Homemade dog food recipes for senior dogs and those with medical issues aren't as difficult to make as I thought they would be. If you use my tips it doesn't even take that much time! Just a note - I am not a vet. This recipe was given to me by my vet to feed to my dog that has kidney failure. It is meant to be low protein. You should not feed this (or any new food) to your dog without talking to your vet first.
If you are following the Restless Chipotle Facebook page you already know that we had a serious issue with Cuddles, our pit bull (yes... Cuddles. If you have a pit you understand why that name, I'm sure).
We aren't sure how it happened but he got a bacterial infection and his kidneys began to shut down. He spent a week in doggie ICU -- refusing to eat.
When he got home he refused the special low-protein dog food and he just got thinner and thinner. It was time for some homemade dog food recipes!
I finally started making a dog food gruel that he would eat and he began to make a comeback.
It was a long, hard road! When I took him in for his check up and talked to the vet she gave me a recipe that she approved of. You see, although we have always fed our dogs premium dog food the protein was way too high for Cuddles now.
My vet explained that even our older dogs who were healthy should have less protein than before. She said dog food recipes for Cuddles had to be under 20 grams of protein but under 10 was better.
This recipe has 6.9% protein and Cuddles loves it. In fact, our older dog does, too. He is playing and jumping around like a puppy.
The other two (yes, we have four -- 2 yorkies that moved in when my husband and I got married and my old dog which is a long haired chihuaha mix-up, and then Cuddles) like the food as well so I mix it in with their dog food.
Cuddles is a rescue dog - both of my dogs are.
We found him under our porch one day. When my son coaxed him out we saw that his chest and shoulders were basically shredded. He had been used as a bait dog -- thrown in with pit bulls being trained to fight.
I am horrified to say that there is a lot of that in my area. Anyway, my son had been wanting a pit bull and praying for one -- who am I to argue with God?
We found him on a Saturday so of course there were no vets open. I wasn't sure if he wasn't going to need his leg amputated it was so bad.
Shreds of flesh and muscle infested with maggots. I had my husband and son hold him so I could clean the wounds with cotton swabs and a copious amount of peroxide.
I was nervous because here I was digging into this dog's wounds and he was a big dog with big teeth -- even if he was skinny.
That dog never even snapped at me. He looked it me with those big eyes and pushed at my hand with his nose. That was all. I
cleaned those wounds a couple times a day all weekend long and then to my vet.They kept him overnight, put him out, scrubbed a couple of pounds of mud and dried blood off of him, then fixed him up.
Tip
When you make homemade dog food recipes for senior dogs, and those with kidney failure, it's important to use the fattiest, cheapest ground beef you can find. You want more fat and less protein.
Totally the opposite of what I do when I'm making meatballs for us, for example.
I get a big chub pack and cook all of it up at once with the eggs that go in the recipe. Then I divide in in portions and freeze it. When I need another batch of food I thaw it and add the rest of the ingredients. So easy!
The recipe calls for boiled eggs but I crack raw eggs into the nearly cooked ground beef and then cover the pan until everything is cooked and the yolks are cooked through. Then I chop them into the ground beef.
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It's very important that you use a kitchen scale to make this and to serve it. It must be done by weight.
This is similar to the kitchen scale I use and it works really well.
Escali Glass Digital Kitchen Scale is thin and accurate plus easy to clean. Just remember to put your dogs bowl on the scale and zero the scale out before measuring in the food.
Measure everything very accurately and be sure not to make any substitutions or changes. The food should be refrigerated in an airtight container and eaten within three or four days.
Also - get a good canine multivitamin like (another affiliate link) Pet MD Multivitamin plus Minerals. This is extremely important because your food will not be enriched like the commercial foods are.
Update
I am sad to update this to say that Cuddles succumbed to his kidney disease but he lasted longer than the vet thought he would. His kidneys were just very weak.
We miss him terribly but within a few months two more pitties were at our kitchen door, starved and abused. We just couldn't resist Toby and Bisous.
Homemade Dog Food Recipes for Senior Dogs
Print Rate RecipeIngredients
- ¼ pound ground beef, (do not use lean)
- 2 cups cooked white rice, (no salt)
- 1 hard cooked egg, , peeled and chopped
- 3 slices white bread, , crumbled
- 1 teaspoon calcium carbonate, (blend a bottle of calcium carbonate in the blender until it's a powder then keep in a resealable plastic bag)
Instructions
- Cook the beef until it is cooked through.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix it well.
