understanding that dogs don't have the same problems with serum cholesterol that humans do. There is a condition in dogs called hyperlipidemia, which would be the canine equivalent of high cholesterol, but it's usually a side effect of diabetes or hyperthyroidism; in these diseases, there is a decrease in the production of the enzyme lipase which is responsible for dissolving lipids, and that's what causes the elevation in the serum cholesterol levels.  

I'm assuming this was diagnosed through blood work? Had he fasted at least 12 hours prior to the blood draw?  Do you know what his cholesterol and triglyceride values were? 

Reducing dietary fat alone not effective in reducing serum cholesterol in humans, I don;t know that it's any more effective for dogs. Assuming that it's your GP vet who is advising you on this, I think I would seek a second opinion. 

[Kerry Daly]

Yes he diagnosed through blood work because of the meds he is on he has to have it yearly.  It came back at 435.  So we fasted more than 12 hours and took again, 405.  I didnt ask Try numbers.  He does not have diabetes or hyperthyroidism..  we checked for both of those because of his meds every year and they have been fine.   

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

What meds is he on? 

[Sue]

That high reading could of been from something he had just eaten. Kramer had a reading on his blood test that was high, and then wasn't there the next time.

I have fed FRomm for years, and Kramer is a healthy 12 year old.

Id go with the whitefish formula.

The vets like to sell prescription food because they get a good kickback from it.

You are better off with a high quality food like FRomm or others, or a home cooked diet, IMO

[Kerry Daly]

I am goign with the whitefish for now.. that way i dont have to wean him over since it is all Fromm 4 star.  :)   I gave him a sample tonight and he gobbled it down

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think that should be fine. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's some good info on this: http://www.2ndchance.info/dxme-Cholesterol.htm

Note that higher cholesterol levels in dogs don't have the same connnection to heart disease that humans have. 

[Kerry Daly]

So that article says to go to a low fat diet... I am going to go to a lower fat but not low fat and just exercise him more and see how he does.  He has enough other things going on that I am just not taking him off Fromm if it is not a serious health risk.  Will see in a month.  Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, but the article says to keep the dietary cholesterol under 10%, so the Fromm Weight management food plus exercise, should be fine. Make sure that any and all treats he gets are fat free, which is easy if you stick with fruit and veggie treats. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for posting this, Karen. More education for us.

[Kerry Daly]

The only treat he gets is these natural pill pockets to get all his pills down (from pet people). He won't take his meds otherwise :).