Canine
Kidney
Diet.com
Kidney
Diet.com
The information here is not & should not be construed as medical/veterinary advice or a substitute for it.
If your pet has renal failure or appears to be ill, please take him to a trusted veterinarian.
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved.
If your pet has renal failure or appears to be ill, please take him to a trusted veterinarian.
Copyright 2014 All rights reserved.
There are only a couple of KD foods commonly available. When Roxie tired of them and tired of the recipes from Dr. Hauser, I had to punt. This page includes some of my "not really recipes".
I try to keep the protein content to 1/3 - 1/2 and only use the higher quality protein such as white meat chicken, 15% fat hamburger (85% lean) and egg whites. I often buy the cartons of egg whites only or the canned chicken breast for days when I don't feel like cooking.
I mix that with some liquid, either some oil (salmon, olive or coconut), baby food or unsalted chicken or beef stock. The unsalted stock is harder to find, but the sodium content is quite a bit lower than the low salt stock, so it's worth hunting down and stocking (NPI) up on it. Then I add a starchy carbohydrate like white rice, white pasta (cooked), corn or rice baby cereal, instant mashed potatos or some form of white bread. (No whole grains). The white bread may be the cheapie sandwich bread, pita, bagels, tortillas, etc.
Since one of the goals of feeding a dog on KD is to keep their weight up, oil is a good source of calories as well as flavor. (Which explains the 85% hamburger instead of the leaner hamburger, people generally buy, when watching their fat intake.)
However, not all oils are good for canine kidney diet. I avoid the common vegetable oils (corn, safflower, canola, etc) as much as possible and stick with salmon oil, olive oil and coconut oil, when I'm adding it to her food. This means even not using Pam, except for the olive oil type.
The recipes from Dr. Hauser called for chicken fat. I'm a vegetarian. But even if I cooked chicken often, it would be difficult to obtain as much chicken fat as the recipes call for (2-3 tablespoons per batch). However, I was elated to find that a local, upscale grocery that was about two miles from my home, carried Empire Foods (a kosher food company) rendered chicken fat in their freezer case! So check your local ethnic and/or upscale markets, to see if they carry it. If not, you may be able to order it online, but the shipping charge may be high,
UPDATE: As I was putting this page together, I found that Wegman's carries the Empire Foods rendered chicken fat. And...what I did not know (translate "pay attention to") previously is that this product also contains dehydrated onions. Onions are very bad for ALL dogs, not just KD dogs. But I did use this product a lot for about a year, until Roxie tired of the taste. So use at your discretion.
I got tired of trying to stay stocked up on distilled water for all her water needs, so I invested in a countertop water distiller. I cancelled our monthly delivery of spring water for our coffee and started using home distilled water, in order to help defray the cost of the distiller. At this point, it has now paid for itself.
I try to keep the protein content to 1/3 - 1/2 and only use the higher quality protein such as white meat chicken, 15% fat hamburger (85% lean) and egg whites. I often buy the cartons of egg whites only or the canned chicken breast for days when I don't feel like cooking.
I mix that with some liquid, either some oil (salmon, olive or coconut), baby food or unsalted chicken or beef stock. The unsalted stock is harder to find, but the sodium content is quite a bit lower than the low salt stock, so it's worth hunting down and stocking (NPI) up on it. Then I add a starchy carbohydrate like white rice, white pasta (cooked), corn or rice baby cereal, instant mashed potatos or some form of white bread. (No whole grains). The white bread may be the cheapie sandwich bread, pita, bagels, tortillas, etc.
Since one of the goals of feeding a dog on KD is to keep their weight up, oil is a good source of calories as well as flavor. (Which explains the 85% hamburger instead of the leaner hamburger, people generally buy, when watching their fat intake.)
However, not all oils are good for canine kidney diet. I avoid the common vegetable oils (corn, safflower, canola, etc) as much as possible and stick with salmon oil, olive oil and coconut oil, when I'm adding it to her food. This means even not using Pam, except for the olive oil type.
The recipes from Dr. Hauser called for chicken fat. I'm a vegetarian. But even if I cooked chicken often, it would be difficult to obtain as much chicken fat as the recipes call for (2-3 tablespoons per batch). However, I was elated to find that a local, upscale grocery that was about two miles from my home, carried Empire Foods (a kosher food company) rendered chicken fat in their freezer case! So check your local ethnic and/or upscale markets, to see if they carry it. If not, you may be able to order it online, but the shipping charge may be high,
UPDATE: As I was putting this page together, I found that Wegman's carries the Empire Foods rendered chicken fat. And...what I did not know (translate "pay attention to") previously is that this product also contains dehydrated onions. Onions are very bad for ALL dogs, not just KD dogs. But I did use this product a lot for about a year, until Roxie tired of the taste. So use at your discretion.
I got tired of trying to stay stocked up on distilled water for all her water needs, so I invested in a countertop water distiller. I cancelled our monthly delivery of spring water for our coffee and started using home distilled water, in order to help defray the cost of the distiller. At this point, it has now paid for itself.