best renal food for small dogs
The best senior dog food of 2024, with advice from veterinarians
What to look for in senior dog food
Our experts say the following criteria are important to consider when shopping for senior dog food:
AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement for adult maintenance or all life stages: The AAFCO is a nonprofit organization that recommends nutritional profiles based on an animal's life stage. They don't approve pet foods or establish specific standards for senior dog foods. However, choosing a senior food formulated for adult maintenance or all life stages ensures the recipe fulfills the recommended protein, fat, and nutrient requirements of adult dogs. The best dog foods for senior pups will also contain beneficial extras such as glucosamine and chondroitin to support joint health and have fewer calories per serving than adult dog foods.
Ingredient list: Labels list ingredients by weight, so the first few ingredients generally make up the majority of the food's weight. "There are no particular ingredients that senior dogs should avoid," says Luisana. However, she recommends grain-inclusive foods over grain-free foods due to the potential link between grain-free dog foods, especially those containing peas, and dilated cardiomyopathy.
Guaranteed analysis: Rather than fixating on dog food ingredient lists, our experts say to examine the guaranteed analysis of important nutrients, including protein, fat, fiber, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Adult dog food must have a minimum of 18% protein and 5.5% fat to fulfill a dog's nutritional needs. As the AAFCO doesn't set specific standards for senior dog foods, the guaranteed analysis of these foods can vary significantly between recipes. Before selecting a food, our experts recommend asking your vet about the best food for your senior pup.
Healthy extras: The best senior dog food will contain extra ingredients that support their unique needs. For example, Freeman and Welborn highlight the potential benefits of antioxidants in supporting healthy aging. Welborn suggests a diet rich in antioxidants, such as Purina Bright Minds, if your dog experiences cognitive dysfunction. Other healthy extras for seniors include joint-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, glucosamine, and chondroitin.
Calorie content: A dog's metabolism typically slows as they age, and many seniors are less active. So, senior dog foods usually contain fewer calories than adult formulations, according to Churchill. Freeman adds that overweight senior dogs are at greater risk of weight-related conditions like arthritis and diabetes. That said, feeding your dog less food could result in a nutritional deficiency. That's why Freeman recommends switching to a low-calorie senior diet or a weight-management diet based on guidance from your vet.
Breed-size formulation: The best food for your senior pup may depend on their size. Our experts say small and large breed seniors have different health risks and may also require different calorie amounts and kibble sizes. Buying food specific to your pup's size helps ensure they get a recipe formulated for their needs.
Feeding-trial tested versus formulated foods: The best senior dog foods have been formulated and in some cases, feeding-trial tested to meet the AAFCO's nutritional standards for adult maintenance or all life stages. If your dog's food has an AAFCO label, you'll know the recipe fulfills the recommended protein, fat, and nutrient requirements for adult dogs. A label indicating feeding trials confirms the food's safety and palatability based on testing with a group of dogs.
Expert formulations: The dog food brands we recommend meet quality control standards. In other words, the brand employs a full-time board-certified veterinary nutritionist and potentially a PhD-level animal nutritionist, as recommended in the WSAVA guidelines.
Next-level ingredients: Next-level ingredients refer to those farmed or caught through humane and sustainable farming or harvesting practices. Although these ingredients may not offer extra nutrition to your pet, choosing pet food with ingredients like farmed raised meats, cage-free eggs, and sustainably caught fish helps you support a pet food company that prioritizes both animal welfare and sustainable practices.
Kidneys
Kidneys
Ensure your dog is supported with appropriate renal dog foodKidney disease can be painful and debilitating for your dog, so support its overall health and wellbeing with a renal dog food diet. Here at zooplus we offer a great range of renal dog food, including both wet and dry food varieties that are bound to please every palate as well as offering key nutritional support, encouraging kidney function and helping to reduce the formation of oxalate stones.A dog with kidney disease will be no less fussy about its food than a dog without, so the range of renal dog food here at zooplus is extensive and delicious, providing complete and balanced diets that every canine will love. They contain optimum levels of key nutrients and minerals to ensure the best possible health, supporting those with kidney disease, chronic or acute renal insufficiency and other such problems.Browse the full range of Renal Dog Food here at zooplus:
Our range of renal dog food is available in both wet and dry varieties.Important information: Please consult your vet before feeding your pet with a therapeutic veterinary diet. You should take your pet to the vet for a check-up every 6 months. Should your pets health worsen while using this product, please seek veterinary advice immediately. By adding this product to your shopping basket you are confirming that you have read and understood the above information.
