vegetables for dogs with kidney disease
Nutrition and diet play an instrumental role in supporting normal kidney function in both people and pets. As dogs age, they may become prone to developing problems with their kidneys, especially among certain breeds such as the English Cocker Spaniels, German Shepherds, Samoyeds, Cairn Terriers and Bull Terriers. Its estimated that around 10% of dogs will develop kidney problems at some point in their lives. Its important to note, however, that a diagnosis of kidney disease isnt necessarily a death sentence for your precious pup.
Incorporating the right foods into your dogs diet can help make all the difference in positively benefiting their quality of life. Dogs eat a variety of foods, but mainly meat. When theyre suffering from kidney issues, however, its important to try adding in some more carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables.
Although dogs have no nutritional need for carbohydrates, changing their diet so that it is comprised of at least 50% carbs can keep their phosphorous levels low and extend the life of the kidneys.
Some of the best grains/carbohydrates to add include:
- Farina
- Pasta
- Sweet potatoes
- Winter squashes
Vegetables and fruits are also a good way to get your dog the vitamins their bodies are craving and help optimize their defenses and support kidney function.
Keep in mind, any vegetables you plan on feeding your dog should be pureed, cooked or blended in a food processor/blender in order to ensure good digestion.
Additionally, cooking is encourage because it leaches out phosphorous which must be monitored closely when dealing with any kind of kidney problem, as impaired kidneys have a harder time excreting these minerals, which become toxins within the body when they cant be flushed out.
Boiling or steaming removes more phosphorous than baking, so these should be some of the go-to cooking methods you opt for.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind regarding vegetables and your dogs kidney diet:
- Avoid parsley, dandelion and celery parsley and dandelion greens are diuretics, which may not be desirable for dogs with kidney disease.
- If your dog also suffers from arthritis, avoid tomatoes, peppers, white potatoes and eggplant.
- Cabbage holds benefit for ulcers, which are common with kidney disease.
- Lower phosphorous choices include collard greens, green peppers, beets, carrots, cauliflower, celery, squash and zucchini.
- Fruits to feed include apple, cantaloupe, cranberries, banana, mango, peach, pear and pineapple.
- Again, if your dog suffers from arthritis, a few fruits like mango and papaya are especially useful.
- It should go without saying, but never feed your dog grapes and raisins. Also limit fruit intake, as excessive fruit consumption may lead to loose stools.
In conclusion, there is a rich, abundant assortment of fruits and vegetables to include in your dogs diet that could help them look and feel better than they have in a long time, so always be mindful about what youre feeding them.
For supporting good kidney health in your pets visit our store to read about our two products designed for cats and dogs with kidney issues.
Raw Diet for Dogs with Kidney Disease [How to Choose the Right Dog Food]
Written by:
Jim ScottCo-Founder
A third-generation RAWZ family member, Jim spreads the word of optimal pet nutrition through in-store product demos and regular articles for the RAWZ blog. After sustaining a traumatic brain injury in 2006, Jim began participating in the writing program at the Krempels Center in Portsmouth, NH. Writing was a way to process and heal from his injury but Jim realized he could also use this skill to spread awareness of the RAWZ brand and mission. Jim covers a range of pet health issues for the company blog, as well as more personal stories that connect to the causes RAWZ supports. His favorite thing to write about? Peoples strong bonds with their pets.
Read Full Bio33 Low Phosphorus Carbohydrate Vegetables and Grains For Kidney Diets For Dogs
Cooking for your dog is the best way to feed them when they have been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).
Reducing the amount of phosphorus is a critical component of that diet. This list outlines which grains and the top five carbohydrate-heavy vegetables you can add to your dogs kidney-friendly meals.
When To Use Grain or Starchy Vegetables?
Home-cooked diets that cannot have high levels of fat as an energy source will need to utilize starchy vegetables for energy.
Ideally, your dog can eat butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin or yams. This provides some added calories and fiber. But if your kidney dog will not eat them or is sensitive, then you have to turn to other sources of carbohydrates.
