Dogs are so much more satisfied with appropriate food, too (as opposed to "Diet" commercial food).

Good for you, Sue.

I will second what Sue said. I had great success with my cats.

I put 2 of my fat cats on raw and the weight came right off. Cats, particularly older, indoor cats, are notoriously hard to slim down once they're obese. I put them on a "diet" kibble and cut the daily ration down to nothing...and they still couldn't lose weight.

A raw diet achieved in 6 months what 2 years of a diet kibble could not.

An added bonus: Beautiful coats and an abundance of energy. They race around like kittens.

I think a raw diet is the very best way to help an overweight dog or cat lose the pounds.

If her kidneys are normal and functioning the way they should then why is she still restricted to low protein?

Took Kali to get weighed on Saturday. She weighed in at 89 lbs. She's been averaging losing 2.5 for a 2 week period, but these last 2 weeks we didn't excercise like we have been. Getting back to that this week. I switched her over to Timberwolf on Friday and marked my calendar. We'll see what happens at the next weigh-in.

I may try mixing the Honest Kitchen with the Timberwolf. That sounds like a good idea. Thanks!

Thanks again for all the suggestions and links! I have a lot of reading to do!

I guess I was in denial about her weight. She's a long haired with a tremendous coat. When she's soaking wet, she doesn't look like she weighs that much. I know, I need to be able to easily feel her ribs. But, I can feel her backbone now and her ribs with a little pressure. Dad is 95-100 lbs and mom is around 70 lbs. She's bigger than mom, but not as big as dad.

As far as her kidneys go, we know that she definitely has kidney damage from the ibprofen. We're just not sure on exactly how much they're damaged and since kidneys don't regenerate themselves, like the liver does, we're trying to keep the kidneys from not having to work so hard.

When the vet said I could take her off of the r/d and put her back on regular dog food, I started giving her chicken jerky at treats and she would get some cooked chicken in her food. When I took her in for her yearly 3 months after switching back, her BUN and Creatinine were elevated out of the normal ranges. The vet wanted to put her back on r/d, but I talked her into letting me change some of the things she was getting.

The vet gave me a month and when we tested again, everything was back to normal. So, I've been watching what she eats ever since. The 5 days she was at the e-hospital were hell for both of us and we don't want to go back there - ever.

I have heard that dogs with kidney issues do great with raw. They just make sure they feed certain meats like chicken, turkey and eggs and not red stuff like beef and lamb and no organ meats and no fish. Also they say to avoid mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, cauliflower and nightshade veggies.

There is more to it than that. You can probably find a raw feeding list on yahoo groups that would have more information. Cooked protein is going to produce much more waste for her kidneys.

Oh and around here I buy chicken leg quarters as the bulk of Logan's diet. They are about 50c/lb, so it costs me about $8/week to feed him.