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My dog with kidney disease won't eat her special diet. What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Female | spayed | 13 years and 11 months old | 90 lbs

my dog refuses to eat her special kidney failure dog food she recently was diagnosed with e coil and is on baytrol ? she need to eat with this ,any suggestions for a kidney diet recipe she might eat

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

Veterinarian

Published on January 5th, 2019

I hate to hear that Lily is having an issue eating her food. I would advise too try several renal diets. Royal Canin makes three different formulas. Purina and Science diet also make their own version. The best medicine would be for her to eat only a renal diet but sometimes pets have other ideas. If you cannot find a food that she likes and will readily eat, try mixing in about 25% of the renal diet in with 75% of her normal kibble. Every few days gradually increase the renal food. Even if she never goes on the renal diet fully, it's still better than not eating it at all. Try the canned renal diets as well (once again, all the brands carry this formula). If you want to try making her food at home, you will need to work with a veterinary nutritionist. Renal diets need carefully controlled protein, phosphorus and potassium levels. You can go online and find several who offer both phone and online consultations. I hope this helps to point you in the right direction. Please feel free to post any further questions!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Maria DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on November 26th, 2017

    You have a couple of options for Scooby. You can talk to your veterinarian about getting Purina NF or Royal Canin Renal Support. Kidney diets are not the most palatable for cats but I would try a different brand to see if Scooby would like something better then the Science Diet K/D. You can talk to a veterinary nutritionist to have them formulate a diet. Your veterinarian should have the name of someone in your area. You can also use https://petdiets.com they have a veterinary nutritionist that will help formulate a diet for you. If Scooby does not eat any of these foods or a nutritionist is not an option an over the counter food with the lowest amount of protein and the lowest amount of phosphorus is the next best option. Thank you for using PetCoach.

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    Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

    Veterinarian

    Published on February 16th, 2017

    Scruffles really does need the kidney diet, as it helps support good kidney health. You can try Royal Canin Renal support, which she may find more palatable. You could also try feeding Scruffles the canned version of the Hills k/d to see if she will eat that.

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