Natural Remedies for Managing Chronic Renal Failure in Pets

My baby is a 14 year old mix breed cat. The vet said a few months ago she had kidney failure, gave her special food and didn't know how long she'd last. I put her on a different grain-free food and forced liquids into her. She recovered quickly, but her eyes have been red and she gets that black gunk in the inner corners. After some experimentation it appears that chlorophyll capsules dumped into wet grain-free cat food with extra water added, goat milk, and a raw chicken liver every few days are doing her very well. The liver seems to be helping the eyes the most. Possibly she's anemic. Each item is given on alternate days, and she has free access to grain-free dry food and water. She used to sit next to the water dish with her chin over it, sipping now and then. She doesn't do that anymore. She's a bit wobbly on her hind legs. I'm going to try adding basil to the food and giving the milk with it. She was severely constipated a few weeks ago which hairball remedy did not help, but Miralax cleared. I didn't have to take her to the vet for it. I'd like to give her digestive enzymes to see if it helps. I also minced up dandelion leaves into her wet food for a few days. She liked that. I cut the stems out of the leaves at first.

Chlorophyll and raw liver helped cat's rapid deterioration

My 15 year old indoor cat was sleeping a lot, thin, lethargic, not eating or drinking, sitting with her chin over the water dish a lot, had difficulty urinating/defecating. Previously the vet said her kidneys were failing and she had to have special vet-only kd formula food. After reading the ingredients in the expensive kd (they were of poor quality) I bought a no-grain food, which she did very well on for a few months. She regained energy and her coat became very fluffy and clean, she put on weight. A few new cats came to live with her and she got sick again, don't know if there's a corelation. I made her drink yogurt, aloe juice, garlic powder, turmeric, basil, a variety of MSM gel, apple cidar vinegar. I mixed the above variously into a couple tablespoons of yogurt and made her drink it from a medicine dropper. She resisted, but if you hold her on her back and press the dropper into the back corner of her mouth she has to swallow it. It didn't seem to do much other than keep her hydrated, so probably plain yogurt and MSM would be the only thing to give. I tried those things because I figured her digestion was messed up somehow, and she had the same symptoms the vet called kidney failure and dehydration. Additionally, I mixed a chlorophyll supplement I'd been taking into her water bowl, and some aloe juice with citric acid into another. She improved overnight. But she would sit with her chin over the water bowl and started getting an infection under her chin from the damp chlorophyll caking into her fur. I took away the chlorophyll water and her health declined again, so I started giving it to her mixed into tuna juice instead, so she drinks it all right away. I quit giving her the yogurt after I noticed the dramatic improvement from the chlorophyll (about 4 days). Once a day/every-other-day I break open a capsule and stir it into a dish of tuna juice, the water kind - not the oil kind, don't give the oil, they say it interferes with vitamin E or something... (Press the juice out of the tuna and set the tuna aside. Don't get the tuna that has broth in the ingredient list, broth is supposedly one of the ways they hide glutamic acid (think MSG) in things. You might want to get the low sodium kind, too. She's had both. She drinks almost a whole can's worth of juice.)She also turned her nose up at raw beef and chicken while she was sick, but she gobbled up raw chicken liver, especially the blood as if she was starving. Raw chicken liver is cheap. They say chlorophyll is like hemoglobin, so maybe that's why it works for her. She's been on the chlorophyll for a month or so now. Her eyes have that black crust on the inner corners, and one eye was watering tonight. But she's going about with her tail up lately (she never was perky, so the tail up is a vast improvement) and comes to the door when I arrive. She also seemed to have a soreness to her hips or lower abdomen which is much improved. I'm going to keep giving it to her for a while, but I have to figure out a way to get her to ingest it without the tuna juice, don't know if that much tuna juice is healthy. She may have been a victim of the tainted pet food, she first got sick shortly after that all happened. Her reflexes and allertness seem to have improved as well, better than before she got sick, even. They say only give raw liver a few times a week because of all the vitamin A in it, or something. She won't eat the chlorophyll if I mix it into gravy or chicken broth, so far just tuna juice.

These are all great comments/advice/info for chronic renal failure. I noticed a lot of the comments were for cats...do you think the same would apply for a dog with advanced kidney failure (ACV,Aloe Vera,etc)? Any other advice? The vet said to put her down but gave her the IV stuff...I have the NON-GMO extra virgin organic coconut oil, dark non-gmo thigh meat, I also heard sodium bicarbonate (Organic)..a bit in water to up the ph also assists with animals that have kidney failure.

