Diets for Pets with Kidney Disease: Foods High in Sodium

Dedicated to BaBa, a Shih Tzu with renal failure

Pets with kidney disease need special diets low in sodium and phosphorus with moderate levels of protein. If you are not using a commercial kidney diet but are making home-cooking adjustments to your pet’s food, be sure to avoid high sodium foods, including anything salted pretzels, potato chips, canned soups, and soy sauce.

Foods High In Sodium
Milk: cheese, cottage cheese

Meat: bacon, deli bologna
Fish: pickled herring, sardines, salted canned fish
Poultry: deli turkey
Food additives: sodium chloride, sodium caseinate, sodium saccharin, sodium benzoate, sodium nitrate, sodium citrate, monosodium glutamate (MSG).

Soda: The word “soda” means sodium, so avoid using foods that have baking soda (sodium bicarbonate NaHCO₃)

Many prepared foods are labeled with the amount of sodium per serving. This is what the labels mean:

Sodium free: less than 5 mg
Salt free: less than 5 mg, the same as sodium free
Very low sodium: less than 35 mg
Low sodium: less than 140 mg
Reduced sodium, less sodium: 25% less than the regular food
Light in sodium: 50% less than the regular food

A half-teaspoon of salt has 1200 mg sodium. A teaspoon of baking soda has 1000 mg sodium.

Sodium is found throughout your pet’s body and is essential for maintaining blood pressure, preventing edema, and for transmitting signals through brain, heart, and nerves. With kidney failure, sodium accumulates and in the body and prevents normal brain, nerve, heart and organ function. An imbalance in sodium can cause death.

To learn more about pet health and nutrition, visit www.pethealth101.com.