While this list includes things like rice, I recommend that you turn to other grains like barley before you make a meal with rice in it.
That said, I know that not everyone has access to all of these ingredients, so I list them so that you can see the phosphorus levels of all of the possible options.
The amount you would add to the recipe will be around 10% of the recipe. In some cases, you can go up to 20% of the recipe.
List of low-phosphorous foods (grains and starchy vegetables) for every 100g of food
| Ingredient | Phosphorus | Calories |
| Yellow Cornmeal (Grits) | 14mg | 65 |
| Rice Noodles (Cooked) | 20mg | 108 |
| Couscous (Cooked) | 22mg | 108 |
| Japanese Soba Noodles (Buckwheat Cooked) | 25mg | 99 |
| Butternut Squash (Cooked) | 27mg | 29 |
| Japanese Somen (Cooked) | 27mg | 131 |
| Short Grain White Rice (Cooked) | 33mg | 110 |
| Pumpkin (Canned) | 35mg | 24 |
| Hominy (Canned) | 35mg | 72 |
| Medium Grain White Rice (Cooked) | 37mg | 130 |
| Bulgur (Cooked) | 40mg | 83 |
| Long Grain White Rice (Cooked) | 43mg | 130 |
| Yam (Cooked) | 49mg | 89 |
| Pearled Barley (Cooked) | 54mg | 123 |
| Sweet Potato (Baked) | 54mg | 69 |
| Spinach Egg Noodles (Cooked) | 57mg | 132 |
| Pasta Unenriched (Cooked) | 58mg | 158 |
| Potatoes (Baked without skin) | 70mg | 76 |
| Egg Noodles (Cooked) | 76mg | 138 |
| Oatmeal (Cooked) | 77mg | 71 |
| Brown Rice (Cooked) | 77mg | 112 |
| Wild Rice (Cooked) | 82mg | 101 |
| Millet (Cooked) | 100mg | 119 |
| Brown Rice (Cooked) | 103mg | 123 |
| Oat Bran (Cooked) | 119mg | 40 |
| Teff (Cooked) | 120mg | 101 |
| Whole Wheat Pasta (Cooked) | 127mg | 149 |
| Kamut (Cooked) | 147mg | 132 |
| Amaranth (Cooked) | 148mg | 102 |
| Spelt (Cooked) | 150mg | 127 |
| Quinoa (Cooked) | 152mg | 120 |
| Uncooked Oats | 523mg | 389 |
| Oat Bran (Raw) | 734mg | 246 |
Why Do We Need To Feed Low Phosphorus To Dogs With Chronic Kidney Disease?
With kidney disease that affects the tubules, waste products build up in the bloodstream rather than being excreted out into the urine. When this happens, it becomes toxic to the body. Phosphorus is one of those waste products. In dogs with kidney disease, it interacts with calcium, causing loss of calcium from bone and leading to mineral buildup in parts of the body that shouldnt have any. Furthermore, the kidneys can become mineralized, hastening the progression of the disease.
In a homemade diet, I recommend that the protein level is at the very least two times the recommended daily amount set for AAFCO and the phosphorus levels at the minimum.
AAFCO: The minimum recommended allowance for dietary phosphorus is 0.3 DM in foods for healthy dogs. The mean DM phosphorus content for several grocery brand dog food is 1.39 DM.
CKD Phosphorus: The recommended phosphorus levels for foods to manage dogs with CKD are 0.2 to 0.5%. Achieving this can be challenging when you are using commercially prepared food. Home-made therapeutic diets allow us to get closer to this goal through the ingredients we select as well as using powdered eggshells as the calcium source.
What Else Do CKD Dogs Need In Their Diet?
Phosphorus isnt the only component to watch. The other nutrients to manage are:
- Protein levels
- Calcium levels
- Fat content
- Fiber content
- Sodium
- Potassium
- B vitamins
- Omega 3s
- Anti-Oxidants
The Easiest Way To Start Feeding Home-Cooked Meals To Dogs With CKD
Note: Some links in this article are affiliate links (Amazon Associates or other programs I participate in). At no charge to you, as an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
You can book a package with me for help with therapeutic recipes or you can start today.