I don't know if I am posting in the right place. I have a chihuahua I love dearly. She was rescued from a puppy mill where she was bred and not fed and when I got her all her ribs showed and her back legs did not work but within a month she actually got very plump due to lack of muscle rather than over feeding and she became very active and is the sweetest most precious dog. I never fed her dry dog food but she gobbled it up at a friends house so I bought her some.

She threw up the next day and has not eaten since and when I took her to the vet they said she has pancreatitis and stage 4 kidney failure and said I should put her down but I could not do that since she appeared totally fine and her happy self before the day I made a huge mistake by giving her dry dog food. She has not eaten for 2 weeks. The vet said I would have to give her IV fluids daily for the rest of her life. She was throwing up but has stopped with 4 days of Cerenia medication. She is drinking water and keeping it down for now

Everything I have read pertains to cats only. I have not found anything on EC regarding dogs.

Dear Sir/Ms. I have read some post but I am not sure if just herbs or extracts can have a significant positive impact in a progressive illness like feline CRF. Could please let me know which product options would be the best in terms of effectiveness and easy to administer to a cat with CRF? Thank you

My dear old feline friend will be 17 on Mother's Day, and also is in CRF, has hyperthyroid, and acts like a crochety old lady. She's about 10 pounds and it's hard to keep weight on her. She also had fresh blood spots in her stool, perhaps hemerroids or irritated bowel. The vet gave me lactolase, and although it didn't get worse, it didn't improve much either.

I've started a regimen of a bit of coconut oil - about 1/8 teaspoon, along with 1/8 teaspoon slippery elm bark - both in her wet food, morning and night. I melt the coconut oil in her dish in the microwave for 11-12 seconds, mix with the slippery elm bark, then mix in with her wet food.

She's also on methimazole for the thyroid condition (ointment form applied to the inner ear flaps). Since I started the coconut oil, the blood in her stool has greatly diminished-almost gone! It's also helped her put on a little weight.

The slippery elm for her CRF has diminished the lip-smacking sounds of chronic dehydration (though she drinks a lot of water), also diminished is her desire to sit on her haunches (like a meat-loaf); now she'll lay on either side, sometimes even stretch out-it's wonderful!

The quality of the cold-pressed virgin coconut oil made a difference. It was pricey-but a 16 oz jar will last me at least 6 months, more than I could say for any chemical vet medication-meant to only treat the symptoms-just like human meds in the United States. Keeping us sick keeps us as a patient who will always be a return customer-our economy sadly thrives on this.

Regardless, my old friend is now a thriving geriatric feline-thanks to Earth Clinic and those of you who took the time to post!

My 10 yr old cat was very recently diagnosed with beginning of kidney disease. Is is safe to give him colloidial silver in small doses to help combat this problem?

First of all, I would like to thank the owner/founder and independent contributor for this wonderful site, along with all those those who have provided valuable feedback concerning folk remedies.

Our senior cat Pepper who is about 15 years old developed problems over a year ago, which started with listlessness, loss of appetite/drinking and vomiting. We took her to a Vet and was informed that she was not drinking enough and needed to be rehydrated, so she was kept overnight at the clinic for tests and was rehydrated by IV. The Vet later informed us that because of her age her kidneys were failing and tests showed they were in poor shape, he also said she would need to be on medication and a low protein diet which could only be purchased at the clinic.

After the awful ordeal of having to pop a pill down her throat every day, she showed no improvement and her symtoms actually got worse and she was deteriorating faster and was looking like a bone rack. I tried every kind of food to try to tempt her to eat but she would only eat about a teaspoon of food. It was very upsetting to see her so ill and thin so I returned to the Vet who told me that the kindest thing I could do was to put her to sleep. :( My family and I decided not to go that route and brought her back home.

After extensive researching on the net I found that others pets had gotten worse from this medication so I stopped giving it to her.

I also learned online that dandelion leaves were great for flushing the kidneys and body of toxins, so I started giving her a fresh one from the garden and chopping and mixing some through her soft food.

With the help of organic baby food and a fresh dandelion leaf daily, she slowly regained her appetite and stopped vomiting and was drinking lots of water.

A year later she has now fully regained her weight and is eating her regular crunchies and soft food and has a healthy appetite. The only thing now is she drinks huge amounts of water which I was told was the bodies way of flushing toxins out of the system which is due to her age and failing kidneys.

