Diets for animals with Kidney disease

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One of the most controversial issues in nutritional veterinary medicine surrounds the topic of what is the best diet to feed animals with documented kidney disease. In the past, many conventional veterinarians have simply recommended prescription low-protein diets. The theory behind using these diets is that, by using diets low in protein, we will decrease the workload that the kidneys have to do and thus slow down disease progression. In my experience and opinion however, numerous of these diets are made with highly inferior ingredients, including meat byproducts, excessive grains, as well as synthetic colors and preservatives.

Research in recent years has also questioned whether restricting protein too early in animals with kidney disease may actually accelerate disease progression. In my practice, I much choose to recommend natural raw meat based diets to animals of all ages. There is an outstanding low-protein homemade diet recipe in the book Dr. Pitcairn’s guide to natural health for dogs and cats by Richard Pitcairn, DVM, PhD that I have found quite helpful over the years.

Kidney