Best diet for kidney disease

[Lou123]

Hi,

I have a 12 year old Wiemeraner who has just recently been diagnosed with kidney failure.. he has done very well to get to this age with nothing so far! so I am looking for the best natural dry food to give him other than the prescription diets the vets say you should use. I struggle to keep weight on him and especially with winter coming do not want to restrict his protein down to the low amount the vet diets do - I have also been told by some good friends who are vets that it is a miff about the lowering the protein and all the tests were done on Rats...!

Has anyone used a good diet that is not high in protein, is low in phosphorus and not acidified? I want to stay as natural as possible - most of the store diets upset his tum!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated !

Many thanks

[miss sophie]

go raw. its cheaper, just as convienent, and really; doesnt he deserve it.?

[rannmiller]

Oh good, that's what I was gonna suggest. I have an almost 11 year old lab/shepherd mix who's diagnosed with kidney failure. She was on SD prescription for the longest time and did absolutely horrid on it. Ever since I've switched her to raw, she's done 100% better.

I think the difference is the quality of the protein. Raw is just an absolutely superior source of protein to anything you can find in kibble. And then you know exactly what your dog is getting, the quality of it, and as miss sophie said, it's cheaper.

[BoxerMommie]

I would go with either raw or homecooked. Look online and see about finding a book on canine kidney issues and see if there are some recipes.

[zomo]

I vote raw also.

[LoveNewfies]

Most definitely raw, home cooked as a second. It is far, far easier on the entire body, including the kidneys, to process food in their most natural form.

Adding probiotics and a good quality salmon oil with vitamin E has also shown to be beneficial for kidney problems.

[attackofthebear]

About the salmon oil, skip it and just feed canned fish i.e mackerel, sardines, salmon instead.

[LoveNewfies]

Salmon oil will typically provide more concentrated amounts of the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids than canned fish. With canned fish make sure you watch for sodium content.

[Snowden]

Salmon oil will typically provide more concentrated amounts of the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids than canned fish. With canned fish make sure you watch for sodium content.

I agree... you don't want to add sodium to the diet. My 13 year old weimaraner also had kidney disease (he passed in Sept 2008). I found that cooking his meals helped. I used chicken or turkey with sweet potato, pumpkin, or rice.

Good Luck

Lindsey

[selfservepetspa]

Salmon oil will typically provide more concentrated amounts of the beneficial omega 3 fatty acids than canned fish. With canned fish make sure you watch for sodium content.

I would consider adding green tripe to get your omegas, probiotics, digestive enzymes and other additional nutrients (especially if you can get it raw, otherwise try Tripe by Ziwipeak).