Two weeks ago she got a bladder infection and was straining to uninate but was only passing small drops, so I reseached the net and found EARTH CLINIC, after one day of giving her organic apple cider vinegar in her soft food and drinking bowl she started to unrinate and has been fine since.

"Another one of mother earths natural remedies"

We are now keeping Pepper on the apple cider vinegar perminately and our new kitten also.

Quess what? she is now also starting to drink normal amounts of water. :D

Thank you again for this wonderful site.
I hope my feedback also helps others.

P.S In winter I add dried dandelion root to Peppers soft food which I purchase in my health food store.

We add 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to her soft food and 1/2 a teaspoon to two cups of her drinking water every day.

fresh dandelion half of one small leaf from my garden chopped up fine and added to soft food three times a week, in winter 1/2 a capsule of dried dandelion root.

If you can't get your cat to eat the fresh leaf, try putting about 5 drops of dandelion liquid tinture in a full bowl of drinking water.

IMPORTANT!!!!
Don't ever administer full strenth cider vinegar or dandelion root directly into your pets mouth.
This would choke them.

Dear Rukmini, try food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) for your cat. Companies in U.S. Sell it, but one website in particular has many impressive testimonials for both cats and dogs (and people), and they send it out internationally. It's inexpensive to buy, though shipping is not inexpensive. DE has clay in it, which is known to absorb and eliminate toxins from the body. Our dog had kidney failure from Lyme disease. She would lick and lick a particular spot of earth in the backyard. I now know she was trying to ingest clay, which I've since learned animals often do when they're unwell. Try mixing a tsp. of DE into her food. If she won't take it that way, dust it on her fur; she'll lick it off. Low protein food is standard protocol for kidney issues. Coconut oil is also said to be helpful for the kidneys and liver. Try mixing a tsp. of it also into her food. Again, if she refuses it, apply it to her fur; she'll lick it off. Aloe is good for digestive issues, though the fresh pulp can be bitter. Taste some yourself and see. It's worth a try for your cat, but at a separate time from the coconut oil and DE. We learned about coconut oil on Earth Clinic; since then have read more. I'm sure both DE and coconut oil will help your cat. Thank you, Earth Clinic.

My 10 yo choc lab was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease about 8 mos ago. The vet put him on the prescription diet KD. He was on that for about 4 weeks and had to go back for blood work. The vet said there was slight changes and to keep him on this food. He said I would start to notice changes in my dog in about 6 mos time and that this disease usually ends a dogs life within 18 mos. I searched the internet and read hour after hour and decided to try a diet I had seen several times on different posts.

This is the combination:

1 cup cooked white rice, 1 lb cooked ground beef with a higher fat content, 1 cooked boiled egg, 1 slice of white bread. Mix together. For my choc lab who is about 75 lbs, I give 2 cups twice a day. I also give him one omega 3 fish oil capsule once a day. I have also now started to incorporate cut up green beans with the mix.

When he started out, his breath smelled of urine and his coat was dull and the hair was coming out in clumps. 8 mos later, he no longer smells of urine, his coat is shiny and no hair loss. He eats like a horse and plays with his toys again. He has shown no signs of kidney failure up to this point when he should be starting to show signs of the disease according to the vet. I am hopeful that continuing on this diet will keep him healthy. This is my experience and I hope it helps others as well.

November last year, I took my kitty, Bandit (15), to a well respected Vet. After $700 worth of services Bandit was pronounced to have Chronic Renal Failure. I was given (or rather sold) a $24 8lb bag of Science Diet K/D, Cannned K/D food and told to take him home and more or less wait for him to expire. I'm a Biochemistry/Nutrition Major from Canada, and I knew there must be more to it than what they were telling me. From the name of this disease, I was in shock and expected my Bandit to be leaving me in just days. Don't we usually expire when our organs are pronounced in "failure" mode. Well, thank God for internet. I researched, found a wonderful alternative pet healer in the area, threw the K/D out (after reading the label, one of the first ingredients was gluten) and started Bandit and by now, another one of my kitty's, Cupcake on a partial raw food diet. The practitioner worked her magic on him using Bowen, and gave me Potassium citrate, to give him. I also supplement him with Taurine, and Standard Process's "feline renal support" along with a few other things like Noni juice. He is so active and his spunky attitude is back, Cupcake is right now basking in the warm California sun and just for today, they are enjoying a high quality of life.

