From:
sukie crandall
Date: 2005-07-29 00:52:38 UTC
Subject: Omega 3 Fatty Acids and kidney health
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-id: <34BEEFF6-D615-4A5A-BAE1-91850CCD7D69@optonline.net>
Having heard this week of two people whose vets are advising the use
of fish oil (not cod liver oil) for kidney disease in ferrets I am
curious to learn more.
Most of the sites i located were those of places which were busy
selling fish oil so right now I am avoiding them though later I may
snarf bibliographies to find the articles mentioned. Experience has
shown me that aside from bibliographies the write-ups in such sites
all too often misrepresent articles or pick and choose in ways which
are not optimal for understanding the health issues.
I did find this, though:
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?
CID=WSAVA2003&PID=6682&O=Generic
> Diet and Renal Disease: Myths and Realities
> Scott A. Brown, VMD, PhD, DACVIM (Internal Medicine)
2003
Especially:
>However, on the basis of studies in induced renal insufficiency,
glomerular hypertension >caused by omega-6 PUFA is detrimental in the
long run.
>In contrast, dietary supplementation with 15% menhaden oil
(providing approximately >4% omega-3 PUFA on a dry matter basis)
lowered glomerular pressure, decreased >renal eicosanoid series-2
excretion, and provided renoprotection. Dietary >supplementation with
lesser amounts of menhaden fish oil (providing approximately >0.6%
omega-3 PUFA on a dry weight basis) reduced the dietary
omega-6:omega-3 >PUFA ratio from 50:1 to 5:1 and lowered glomerular
pressure and altered urinary >excretion of eicosanoids. This latter
dietary maneuver is likely to be of long-term benefit >to delay
progression of renal injury, though it remains to be established in
dogs with >spontaneous renal insufficiency.
and in relation to human health (but I will need veterinary input to
know if this sort of renal disease is encountered in ferrets.)
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=76
> IgA Nephropathy
> In many parts of the world, IgA nephropathy is the most common form
> of glomerulonephritis--a disease that damages the tiny filtering
> units of the kidney, called glomeruli. The damage caused by IgA
> nephropathy results from abnormal deposits of a protein called
> "IgA" in the glomeruli...
> ...Cooperative treatment trials on the effectiveness of the drug
> prednisone are continuing in the United States . Researchers
> recently completed a study of the effectiveness of fish oil
> supplements in slowing of the disease. They reported that fish oil
> supplements significantly slowed loss of kidney function in
> patients with IgA nephropathy.
http://www.igan.ca/id67.htm
but not of use in transplants:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15958723&dopt=Citation
I am curious to learn more about the possible approach of increasing
Omega 3 fatty acid intake, reducing protein intake, reducing
phosphorus intake, and increasing potassium (if I recall the combo
right) intake for kidney disease in ferrets.
Also, might it be that there may be a protective effect for the
kidneys if the ferrets regularly have some fish (not going overboard,
of course, since a person doesn't want to cause Nutritional Steatis)
or fish oil in the diet on a very regular basis?
We actually have encountered very few kidney problems in 24 years but
we usually do have some fish or some fish oil in their diets. We've
had one with kidney disease due to dehydration from a severe bout of
ECE and one with bilateral hydronephrosis secondary to a combination
of having a bladder diverticulum and blocking completely due to
struvite stones.
http://veterinarypetcare.com/catkidneyfailure.html
has two recipes, one for cats and one for dogs about halfway down the
page. I do not personally know enough to be able to assess if
either, or some variation, may be useful for ferrets with kidney
disease, but I suspect that vets or a veterinary nutritionist like
Dr. Tom Willard could..
-- Sukie (not a vet)
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