Nutrition plays a crucial role in managing kidney disease in dogs and cats. There are veterinary therapeutic diets formulated specifically for early and later-stage kidney disease available through your veterinary clinic. Unfortunately, they arenโt always super tasty to our furry friends, financially possible for every family, or desired by the pet parent to feed. Overall, the best diet is one that your dog or cat will eat!
Here are the top five nutritional considerations to look for in a diet for kidney disease:
1) Protein
Protein is one of the most important aspects of kidney disease nutrition. As the kidneys lose their ability to filter out protein, this leads to protein becoming lost in the urine. Protein levels are also related to controlling symptoms of kidney disease like nausea and vomiting.
It’s important to provide pets with adequate protein levels until deemed necessary to reduce itโoften in later stages of kidney disease. The idea is to provide optimal amounts of protein to prevent the body from breaking down its own tissue for energy. This is especially important for cats, as they are carnivores and require higher protein amounts in their diet, and this doesnโt change when their kidneys age or when disease strikes.
Tom&Sawyer diets that are lower in protein than the others are Fishermanโs Best Friend and Turkey Gobbler!
2) Phosphorus
With impaired kidneys, the elimination of phosphorus from the blood canโt occur, and this is damaging to the remaining functional parts of the kidney, causing a progression of disease. Ideally, phosphorus levels need to be normalized either through diet or supplementation with a phosphate binder (or both!).
Feeding a reduced-phosphorus diet can be considered in the earlier stages as a method to slow disease progression. Protein and phosphorus can be related; as you reduce protein levels, you will reduce phosphorus levels. But some proteins are naturally low in phosphorus, like egg, chicken, and fish.
Some Tom&Sawyer meals that fit the bill are Fishermanโs Best Friend for our canine companions and Chicken Cacciatore for felines!
3) Water
Kidney disease puts the dog or cat in a state where they struggle to maintain hydration as their kidneys lose their ability to reabsorb water into the body. They will then drink more water to compensate (which then leads to peeing more!).
To increase their water intake, you can consider feeding a diet that is 70โ85% moisture (high water content), increasing the availability of water, feeding more frequently (dogs and cats will often drink after eating), and providing a variety of water sources that are pleasing to them (fountains, wider bowls, taps, etc.).
All Tom&Sawyer diets are high in moisture! This is just one of the many benefits of feeding a gently cooked diet.
4) Potassium
Kidney disease changes how a dog and cat manage their potassium levels. Sometimes the levels become too high or too low, so a diet that helps maintain potassium levelsโunique to both dogs and catsโcan help.
Low potassium levels in the body can be caused by vomiting, poor appetite, increased urination, and metabolic changes in the body. It can lead to weakness and inappetence. Elevated potassium levels, however, can lead to severe muscle weakness and life-threatening arrhythmias.
Some meals for dogs that might be appropriate are Fishermanโs Best Friend or Coconut Chicken. And for cats, look at Bento Box or Chicken Cacciatore!
5) Energy
Each pet has their own unique caloric needs, and ensuring they are eating enough food to meet these needs is crucial to longevity in chronic disease. Pets need to maintain their body weight, as inadequate food intake will cause their bodies to break down their own muscle to get the protein they need. This can worsen the disease and increase their symptoms.
You can use the Tom&Sawyer feeding calculator to find out what your dogโs and cat’s calorie needs are!
What else should I look for?
Other nutrients of importance are sodium and omega-3 fatty acids. High blood pressure is common in kidney disease, so diets with a moderately reduced sodium content are recommended, as they may help reduce complications with treatment.
Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA can increase kidney functionality, which in turn reduces protein lost in the urine, improves hydration, and decreases inflammation.
Each pet is an individual when it comes to how kidney disease manifests, so regular follow-ups with your veterinarian are very important to stay ahead of symptoms and disease progression. Having your pet diagnosed with a chronic illness is never easy, but providing them with the appropriate nutrition that they will love to eat can help ease the stress.
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About the Author:
Kelly Gredner is a Registered Veterinary Technician with 10 years as a Veterinary Technician Specialist in pet nutrition. Kelly recently joined Tom&Sawyer and is now a part of their Nutrition Team as the Veterinary Nutrition Consultant and Technical Specialist! She enjoys helping pets through nutrition, one bowl at a time. Kelly currently resides in Toronto with her two rescue cats, Mikey and Sidney.
About Tom&Sawyer:
Tom&Sawyer was started to create the highest quality fresh, gently cooked, science- backed nutritious meals for a puppy named Sawyer who refused to eat kibble. Since 2015, Tom&Sawyer has been making hand-crafted meals for cats and dogs that are developed with the help of vets, animal nutritionists and labs to create complete and nutritionally balanced meals that are 100% AAFCO Human Grade.
