Diets for Pets with Kidney Disease: Protein-Containing Foods

Dedicated to BaBa, a Shih Tzu with renal failure

Pets with kidney disease need special diets that have moderate levels of protein and are low in sodium and phosphorus. If you are not using a commercial diet but are making home-cooked adjustments to your pet’s diet because of kidney disease, be sure to avoid foods high in proteins, including eggs, milk, meat, and beans.

Evaluate treats for proteins! Many treats contain liver, eggs, or other foods with concentrated proteins. Indeed, most pets gravitate toward high-protein foods and treats when they have a choice. That’s one reason dogs often prefer cat food—it’s higher in protein than dog food.

Over the years, there has been a debate over exactly how much protein is healthy for pets with kidney disease. Because the kidney works to contain protein and prevent it from being wasted, it was thought that feeding less protein would decrease the workload of the kidney. However, when pets were placed on low-protein diets, they died more quickly than pets on diets with normal amounts of protein. Clearly, extreme protein restriction is unhealthy. Current advice is to continue with a normal—but not high level—of protein until the BUN (blood urea nitrogen) is above 80 mg/dl. (Normal BUN is 7-27 mg/dl in dogs and 15-34 mg/dl in cats.) When the BUN is extremely high, protein restriction helps.

Foods High in Protein
Milk: milk, yogurt, cheese. Even skim milk, which is low in fat, is high in protein.
Meat: all
Fish: all
Poultry: all
Vegetables: soy, tofu, bean sprouts, and all legumes

Grains: amaranth and quinoa
Nuts: all
Fruit: pomegranate, papaya, pineapple, apple, avocado
Algae and sea weeds: nori, Spirulina
Nutritional yeast: brewer’s yeast

Be as conscious of the quality of protein you’re providing as you are of the amounts. Our pets with renal disease do best with organic or hormone-free proteins and Omega 3 fatty acid supplements.

Kidney disease is very debilitating and these pets often have stomach ulcers, vomiting and weight lost. Many don’t feel like eating. With the right food and supplements, there is a lot we can do to help them, and they appreciate everything we do that makes them feel good.