Diet Tips for a Dog With Kidney Disease

If your beloved dog has been diagnosed with kidney disease, you must remember that their condition can't actually be cured. This might sound like the situation is nothing but doom and gloom, but kidney disease in dogs is a chronic condition that can be managed to ensure that your dog can maintain their quality of life. What sort of management is needed?

The Importance of Nutrition

In early-stage kidney disease, your dog's nutrition becomes crucial. Their diet must be controlled and strictly regulated, with no cheating. The best pet food for a dog with kidney disease is a diet with reduced protein, phosphorus, and sodium (salt). The trouble is that many (if not most) types of commercial pet food have a high concentration of these problematic items. 

Phosphorus, Protein, and Sodium

It's thought that lowering the amount of phosphorus in your dog's bloodstream will slow the progress of their kidney disease. Unfortunately, meats and grains can be high in phosphorus, and this is an issue when your dog typically eats dry food since this dry food has a lot of meat and grain byproducts. Meat is generally a primary source of protein as well, and many types of commercial pet food have added sodium, which increases your dog's blood pressure, putting additional stress on their circulatory system. So what's a concerned pet parent to do?

Ask Your Vet

You should talk to your vet about your dog's diet. They might even be able to provide you with an extensive list of foods that need to be avoided. Beyond that, you have the option of preparing your dog's food yourself, and there are many appropriate recipes for dogs with kidney disease with strict portion sizes when it comes to meat and grains. 

Daily Diet

It might not be realistic to prepare a meal for your dog each day, so you also have the option of buying a specialised dog food designed to optimise a dog's kidney health. Your vet can probably recommend a few different varieties. It could be that you prepare your dog's meal on some days and give them a specialised commercial dog food on the other days. Snacking between meals or feeding your dog scraps of food from the table should be avoided to allow you to strictly regulate what your dog eats.

Your dog's kidney disease will require further management as time goes by, but you can accomplish a lot by managing what they eat. Visit a pet store to find the right kind of pet food for your dog.