- Dry Food: this range of dry renal dog food has been specially formulated for those with kidney problems, helping to relieve strain and ensuring overall good health. Many of the recipes are enriched with antioxidants and EPA/DHA, with key ingredients to help combat stone build up and ensure the best possible renal function. There are also specialist options that also support healthy joints, weight loss or metabolism.
- Wet Food: bring variety and texture to your dogs renal dog food diet with a wet food dish, also enriched with key nutrients and designed to ensure your dog can take in the correct combination of ingredients it needs to ensure best possible renal function.
Here at zooplus we offer a a great range of Renal Dog Food, supporting your dogs kidneys throughout illness.
Choose the ideal renal dog food diet to meet your pets individual needs.
Browse the full range of Dog Vet Food & Specialist Food available here at zooplus, to meet the specific nutritional needs of every unwell dog.
What To Feed a Dog With Kidney Disease
Nutrition plays a big role in the management of dogs with kidney disease. Because dogs with kidney disease usually arent feeling well, the first step is often to merely get your dog to eat anything.
Kidney disease can make dogs nauseated, and they can also develop ulcers in their mouth or stomach, which makes eating painful. A feeding tube may be necessary to get dogs with severe kidney disease the nutrition they need.
Once your dogs condition is more stable, you can turn your attention to providing more optimized nutrition. Kidney diets for dogs have to tick a lot of boxes. Heres a guide that explains nutritional needs and what to feed a dog with kidney disease.
What To Look For in a Kidney Diet for Dogs
Kidney diets for dogs are significantly different from regular dog foods. However, no single kidney diet is going to be best for every dog throughout the rest of their life.
For example, a dog in the early stages of kidney disease could thrive on a kidney diet with more protein, but as their disease progresses, a diet lower in protein and phosphorus might better control their symptoms.
As a rule of thumb, good kidney diets for dogs tend to have anutrient profilethat looks like this:
Nutrient | Grams/1000 kcal |
Protein | 31-41 |
Phosphorus | 0.5-0.8 |
Sodium | 0.4-1.2 |
EPA and DHA | 0.4-1.2 |
Unfortunately, it can be hard tofind this information on dog food labelsor on pet food manufacturers websites. If you are having trouble getting the numbers, your veterinarian can help you pick a good kidney diet based on your dogs needs.
Here are several important elements to look for in kidney diets for dogs:
Taste
The most important characteristic of a kidney diet for dogs can be the hardest to achieve: It has to be delicious! Thats because the metabolic and physical changes associated with kidney disease can lessen a dogs appetite.
To counteract this effect, kidney diets need to smell and taste great. After all, a kidney diet that isnt eaten isnt going to do a dog any good. Kidney diets should also be calorie- and nutrient-dense, so dogs can eat less and still get a lot of nutrition.
Hydration and Water Content
Kidney diets should also contain a lot of water. Dogs with kidney disease struggle to maintain their hydration. All dogs always need to have access to bowls of fresh clean water, but a diet that has high water content is a great way to boost a pets water intake when they have kidney disease.
Wet foods are almost always a better option for dogs with kidney disease than dry foods. If you are feeding your dog kibble, ask your veterinarian about adding water to the dry food or other ways you can supplement their water intake.
It's also important to keep an eye on the sodium levels in kidney diets for dogs. Too much sodium increases the chances that your dog will becomedehydrated.
The Right Amount of the Right Protein
Next comes the balancing act that is protein. Dogs with kidney disease need protein, but not too much. The breakdown products of protein digestion are responsible, in large part, for making dogs with kidney disease feel yucky.
The goal is to feed just enough protein to meet a dogs needs for muscle maintenance, immune function, and the other vital jobs proteins have in the bodybut not to feed too much more. Extra protein will only be turned into calories that can be more safely provided by carbohydrates and fats.
Protein quality is also important. Proteins should be highly digestible and supply all the essential amino acids dogs need.
Low Phosphorus Levels
Theres a close relationship between protein intake and blood phosphorus levels. Dogs with kidney disease gradually lose the ability to excrete phosphorus in their urine, so it backs up in the bloodstream. Reducing phosphorus intake has been shown to slow the progression of kidney disease in dogs and increase their lifespan.
