Hill’s Prescription Diet Works TOO Well

I wrote about Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d yesterday and the occasion of recommending it brought back a memory that is probably more than twenty years old.

I don’t recall the old black Labrador retriever’s name, but I do remember that, after performing laboratory tests for him, his chemistry profile showed some low-level kidney and liver problems that were age-related.

Symptomatically, I asked the owners to begin feeding k/d, taking about ten days to make a gradual transition to the new food so as to avoid shocking his intestinal tract with a sudden diet change.

Unexpectedly, the owners came into the clinic about three weeks later. I asked how the old gent was doing and, instead of replying, they said, “We want to return this food.”

Of course, I asked why.

“Because it has made him crazy! He used to lie around the house all the time and be a quiet dog. Now, he brings us his leash and wants to go for a walk, he gets up and looks out the window when pedestrians go by, he barks at the neighbor’s cat. He’s just gone nuts.”

I laughed, but they weren’t amused. “There is only one explanation, and that is the food has so greatly helped his liver and kidney problems, reducing the
waste products in his bloodstream that were poisoning his body, that he feels like a puppy again. That should make you happy! You should enjoy his new lease on life!”

“We want to return the food,” they repeated.

I have a little bit of an idea how they feel. After having our Peyton for 12 years, including 2 ½ years that he was ill, and Pearl for over 17 years, you get used to the slow pace of old dog ownership.

When Willie came along, all that changed, and it’s been quite a mental and physical adjustment for both Brenda and me.

The old Lab lived a couple more years after that event, but I never could convince the owners to “detoxify” him again with Prescription Diet k/d.

See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.