Kidney Problems

A definitive source, some guidance and some recipe ideas.

Here are a few things Dawg's Biscuits have got together.

Legal statement:
This is for information only and in no way should be taken as Dawg’s advice, expert or otherwise. For any animal medical problem you should seek professional advice.

First: The best link:

http://www.dogaware.com/kidney.html#diet

(Loads of info. It is 48 pages and contains nearly everything you might want to know, and then some…, read a bit at a time to take it in otherwise you’ll overload.
Great info.)

You can download a copy below, but it's best to go to the link above as Mary Straus of www.dogaware.com, whose article it is, updates regularly. Many thanks to Mary for sharing an incredibly useful source of information, and for the huge amount of work she has put in.
If you want a pdf of this Click Here
if you want this as a Word document Click Here

University of Columbia Animal Hospital

We also recommend B-complex and vitamin C to help the well being of your dog and also replenish the vitamins lost due to the inability of the kidneys to recycle and retain the nutrients in the body properly. Sodium bicarbonate may also be of use to aid in controlling the changes in the acidity of the blood. If hypertension or heart failure are present, we avoid the use of this medication.

PEDIGREE PET FOOD ADVICE FOR RENAL DISEASE

• If your dog has been prescribed drugs, administer them exactly as advised.
• If your dog has been prescribed a low phosphorus diet, feed it to him exactly as advised. Avoid feeding extra snacks.*
• Feed your dog small meals, often, rather than giving him one or two large meals in a day.
• Offer fresh food at each feeding.
• Make sure your dog always has access to clean, fresh water.
• Sometimes, dogs that have chronic kidney failure don’t feel like eating. For them, it may help to warm food to just below body temperature, and to try hand feeding for the first few days of a new diet.

*Dawg thinks this is right but if your dog is eating very little, or nothing at all, a few treats are better than nothing.

*Recipe*

http://www.naturalpetcare.co.uk/nutrition/dogrecipe.html

(Scroll to the bottom of the page for the recipe)

http://www.2ndchance.info/renaldisease.htm

(general info, and a recipe in the text, paragraph 2 in ‘Diet’ section)