[OT] How much protein is in Tuna water?

[krunchyfrogg]

Ya know, the water you push out of a can of tuna fish you just opened up?

I know it's a weird question, but it's for a good cause, in a strange situation:

I have a 15 year old pit bull. He's got kidney problems. The vet. tells me to give him as little protein as possible, but he's got to eat this new kind of food. My dog is also very skinny, which is a bad thing.

Point is: this dog, Buddy, loves tuna fish. But that's off limits to him. So, I came up with the idea of putting some tuna water over his new food (he won't touch it otherwise, which will lead to him not being around much longer). So far, his tests have shown his kidney's improving, so I must be doing something right.

Ok, so, does tuna water have a lot of protein? If it does, anybody have any suggestions of something similar to tuna that might get Buddy to eat his special food?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[megamania]

I suspect it does. Weight lifter friends of mine make a point of drinking it (uuuugh!). Have you asked the vet for ideas?

 

[Thresher]

Probably not a lot of protein in it, most of the protein is in the meat itself and the water is probably a mix of brine and other oils. You could mix in a little just so its got the smell of tuna on it and strain out any lumps.
Ask your vet though, tuna is a very high protein meat (body builders swear by it) so make sure he dosent eat it.

 

[Celtavian]

Re

The water in the can of tuna doesn't actually have any protein of consequence.


But, you could use the tuna water mixed with a small amount of crumbled tuna fish. A single can of regular tuna has about 32 grams of protein per can.

Did your doctor tell you how many grams of protein would be healthy for your dog?

 

[krunchyfrogg]

The doctor actualy said to avoid it completely, but that's just impossible, because then Buddy won't eat.

I'm trying to find a balance here, so that I give him the best possible thing.

 

[Bob5th]

Well I couldn't find anything on it but a suggestion from me is to go to the store and look at protein in tuna in water and tuna in oil I'm not sure if that will actually tell you anything but it's something.

 

[Umbran]

The first rule of getting advice on veterinary medicine is to ask your veterinarian. I did this - my veterinarian is my girlfriend. Below, I include what she has to say on the topic.

Note, this doctor has not seen your pet, and does not know the details of your case. In health care, damnation can lie in the details, so run everything by your own vet, too.

Kidney disease is pretty tough to handle at home, so kudos to you for working with your dog, and good luck with him. Unfortunately, a lot of the low-protien diets are pretty unappetizing, and it can be difficult to convince an animal to eat them. The most important thing right now is to keep your dog eating *something* - a low-protien diet won't do any good if he's not eating it. If you have to put tuna juice on the food to get him to eat, then that's what you do. (One of the things I recommend for cats with kidney failure is adding tuna juice to their water to get them to drink more; while you want to control their diet closely a little treat like that is better than them not eating at all). You want to add as little as possible - don't put the whole can's worth on if adding a teasponn will be enough - but it's an acceptable strategy, if necessary.

Secondly, I'd recommend talking to your vet about trying a different diet. There are a lot of low-protien diets made for dogs with kidney disease, and some are more appetizing than others. Off the top of my head, the ones I can think of are Hill's K/D, IVD's Select Care Modified Formula, and Purina's NF. If your dog won't eat one, he may like one of the others.

 

[Assenpfeffer]

Probably not a lot of protein in it, most of the protein is in the meat itself and the water is probably a mix of brine and other oils. You could mix in a little just so its got the smell of tuna on it and strain out any lumps.

Tuna in water won't have any oils in it, though there may be some coagulated fat from the tuna itself.

But I agree. There shouldn't be much protein in the brine. Tuna water has a very strong scent, and I figure thats' what the dog picks up on, so just a little ought to do it. You can eat the tuna yourself.

Also, if you strain the water (through cheesecloth or better yet, a coffee filter,) you should be able to get some of what protein *is* there out.

Good luck, kf.

 

[Henry]

Swear to god I love this community.

 

[barsoomcore]

krunchyfrogg, I hope your dog recovers. 15 is pretty old, of course, but I hope he has many more years of happy togetherness with you.

Good for you for taking such good care of him.