CRF - Recipes for homemade diet - Page 1

My GSD was recently diagnosed with CRF.  Does anyone have some tried and tested recipes for homemade meals.
I would prefer going the homemade route as opposed to commercial "kidney" food.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My dog is 12 years, 3 months old and I want to do everything possible for her.  Thank you.

I kept a GSD alive for three years (he died at 13) after he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. He required subcutaneous fluids on a fairly regular basis, but diet was just as important. It isn't easy in the initial stages - you have to be VERY AWARE of phosphorus levels in food (they must be very low) and the diet itself is restricted. You might want to begin by visiting this website - www.dogaware.com  There is a fairly large section (incl suggestions for meals) on kidney disease, and it should answer many, if not all, of your questions. Another good resource is www.b-naturals.com Check the archived newsletter section, and there are also some good kidney support supplements available for purchase. Basically you are looking at 50% carbohydrate (Japanese rice and low phosphorus veggies) and a protein source for meals. Almost any kind of commercial treat or dry food is a no-no, and you will have to become a fanatical label checker! Kidney dogs on the plus side can have quite a bit of fat - I would add heavy cream or butter to the carbs for example. If you are willing to put in the considerable effort, and it is a full time job, you should see the same result I did - a dog which had excellent quality of life, and looked great, for all but about the last four months of his life. I, like you, couldn't see him existing for very long on Hill's KD.......

Good luck - you are welcome to PM me if you need additional info.

Hi,I am sorry to hear about your dog.If you want to have a PROFESSIONAL,Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionist which there are very few of to formulate a PROPER home made diet then contact Dr.Remillard at  www.petdiets.com.    She  will  put it together for you the right way instead of getting a generic diet.Because she is a Vet she will also involve your Vet with what is going on.Feel free to use my name as a referal if you want and NO i do not make ANYTHING from it.She has done a couple diets for me a couple years ago.Good luck with your dog.

Thanks to both persons who have replied to date.  I will check out the suggested websites.  I am quite distraught over this and am more than happy to invest the time in "cooking" for my girl.  There seems to be a "low protein vs quality protein" debate with regards to the subject and I am having a difficult time getting my head around it all.  Can anyone tell me which veggies are the lowest in phosphorus?  I can grow some in the garden this summer.  Also, some sites have suggested mashed potatoes as a carb - any thoughts on this?  Until I can get a handle on this, tonight she will get chicken and mashed potatoes which at least I know she will eat.  Another protein suggestion I saw was hard boiled eggs.  Should I steer clear of beef entirely?  Any and all suggestions and or recipes will be welcome.  And THANK YOU !

I just want to add that perhaps you should give a prescription food just until you find out how to properly formulate the diet.The only reason im saying this is because i would NOT want to see you make a mistake and give her more phosphorous and protein than her kidneys can handle.Please do not be offended or insulted by my sugestion as I mean no harm to you or your girl.Good luck

Hildesmom I did feed Hill's KD for a few weeks until my fellow was stabilized - initially his creatinine and BUN levels were extremely high, and he actually wasn't  expected to survive. I used the initial time to get my game plan in place. There is a misconception as to how much protein your dog can have - it doesn't have to be as low as you might think. In fact, if your dog doesn't get ENOUGH protein it isn't going to do as well. You can't feed it the old way that's true - that's why 50% of the diet has to be carbs, these act as a filler and keep weight on the dog. If you go to the first link I gave you (dogaware) you will find tables listing a lot of common foods with their phosphorus content, plus suggestions for recipes and supplements (which you will need, as the dog isn't going to be getting everything he/she needs from the food.)  I never used regular potatoes, but I did use sweet potatoes - my guy loved them, with some nice (UNSALTED - this is important) butter or heavy cream.

Over time, and as your dog improves, you will be able to add a few things. You will also need to do bloodwork on a regular basis to make sure that the bad stuff - creatinine and BUN - aren't creeping up. This is really important,  because things can get really bad really fast if you aren't vigilant. It can seem a bit daunting at first, but once you have a routine in place it will soon get a lot easier.

The USDA published a huge list of the phosphorus content of common foods.  For example, one cup/88 grams of raw broccoli contains 58 mg of phosphorus.  Having that info should really help you control your girl's phosphorus intake.  Here is the website:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR17/wtrank/sr17a305.pdf

The page this URL leads to is maintained by the VETPROF email list, which is an international group of veterinary professionals, and the information the page provides has been reviewed by veterinarians and found to be accurate. 
http://www.vetprof.com/clientinfo/KidneyDiseaseInDogs/

The section which contains several recipes for homemade diets for dogs in renal failure is at this URL:
http://www.vetprof.com/clientinfo/KidneyDiseaseInDogs/diet.htm

Here's a link that has easy recipes and distills a lot of info into an abbreviated format - this is essentially the plan I followed for three years with my dog... (Note: adding calcium is very important - how much depends on the weight of the dog. Use ground eggshell NOT BONEMEAL - which is very high in phosphorus. Egg yolks are also high, which is why you use the egg whites only to begin with - as your dog improves you can add a yolk or two from time to time, but never on a regular basis. I used all the supplements recommended.)

www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/kidney-diet/