A very serious illness which affects both dogs and cats is Chronic Renal Failure (CRF), also known as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Kidney Failure. In canine and feline CRF the kidneys are not able to efficiently filter the blood of waste products. Most dogs and cats in kidney failure CAN routinely urinate. In fact, they usually produce large quantities of urine but toxic wastes are not being effectively eliminated. By the time Kidney Failure in Dogs and Cats is diagnosed the destruction has already been occurring for months to years.

This is why it is so important for your pets to have annual exams when they are young and more frequent exams once they approach “senior” hood (10 ish years). It’s also important for you to plan your pet’s exam frequency with your personal vet based on your pet’s age and health to help you identify potential health concerns early. Although there are no guarantees, there are foods, supplements, treatments and habits which may help your pet with kidney problems OR help prevent them! So…keep reading!

Diagnosing Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats

Kidney Failure in dogs and cats can go undetected for much too long so it’s important to have routine labs performed for each of your pets to catch issues early. High Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) and Creatinine levels can indicate kidney problems in both dogs and cats – or a least alert you to any significant changes. Routine Bloodwork and Urinalysis will determine the BUN and Creatinine levels as well as the overall health of your pet. This can help you improve the prognosis of kidney failure and other potential health issues early.

This is EXACTLY what happened recently with Scooby’s brother from another mother, aka Zachy who was unexpectedly diagnosed with early Stage 3 Chronic Renal Failure after his routine 6 month senior exam. Zach had a clean senior cat exam just 6 months prior so, an advanced Kidney Failure diagnosis was shocking!

With Kidney Disease it’s important to be quick in addressing a plan. So, Mom consulted with Zach’s primary vet and a new Integrative Holistic vet to figure out how to best detoxify and prolong the health of Zachy’s kidneys. Our goal is to help Zach continue to feel great after his newfound kidney failure diagnosis…aka “Mission Rescue and Preserve Zachy’s Kidneys”!

Symptoms of Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats

Symptoms of Kidney Failure in Dogs and Cats typically occur gradually over an extended period of time. Unfortunately, clinical signs may not appear until at least 2/3 of your pet’s kidneys have been destroyed! In our case, Zach still shows almost zero signs or symptoms of Kidney Disease. He’s still the fun, happy go lucky senior kitty brother doing his normal daily routine… hanging out in his catio first thing every morning, jumping from his cat tree to his rabbit hutch, eating his potted grass, tearing through the house on whim, bossing Luna around and just enjoying life! These are all great signs!

Common Kidney Disease Symptoms in Dogs and Cats

Sometimes early CKD signs can be invisible – like with Zach! So, pay attention and if you see any of the following symptoms contact your vet to investigate further!

Increased Thirst / Drinking More Than Usual (polydipsia)
Strong (ammonia-like) Breath Odor
Listless or Lethargic
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Increased Urination Frequency / Increased Urine Volume (polyuria)
Possible Incontinence (especially at night)
Loss of Appetite (which can result in weight loss)
Poor Grooming (in cats)
General Depression (caused by the elevation of waste products in the blood)
Anemia (resulting in pale gums and weakness due to a low blood count)
Overall Weakness (from low blood potassium)

Less Common Signs of Kidney Disease in Pets

Weakened Bones (may result in bone fractures)
High Blood Pressure (could lead to sudden blindness)
Itchy Skin (caused by calcium and phosphorous depositing in the skin)
Internal Bleeding into the Stomach or Gut
Bruising of Skin

Stages of Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats

According to Washington State University of Veterinary Medicine the severity of chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be estimated based on blood waste product elevation and abnormalities in the urine gauging presence of protein. The International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) developed a method to estimate the stages of CKD numbered 1 through 4.

Stage One CKD is the least severe and Stage Four is the most severe. The higher the stage number also generally corresponds to the greater number of symptoms seen in your pet. The IRIS Pocket Guide is an excellent resource for Diagnosing and Treating Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats.

According to Cornell Feline Health Center at Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine there’s a new test using SDMA which may detect CKD even earlier. Be sure to request from your vet when considering general labwork!