An important way to reduce phosphorus levels in the diets of dogs with kidney disease is to not overfeed protein and to ensure thatproteins relatively low in phosphorusare included in the diet. Plant-based sources of protein tend to be lower in phosphorus than animal-based sources of protein.
Supplements
Nutritional supplements can also help dogs with kidney disease. Supplements often included in kidney diets for dogs include:
Omega-3fatty acids:eicosapentaenoicacid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which can reduce inflammation in the bodyincluding in the kidneysand possibly improve kidney function
Antioxidants,which neutralize free radicals that can further damage the kidneys
Fermentable fiber,which helps get rid of protein digestion waste products in poop. This allows dogs to eat more protein than they might be able to otherwise.
Prescription Kidney Diets vs. Homemade Kidney Diets for Dogs
What abouthomemade kidney diets for dogs? Astudypublished in 2012 showed how hard it is to find nutritionally complete and balanced kidney diet recipes in books and online. Of the 39 recipes evaluated, none met all the National Research Councils recommended nutrient allowances for adult dogs.
In contrast, prescription kidney diets produced by reputable dog food manufacturers undergo testing to ensure they are safe for long-term feeding and have a positive effect on a dogs health.
How To Cook for Dogs With Kidney Disease
One big benefit of homemade kidney diets, however, is taste. If your dog simply wont eat anything else, a homemade kidney diet is worth considering. To avoid nutrient deficiencies or excesses, make sure a veterinary nutritionist or a service likeBalanceIT, which requires veterinarian approval, is involved in formulating recipes for your dog.
Common Prescription Kidney Diets for Dogs
After a dog has been diagnosed with kidney disease and their condition is stabilized, veterinarians typically recommend switching over to a prescription kidney diet. Your veterinarian may have recommended a particular food based on the details of your dogs case. Here are three popular options:
Hill's Prescription Diet k/d Kidney Careis available in wet and dry formulations and different flavors:
How To Transition Your Dog to a Kidney Diet
special attention to how you make the transition. Do notchange your dogs foodwhile they are still nauseated or feeling bad. They may associate their symptoms with their new food and refuse to eat it.
Once your dog has a good appetite, start making the switch very slowly. Give them lots of time to get used to the new flavors, textures, and ingredients. This reduces the chance of food refusal and lets your dogs digestive system adapt.
Here is a timetable for taking two weeks to switch your dog to a new diet:
Days 1 and 2:Mix 5% of the new food in with 95% of the old food
Days 3 and 4:Mix 10% of the new food in with 90% of the old food
Days 5 and 6:Mix 20% of the new food in with 80% of the old food
Days 7 and 8:Mix 40% of the new food in with 60% of the old food
Days 9 and 10:Mix 60% of the new food in with 40% of the old food
Days 11 and 12:Mix 80% of the new food in with 20% of the old food
Days 13 and 14:Mix 90% of the new food in with 10% of the old food
Day 15:Try 100% of the new food
If at any point your dog turns their nose up at their food or develops signs of digestive upset, move back a step in the timetable and proceed more slowly.
Signs to Watch for After Starting Your Dog on a Kidney Diet
Dont give up if you initially have trouble switching your dog to a kidney diet. Call your veterinarian if your dog wont eat the recommended food. They can help by:
Recommending an appropriate food topper to make the food more appealing. Avoid products that are high in phosphorus and salt.
Prescribing medications to reduce nausea, stomach inflammation, ulcers, or other symptoms that may be reducing your dogs appetite
Recommending a different prescription kidney diet or, if necessary, a suitable over-the-counter food
Referring you to a veterinary nutritionist to get recipes for homemade kidney diets
Talking to you about the benefits of a feeding tube
Many dogs with kidney disease live happily for quite a long time, particularly if they get the right kind of nutrition. Onestudyshowed that on average, dogs who were fed a kidney diet lived 13 months longer than those who ate regular dog food. Thats certainly a goal worth striving for!
Featured image: iStock.com/RichLegg
WRITTEN BY
Jennifer Coates, DVMVeterinarian
Dr. Jennifer Coates is an accomplished veterinarian, writer, editor, and consultant with years of experience in the fields of veterinary...