I wrote this same experience on a site that I signed up for when I first started researching CRF. I began receiving at least 25 to 40 emails a day, all incredibly depressing. I kept my mouth shut, or keys still since November, but yesterday, shot off my own email telling my experince with the Vet, K/D, and all the information above. My email was censored and I received a firm slap on the fingers/wrists for "bashing" K/D. I'm beginning to wonder who is behind this website. I'm adding organic apple Cider Vinegar to my kitty's water today, and hope to hear other helpful tips on keeping my kitty's at a high quality of life. I know they don't live as long as us, so while they are here teaching me all of the lessons of life I learn from them, I want to do right by them Thank you, Lyn

My cat kiki was a little on the chubby side. She was a stray so she is aggressive for food. I ALWAYS fed her MAX cat or Nutro from Petco. in 2006 she began throwing up- i thought Hairballs because Kiki usually doesn't have a problem eating anything. She loves to eat. She began throwing up more and more. I now realize it was the possibility of contaminated DRY food. Thats all she ate. by the beginning of 2007 Kiki lost alot of weight and i didn't know what to do. I took her to the vet and $500 later (their magic number), Nothing of renal disease. It was when kiki was surprised by a neighbors pit bull and was attacked - Broken ribs- and a few more things but she is OK, she is a LUCKY cat! The specialist hospital she was in showed me the Renal Disease low testings on that. She is very affectionate but since she was basically starving, from always throwing up, She would throw up and throw her body down to lay down lethargic and just looked depressed. She would have an upset stomach for 3-4 hours after eating she would lay alone her stomach would be swishing, she would lick her lips alot when she was going to throw up and then throw up volume. Digested food and water. Since renal disease is kidneys and they are for pulling the toxins out I was about giving her the RIGHT food. I finally found her combo a dry food called Nature's Recipe at petco and wet food from Trader Joes. I put peti greens, eggshell calcium, the Digestive Enzymes and a product called RENAL G.O. they have. I have been adding it to her food DAILY in her wet and dry food sprinkled on top. This has now been steady since Oct 2007. Pets Friends makes it and they have helped me have Kiki gain weight I also put 2 drops food grade hydrogen peroxide in her water bowl since 2/08. Her coast is awesome and she used to get little rashes and none since the diet changes and all this. Now I have my loving kitty back feeling full!

I now want to help her joint pain from her Pit Bull Attack. She was in it's mouth it shook her- and no internal bleeding one puncture wound that was only her skin layer and she was in shock when I got to her ( I was at work) but I think I will try a ACV bath with a Hydrogen peroxide rinse.

If anyone knows any more body pain I can help her with that would be great.

She is my best friend Hi have had her since i was 19 she is 13 now. She is a grey Korat.

Thanks Everyone who posts here I hope this helps.

We are in Galicia, Spain and are urgently requesting some info. about DMSO. Our dog is in kidney failure. He is being treated by a vet, but he will die soon if we do not try sometime else. We want to try to treat him with DMSO. Does anyone know where we can get some here?

Thank you for any help you can offer.

I just lost my Chinese Sharpei to kidney failure. They aren't sure why. his kidneys failed but they think it was lyme disease. I have 2 other sharpei's. What can I do to help out the kidneys of my other dogs? Also, if your dog was diagnosed with kidney failure what would you do to try & restore them as best as possible & if our dogs have the lyme disease in their body what can we do to reverse it. Some people have said that the dry dog foods are no good no matter how expensive they are. They believe that dry dog food may have contributed to his kidney failure. My understanding is that Sharpei's are know for kidney failure. Please advise. Thank you

We've had a success in bringing my little kitties kidney values back into normal range. His blood was tested on Aug 8/16 and his values were into Stage 3. (creatine 270) yet clinically the symptoms were just large pees and perhaps a little lethargic. Blood tested 3 month later...all values in normal range.

This is what we did: raw lamb (warms kidneys) and turkey. Mostly lamb 3/4, and boneless turkey 1/4. 1 1/2 or so tbsp of pumpkin daily.

RENAL ESSENTIALS 2x/day (wrapped in a little raw meat..eats like a candy). This product is by Vetriscience. Please try to buy directly through a vet.

Reversed osmosis water only. 3 soups a day of 1/4 cup water with 1 tsp Ziwi Peak (lamp) canned...add treats or raw to get excited.

TONS of massage, esp, in the kidney area...many times a day. (THE BOOK 4 paws and 5 directions is great to learn accupressure etc)

We did a few sessions of acupuncture and will continue. Watch the constipation carefully...if dry poos, add more soups and oil. (olive is ok sometimes, fish depending on the vitamin D situation).

Oh and lots calm...like yoga nidra sessions with kitty laying on top.