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A BARF [bones & raw food] Diet for
Kidney Failure
Copyright Ian Billinghurst
Apart from the
absolutely essential need to be whole, raw and natural with no grains, the most
important characteristic of a diet to support an animal with kidney failure is
that it be LOW IN PROTEIN, LOW IN PHOSPHORUS AND LOW IN SALT.
A kidney diet
should have no commercially prepared foods, because mass produced commercial
foods do not contain whole raw and natural foods and are all high in grains,
salt, phosphorus and protein.
The reason a
kidney diet should contain no grain foods is because grain foods in general are
biologically inappropriate for dogs. They are high in starch - the killer
carbohydrate - are high in phosphorus and their proteins are poorly digested and
of low quality.
Kidney failure
diets must contain reduced levels of protein - THE DEGREE OF REDUCTION DEPENDING
ON THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE KIDNEY FAILURE HAS ADVANCED. The protein they contain
should be of a high quality. To ensure high quality protein at low levels, feed
small quantities of meat [chicken, beef, pork etc], eggs, fish and offal such as
liver, kidney, brains and heart. It is a good idea to include as many of these
items as possible in the diet. That is, tiny bits of each. Do feed liver, but
keep the levels well down in advanced cases of kidney failure.
Where the kidney
failure is in the early stages, the protein reduction should be moderate. As
the condition advances the protein levels will have to be further reduced. It
is important to keep the protein levels as high as possible - comensurate with
the degree of kidney failure - to prevent loss of lean body mass and support
immune function.
Where the
problem is only mild, continue to feed raw meaty bones, because the benefits by
far outweigh the costs. In more advanced cases of kidney failure, feed no bones
to reduce the mineral content of the diet.
The kidney
failure diet will be high in fats that are high in the essential fatty acids.
Use fat from egg and chicken and flax seed oil. Add additional vitamin E to
prevent rancidity of those fats within the body.
The kidney
failure diet will be very high in crushed raw fresh vegetables.
The kidney
failure diet needs to be easily digested so that the addition of digestive
enzymes will be of benefit. Add the ones used in dogs whose pancreas no longer
functions to produce enzymes normally.
The kidney
failure diet needs to be high in the water soluble vitamins - that is - vitamin
C and the B complex because these are lost at an abnormally high rate because of
the continual urination.
The kidney
failure diet cannot contain kelp because of kelp's high salt content. It cannot
contain Cod liver oil because high levels of Vitamin A are not handled well by
an animal with kidney failure, and we advise against brewers yeast because of
its high protein content.
The basic kidney
failure diet consists of three quarters raw crushed vegetables plus one quarter
raw meaty bones [or meat only in advanced cases of kidney failure] crushed and
mixed through the vegetables, plus flax seed oil, plus vitamin E, B complex, and
vitamin C. Remember, leave out the bones if the dog is in advanced kidney
failure.
A SAMPLE KIDNEY DIET
note
........totally........RAW
Three quarters
of the mix should consist of raw crushed fruit and vegetables -- eg three kilos
... vegetables such as carrots, celery, spinach, broccoli etc.. fruit such as
apples, oranges, mangos, apricots etc...
The other
quarter [one kilogram] consists of lean ground [minced] - beef, chicken, lamb,
pork, fish [whole] - or a mixture of these. [All raw of course.]
Where the kidney
failure is only mild [in the early stages] it is strongly recommended that at
least half of this meat consist of ground or minced chicken wings or necks -
including the bone. If bones are omitted [as in advanced kidney failure] - add
100 gm tahini [crushed sesame seed] which is high in calcium - to the mix.
To the minced
meat and crushed vegetables add such things as yoghurt - low fat and plain - 250
ml eggs - raw - preferably free range - about 3 flax seed oil - four
dessertspoons liver/kidney/brain/heart/green tripe - raw - up to 250 gm garlic
- 3 cloves
Any surplus -
not fed on the day should be formed into patties frozen thawed out as required.
Daily additives
include: B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, digestive enzymes.
As the condition
worsens, gradually reduce the meat [protein] portion of the mixture. It should
not drop below one eighth.
Learn more
about feeding a BARF diet here!
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