- What Is A Renal Diet?
- The Role Of The Kidneys
- What Is Kidney Disease In Dogs?
- What Are the Symptoms of Kidney Disease and Failure in a Dog?
- Diagnosing & Treating Kidney Disease in Dogs
- Dog Food For Kidney Disease
- Implementing a Renal Diet with ChefPaw
What Is A Renal Diet?
Receiving the news that your dog has been diagnosed with incurable kidney disease is something we never want to hear as pet parents. But you and your pet are not alone. Kidney disease affects 10 percent of all dogs, with rates being even greater when our furry best friends enter their senior years. Fortunately, when caught early and given a strict diet, the progression of kidney disease can be slowed, giving a dog some of their years back to them, while promoting a higher quality of life.
When you first start researching renal diets that are designed for kidney disease, it’s easy to feel intimidated. Unlike a diet designed for allergies that simply eliminates the allergen, renal diets require careful calculations of protein, phosphorus, sodium, omega-3s, and potassium. This is always important, but even more so due to the greater stress the nutrients above can place on the kidneys when in the incorrect amounts.
Issues like the above leave many pet owners to rely on specialty commercial foods. However, not only are they incredibly expensive but they are falling on the back burner as more and more are viewing fresh diets created at home as the best of the best. Thankfully, with the creation of dog food-making machines like ChefPaw, even dogs on specialty strict diets can enjoy all the benefits that fresh homemade meals can have.
The Role Of The Kidneys
Resembling beans (which may not surprise you if you’re a fan of kidney beans), the kidneys are in charge of removing waste from the blood while producing urine to remove it from the body. But that’s not all they do! The kidneys help regulate blood pressure, make red blood cells, promote healthy bones, and balance pH levels in the body.
What Is Kidney Disease In Dogs?
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) also known as chronic kidney failure, chronic renal failure, and chronic renal disease, is a currently incurable failure of the kidneys. When the kidneys start to fail, toxins will start building up in a dog’s body. Thankfully, in many cases, a specialty diet is a common treatment designed to help extend a dog’s life who is struggling with CKD.
What Are the Symptoms of Kidney Disease and Failure in a Dog?
Acute Kidney Disease
Acute kidney disease is a rapid failure of the kidney (usually developing within a few days). Action needs to be taken ASAP when the following symptoms are seen because, unlike CKD, AKD is curable.
- Loss of appetite
- Vomiting
- Extreme lethargy and excessive sleeping
- Changes in urination
- Weakness
- Disorientation
- Increased or decreased thirst
- Shivering or trembling
Chronic Kidney Disease
While CKD can not be cured, it’s important your dog is diagnosed as early as possible, as a change in diet can be successful in managing kidney disease in the early stages. Later stages more often than not require medication to manage the disease.
- Increased thirst and urination
- Decreased appetite
- Weight loss
- Bad breath
- Acute blindness
- Diarrhea or constipation
- Uncoordinated gait
- Poor coat appearance
- Depression
- Seizures
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Sore mouth or mouth ulcers
- Weakness
- Lack of energy and increased sleeping
- Blood in the urine
- Bone structure swelling
Diagnosing & Treating Kidney Disease in Dogs
To diagnose kidney disease, your vet will perform an evaluation of your dog, which can include urinalysis, blood chemistry analysis, blood pressure measurements, and imaging such as x-rays. Treatment for kidney disease is usually a combination of medication and a strict diet that reduces vitamins and minerals such as phosphorus while increasing levels of anti-inflammatory compounds such as omega-3 fatty acids.
Dog Food For Kidney Disease
Dogs suffering from chronic kidney disease typically require a diet that is low in sodium, protein, and phosphorus. Additionally, these diets typically see higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and in some cases, a vet may recommend carefully increasing potassium to support kidney health. Due to common issues with nausea, portion sizes are often smaller and given more frequently.
A Closer Look At The Key Nutrients In A Renal Diet
Phosphorus:
Phosphorus is often reduced because excess of it can significantly increase the rate of kidney damage and research shows limiting phosphorus levels can extend a dog’s life that is suffering from chronic kidney disease. Concentration of phosphorus tends to occur with chronic kidney disease, which can hinder calcium metabolization and cause a vitamin D deficiency.
Protein
Protein levels need to be carefully calculated and monitored because while essential for several bodily functions, including muscle function, excess protein metabolization can tax the kidney, leading to an increase in toxins and waste such as urea and creatinine. Another reason protein is reduced is because it is intrinsically tied to phosphorus — 1 gram of protein contains around 12-14 mg of phosphorus.
Sodium
Dogs with kidney disease often have issues properly excreting sodium from their kidneys, which can lead to fluid buildup and swelling. One of the big goals of the renal diet isn’t just supporting kidney health but also reducing the burden on it, making sodium reduction a logical choice.
B Vitamins
If frequent urination is occurring (a common symptom of CKD), you will need to ensure your dog is getting adequate water-soluble vitamins like B vitamins.
Omega-3 Fatty acids
Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids, heavily abundant in seafood such as salmon, have anti-inflammatory properties that can alleviate oxidative stress on the kidneys.
Potassium
Chronic kidney disease can result in both an excess and deficiency in potassium. Low levels are typically seen in the early stages, while excesses tend to appear more often in the later stages. As such, it’s important to work closely with your vet to monitor your dog’s potassium levels if they have been diagnosed with kidney disease.
Implementing a Renal Diet with ChefPaw
Many pet parents are excited about the idea of creating their dogs' food for them at home. Not only can this help them save money, especially if their dog is on a specialty diet, they know exactly every ingredient that is going into their dogs' food. This is big, especially for dogs that require a strict diet as hidden ingredients and ingredient contamination are an all too common issue with commercial foods.
While renal diets place several restrictions on what a dog struggling with kidney disease can eat, these diets don’t need to be bland or lack diversity. By using ChefPaw, not only do you have a homemade cooking machine that preps and cooks your dog’s food for them based on several unique factors that affect their nutritional requirements, but you can also give your dog several tasty meals whose diversity discourages issues such as food allergies.
Then by selecting a novel protein source, we can take the following meals to an even greater level of support. And all it takes is loading in the ingredients and a couple of button presses and your dog’s food is off, being gently cooked to perfection in just 40 minutes.
Both recipes 4a - Renal Diet w/ Turkey and White Rice (Maggie’s Mid-Day Meals) and 4b - Renal Diet w/ Lamb and White Rice (Maggie’s Morning Meals) are excellent and affordable options for a dog that requires a renal diet. By using novel proteins while including Wild Alaskan Salmon oil for omega-3s, these recipes were meticulously designed to combat inflammation and support kidney health. Inflammation is often a factor in the development and progression of chronic kidney disease and it’s so important it’s successfully managed.
By taking into account your dog’s weight along with other factors, ChefPaw’s nutrient analyzer that tracks 68 nutrients will give you an entire breakdown of its meals’ nutrition while making needed adjustments. Designed by veterinary experts, both recipes carefully follow the guidelines medical research has found works best to support a dog struggling with chronic kidney disease. I.e. that means lower levels of phosphorus, protein, and sodium with additional support from omega-3 fatty acids derived from Wild Alaskan Salmon.