Dr. Harveys has several base mixes that get you cooking the same day you buy their product.
All you do is add your protein and oil and use their base mix. They use eggshells as the calcium source, which helps keep phosphorus down.
You can buy it on Amazon: Dr. Harveys Canine Health Miracle Dog Food, Human Grade Dehydrated Base Mix for Dogs with Organic Whole Grains and Vegetables (5 Pounds)
Their other base mix Paradigm would be my second recommendation and Raw Vibrance being last (due to the shellfish in it).
If You Only Remembered One Thing
If you came to this page confused because of your dogs recent kidney diagnosis, or you are just starting your own journey in gathering what you need to prepare cooked meals and feel overwhelmed.
Remember that the number one factor in extending a dogs life is to keep the phosphorus level as low as possible in your dogs home-cooked meals.
Getting your dogs blood level checked regularly will provide the information you need to know if you are on the right track. When you are first starting out, getting the blood checked every 30-60-90 days is ideal. Then you can have your vet guide you on how often return for blood checks.
For those that need help, Im available to help you formulate recipes. Visit my packages page to learn more.
I wish you and your dog good health.
Resources:
Small Animal Clinical Nutrition
Healthy and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Dogs Have Differences in Serum Metabolomics and Renal Diet May Have Slowed Disease Progression
Nutritional and laboratory parameters affect the survival of dogs with chronic kidney disease
Diet for Dogs with Kidney Disease
Chronic kidney disease in dogs and cats
Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs & Cats
Nutritional Management of Renal Disease What to Feed and When to Start
Treatment Guidelines for Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in Dogs & Cats Staging and Management Strategies
Observation about phosphorus and protein supply in cats and dogs prior to the diagnosis of chronic kidney disease
Author Biography
Hannah Zulueta obtained her Certificate in Canine Nutrition fromCASI Institute.She is also studying to get her Doctorate in Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Herbalism from the esteemedPacific College of Health and Medicine.
She resides in San Diego with her three dogs, Maggie, Orbit, and Mr. Higgins.
Fruits For Your Dog With Kidney Disease
What fruits you can give your dog with kidney disease and some foods to avoid. So fruits and what to avoid so here are some common fruits and things that you want to avoid with kidney disease in your dog or at least you want to minimize and reduce. Somost meats, the reason is with this list is that its higher protein and higher phosphorus protein is tougher on the kidney and phosphorus that comes from most protein foods is also harder on the kidney so we want to minimize these foods or get rid of the ones we can like some of the treats and the snacks so most meats any jerky treats bully sticks rawhides pig ears antlers and any real bones you want to minimize reduce or get out of the diet completely in its place you want to give it good kidney-friendly things. Were just going to go over some fruits maybe a couple of vegetables about what you want to incorporate because when you have these fresh fruits vegetables maybe theyre not fresh if theyre cooked lets say or frozen it still provides so many kidney benefits.
Benefits That Come Along With Fruits
It helps with the toxin buildup gives you more vitamins and minerals helps with the fiber it acts as a prebiotic because what happens a lot of times kidney toxins get dumped into the gastrointestinal tract so your body can try to get rid of them sofruits and vegetables help sweep them out of the body easier and so they wont build up. Things you can give your dogs we got cantaloupes are excellent, cranberries, mango, peaches, pears, and pineapples these are all good things watermelon, apple, bananas, and whats cool about bananas and at least whats cool about when it comes to cats and dogs or kidney disease that you dont have to worry about potassium like you would with people where we can build up potassium with pets they dont have that issue of potassium so sometimes they even need extra potassium so things like bananas are completely baby carrots, broccoli, and green peas are getting into some vegetables like zucchini, blueberries, carrots, so look to incorporate more of those foods give those healthier snacks you know to throw your dog some pineapple a peach a pear instead of going to all those other snacks like bully sticks pig ears jerky treats all those types of things so thanks for watching everybody include more of those foods in your dogs diet its healthier its better for them.
