Early Kidney Disease - What can I do?

My 12 year old bichon/shi tzu was recently diagnosed with kidney disease (confirmed by a blood test and urine sample). My Vet says she is in the early stages and that we will get her blood work done in 6 months to see if she is maintaining or declining.

I'm wondering if there is something i can do now. My dog has food allergies and is on a fish and potato diet, but I have read that there are other foods that may help (ie low phosphorus, sodium, etc.). There also seems to be two different views of a high protein vs. low protein diet. I'm not opposed to making her food and I'm looking into supplementing her diet with herbs. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks.

A cat of mine, who has since passed away, had kindey failure. I also caught it very early.

I changed her food to the prescription formula (KD, I believe it is called, by Hills, which I got at the vet).

I also, as things progressed, did sub-cutaneous fluids at home. My vet taught me how. I really believe that flushing her kidneys helped to prolong her life. In the beginning I did it every other week, as per the frequency the vet prescribed. Then towards the end, it was daily. One word of advice, if you do decide to do the sub-Q's ... the needle has a "cut-out" side at the point, if you look closely. That side should face UP. If it faces down, for some reason, it's more painful going in. Not sure why, but my cat never seemed to mind, once I figured this out by reading up on it online.

That was all that I did. Unfortunately, kidney failure is fatal, but with proper care, you can extend the time you have with your dog.

Learn to read the blood work too. I researched it online.

And you can check out my blog. I stopped posting to it at the end. But it may have helpful info.

http://ablogforgonzo.blogspot.com/