Kidney Disease Treatment for Dogs and Cats

We want to remind you that we furSmiths are NOT Veterinarians! So, always be sure to consult with your personal vet and holistic veterinarians and / or kidney specialists if you have any in your area. Having at least 2 sources for guidance is always best when possible. We thought, however, that you may be interested in some of the changes we are making for Zach as well as the new treatments we are are adding to his routine. This may give you ideas to discuss with your vet if you have a dog or cat in Kidney Failure.

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More Frequent Lab Work

Since Zach’s Kidney Failure Diagnosis we have increased the frequency of his lab work to every 3 months to catch subtle changes quickly.

Tips for Affordable Wellness Exams for Dogs and Cats

Ask your Vet to request only the necessary lab work for more frequent followup tests. (But, don’t skimp)
Ask your Vet for other ideas how to keep costs down without sacrificing quality.
Pet Insurance! Signing up for Pet Insurance when your pet is young and healthy is important because it allows you the most flexibility when emergencies or chronic conditions surface. We use Pets Best Insurance who has thankfully refunded a very high percentage of Zach’s new exams and lab work! This is the first insurance where Mom has had zero issues to date. Wowza!

Additional Hydration

Have Extra Fresh Water Constantly Available for your Pets

Your pets need all the extra hydration they can get from clean, fresh water. Make sure your pet’s water bowls are full and consider adding extra water bowls in convenient places for your pet stay hydrated. Be sure to clean their water bowls with soap and hot water daily to keep the bacteria to a minimum to prevent further issues for their kidneys.

At the furSmiths, Ella, Luna, Zach & Lovey WUV flowing water! So, making water fun and enticing with stainless steel water fountains is great way to keep everyone’s kidneys hydrated!

Add Extra Water to Your Pet’s Wet Food

Even though your pet’s new wet food (see below) may have considerably more “moisture content” it’s always a great idea to add a few extra drops or half a teaspoon of filtered water to your cat’s food and even more to your dog’s wet food for extra hydration.

Consider Subcutaneous Fluids for Dogs and Cats

Depending on what Stage of Kidney Disease your Pet is in, your Veterinarian will may prescribe at home (or in clinic) weekly subcutaneous fluids. Subcutaneous fluids can help keep your pet hydrated and may help their kidneys flush toxins. If this stresses your pet significantly after a couple of tries, however, you may want to reconsider.

Food for Kidney Disease in Cats and Dogs

After consulting with both of our vets, the VERY FIRST thing we did at the furSmiths was to Inspect and REHAUL Zach’s food! Although Zach and all of the furSmiths have eaten “high quality” pet foods, pets with kidney problems need High Quality, Super Clean Ingredient wet food that is Low in Phosphorous and High in Moisture. If you can add Organic and human grade to the checklist you may have found the needle in the haystack!

What about Protein? Well, that appears to be the controversial subject…

Traditional Veterinarian Advice: Conventional Low Protein, Presription Wet Kidney Disease canned food

Integrative / Holistic Veterinarian Advice: Raw or Lightly Cooked, Human-grade, Healthy, Limited Ingredients (which will be higher in human-grade protein than prescription canned protein kidney food).

Confused? Mom too. The crucial points most agree on are:

Make Sure Your Pet Eats – Period
Keep Moisture High (Add Filtered Water, Healthy Water Fountains, etc)
Keep Phosphorous (and Sodium) low
Look for Clean, Limited Ingredients
Improve Gut Health with Probiotics and / or Supplements
Rotate Your Pet’s Food so they have a Variety of Ingredients
Eliminate all Dry Foods if possible. (Freeze dried food preserves nutrients and is better than dry food)
Keep the dry treats to a minimum. In fact, switch out dry treats entirely to wet, frozen real food treats if possible. (Temptations and Greenies Dry Treats are Zach’s next hurdle – he’s addicted)!

Additional (not agreed upon):

Human Grade Wet Food is most desirable (lightly cooked or raw)
Consider a High Quality Omega 3 (clean from toxins) We take Moxxor which is sourced from the green lip mussel in New Zealand (the cleanest water in world) and also recommend Vital Choice Krill Oil from Alaska.

Prescription Kidney Food for Dogs and Cats

It is very common for your vet to prescribe low protein, low phosphorous and high moisture wet food once your pet is diagnosed with kidney problems. Some dogs and cats don’t like kidney diet food and some veterinarians think feeding your pets only kidney diet food is a big mistake. Regardless, it’s good for you to understand all the options for your dogs and cats. Typically you can purchase these prescription foods directly from your vet to try them out and to add them to your pet’s food rotation if you think a good idea.

Prescription Kidney Support Food for Dogs

The common kidney support prescription wet food manufacturers for both dogs and cats are Hills, Royal Canin, and Purina NF plus Darwin’s Intelligent Design Raw Food Kidney Diet for Dogs.

If your pet must be on prescription kidney food or likes it in rotation, once you know which brands and flavors your dog or cat desires, Chewy allows you to order your prescription kidney care dog and cat food in cases. Just add to your automatic shipment for additional savings, input your vet’s contact information and Chewy will confirm your prescription. Voila! Kidney Care Dog and Cat Food will appear on your doorstep!

Prescription Kidney Disease Food for Dogs Comparison Chart

Prescription Kidney Support Food for Cats

(As with Dogs, Hills, Royal Canin, and Purina NF manufacture cat kidney support wet food plus Darwin’s Intelligent Design Raw Food Kidney Diet for Cats).

Prescription Kidney Disease Food for Cats Comparison Chart

Keep an Eye on Your Pet’s Muscle Mass

Our treatment goal for Zach is to maintain his health, help him live as close to a normal life as possible while hopefully slowing the progression of his feline kidney disease. At our first visit, our holistic veterinarian pointed out Zach’s muscle along his back and said to make sure he keeps his muscle mass throughout his kidney care future!

Monitor to Your Pet’s Weight

Our Integrative Holistic Vet (as well as other veterinarians) have concern that a strict prescription kidney diet may put your pet’s weight and muscle mass at risk – due to lack of eating and not enough protein intake. So, monitor your pet’s eating and weight closely.

Note: if your dog or cat does not like the kidney prescription food they may not be eating enough food in general. Its important for your pet to eat!

But, instead of going to the ol’ standby – which may be laden with kidney dangers – opt for high quality, human-grade, limited, super clean ingredient wet pet foods. Mom found several very high quality non-prescription wet pet foods which are hight quality (or human grade) protein, low in phosphorous and high in moisture content. (See below)…

Non Prescription “Lower” Protein Cat Food for Zach

Zach doesn’t “LOVE” Kidney food in general but it’s in his rotation of our highly vetted non-prescription wet food (below) as variety. Supervised variety can be a very good thing for pets dealing with kidney and other health problems. Here’s a comparison list of lower phosphorous wet cat foods that Zach is currently enjoying in his food variety rotation:

(For dogs, do the same…compare protein, phosphorous and moisture to prescription foods while checking for high quality ingredients).

Lower Protein Non-Prescription Food for Cats Comparison Chart

Noteworthy Food for Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats

Our Holistic Veterinarian Recommends alternating Darwin’s Raw Dog and Cat Food (it’s ok to lightly cook too) with High Quality or Human grade Protein Wet Pet Foods.

Also: Just Food for Dogs has highly regarded human grade dog food and a renal dog diet which you may consider.

Mom is currently investigating Stella & Chewy’s Canned Cat Food – it’s gently cooked and human grade.

Additional Treatments for CKD in Dogs and Cats

All of the furSmiths have been on probiotics off and on. Just like for humans, probiotics are super helpful in keeping your pet’s gut healthy. Also consider phosphate binding supplements and other non-prescription treatments which may help your pet’s kidneys.

Zach and Lovey actually enjoy the phosphorous binding supplements and Purina Fortiflora probiotic mixed in their wet food without issue! Ella and Luna also get their Ask Ariel Power Plus Probiotic in their meals!

Azodyl for Dogs and Cats (must be taken as a whole capsule before or after meals on empty stomach)
AminAvast Kidney Support Dog Supplement (ok to pour ingredients in food)
AminAvast Kidney Support Cat Supplement (ok to pour ingredients in food)
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets FortiFlora Powder Digestive Supplement for Cats – they love and vets love!
Renelix Dog and Cat Kidney Formula by Ask Ariel – (needs to be taken separate from food)
Other Kidney Disease Supplements For Dogs & Cats by Ask Ariel
Power Probiotic for Cats & Dogs – Ella and Luna take this daily for daily gut health!
Omega 3 (see above)
Slippery Elm for nausea / lack of appetite (ok to pour up to 400mg into food)

Fun Fact: Mom met Diane, the creator of Ask Ariel, years ago with her pup Sable during a routine vet visit. Diane’s passion, experience and knowledge in pet health is so re-assuring. She developed kidney care formulas when her beloved pup Ariel was diagnosed with Kidney Disease and continued with other amazing supplements soon after!

Can Kidney Disease Be Reversed in Pets?

Once the kidneys have been damaged, they cannot be repaired, but you can strengthen and support your pet’s nephrons (filtering units in the kidneys) which will help them function better. Supplements can help flush out the toxins and control acid-base imbalances. Subcutaneous fluids can also assist the kidneys.

Tips for Preventing Kidney Disease in Dogs and Cats

There is no surefire way to prevent kidney disease, but there are things you can do to help reduce the chance that your fur kids will be afflicted.

1. Remove Toxic Plants from your Home and Yard. The ASPCA® Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) provides a list of toxic plants to pets. It’s important to consider safe indoor potted plants as well as short term flower arrangements. Lilies, in particular, can be very harmful if ingested by a cat. For dogs, make sure you don’t have toxic plants in your garden or yard! At the furSmiths we like to combine air purifying plants with pet safe plants. Beware: Sago Palms are also extremely toxic to pets. Avoid them in your home or yard!

2. Keep Medications in Cabinets and Drawers. Both Over-the-Counter medicine and prescription medications are extremely dangerous for your pets! Keep them put away out of reach of your cats and dogs. If you drop any on the floor be sure to always find them and throw them out.

3. Heavily Monitor All Prescribed Pet Meds. Prescription medications can take a toll on your pet’s kidneys so discuss, monitor and test your dog or cat’s kidney’s if they must take any potentially kidney damaging medications.

4. Use Pet-Friendly Antifreeze. Did you know there was such a thing? If your pet has access to your car in a garage, yard or driveway make sure you switch to a propylene glycol-based antifreeze rather than more toxic ethylene glycol antifreeze and clean up any drips asap.

5. Use only Pet-Friendly Pesticides and Rodenticides. There are many safe, natural options for repelling unwanted insects, etc., from your home and yard. NEVER use rat poison anywhere! It’s deadly to all animals and inhumane to mice and rats. First, be preventative. Is something drawing the unwanted visitors? If so, clean it up. If you still have issues, use only non-toxic products in and around your home. Or, if you use an exterminator (or gardeners) insist on pet-friendly products at your home only. Make sure they tell you exactly what they are using and how it is pet-safe.

Tip: Check out Dr. Earth who manufactures pet-safe weed killers and more.

6. Keep Your Cat Indoors. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ® (ASPCA®) strongly recommends that all cats stay indoors to help them live longer and healthier lives. Predators, toxins, rat poisons and the list goes on for all the dangers your cat faces when roaming outdoors.

7. Visit Your Veterinarian Routinely Schedule Annual (and more frequent) checkups as needed to help you keep track of your pet’s health and detect kidney or other health issues early.

8. Maintain Your Pet’s Weight. Obesity can impare your pet’s kidneys. If your dog or cat is obese or overweight, create a safe weight loss plan with your veterinarian.

9. Choose your wet-food only diet wisely! Human grade, low phosphorous, high moisture, pet safe veggies plus probiotics and supplements discussed above!

We hope we have given you useful information and ideas to consider if your dog or cat has kidney disease!

Please remember we furSmiths are not Veterinarians. We want to educate you in theories, products and ideas to help you determine the BEST plan of action with your veterinarian for your pet’s kidney and other health problems.

Do you have additional ideas or products that you think may benefit Zach or any of our Dog and Cat Fwiends? We would WUV to hear them! Email us mom@theScoobylife.com!