- Feed twice a day.
- Be sure to give your dog a vitamin supplement.
Notes
5 pounds feed ¼ pound
10 pounds feed ½ pound
20 pounds feed 1 pound
40 pounds feed 1 ½ pounds
60 pounds feed 2 pounds
80 pounds feed 2 ½ pounds
100 pounds feed 3 pounds
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
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Michell says
We have a 35 pound Jindo who recently has been diagnosed with early state kidney failure. We have tried KD and Royal Canin. She does not like them. We wanted to try a homemake recipe. Your recipe sounds like something she would definitely eat. How much per day should we feed her?
Marye Audet says
It's according to body weight... 5 pounds feed ¼ pound
10 pounds feed ½ pound
20 pounds feed 1 pound
40 pounds feed 1½ pounds
60 pounds feed 2 pounds
80 pounds feed 2½ pounds
100 pounds feed 3 pounds
Ghazala says
I have 3 Shih Tuz, 1 age of 12 and 2 age of 10. My 2 Shih tzu have been diagnosed with early state kidney failure. I had total of 5, all one family. I lost 2 because of kidney failure. It was difficult to see them go through it. I did everything but was not able to succeeded. I am in the same situation and I am devastated of losing my kids. I always cooked do food for my dogs and mix it with Diet Science food. My Vet recommended Hills kidney care prescription diet for dogs K/D. I used this food for my other dogs and they lost so much wight. It really did not help much. I would greatly appreciate it if you could tell me what food I can make at home and hope that it would help my dogs. The problem is I never cooked red meat, always cooked chicken Brest for them. Can I use Chicken rather then red meat for the HOMEMADE DOG FOOD RECIPES FOR SENIOR DOGS that you have mentioned? I want my babies to live a decent healthy life. I recently lost my husband and losing my dogs, well don't know what will happen to me. Please help.
The father was Zeus, Mother is Hera, oldest daughter is BulBul (nightingale), first son is Bachai (my son), and youngest son was Chomonai (the little one). Thank you so very much.
Marye Audet says
This is the recipe that my vet gave me. I don't have any others.
catrina says
hi marye I have 13 year old jack russel , he has a been gnosed with tstical cancer ,h only came into my care after the owner no longer wanted him he has skin alleries , I wanto domy own home cooked recie for him can you help me wth whatI will require for this recipe plse , Iwathinking lean beef mince rice & vegies
Marye Audet says
This recipe should work just fine. I developed this recipe for Cuddles when he was having kidney failure. Good luck!
Robin says
Thank you for this recipe...my little guy was just diagnosed stage 1 renal failure..not fond of science diet kidney care food...this sounds like a great food plan!
Thanks again..
Robin
Marye Audet says
🙂 I hope he does well!
Robin says
I'm going thru this right now with my 14 year old shih poo...stage 1 renal failure just diagnosed...he doesn't care for the science diet kidney care food..so I might go with this hamburger mixture...my poor boy...he is a happy fella..please keep me posted on your pup...blessings to you...
Marye Audet says
I am so sorry. I hope that he does well on this. 🙂
Brian Shorter says
Hi Marye. I'm a little confused about the portion size. Is it per meal or per day? Pollyanna asked you the same question and you replied, "per day, I believe"? I don't want to give my dog too much or too little. She loves the diet and eat well for the first time since coming home from the vet with canned low protein food. She just didn't like the canned food but loves this diet. Thanks for your help.
Marye Audet says
1/4 a pound of food per 5 pounds of body weight per day. You can split it in half and feed twice a day or feed the whole batch once a day. Hope this helps
Robin says
Yes I was thinking a lb at each feeding..so split up the lb twice a day??!!!
Marye Audet says
yes.
Paparazzi says
Hi. Is that 1/4 pound per day? Or per meal?
Marye Audet says
I see you've found the answer. 🙂
Jen says
My vet gave me this recipe, and of course I'm doing my internet searching before I cook it up. There are great tips in this article like the kitchen scale and freezing the beef/egg! Thank you for sharing! My pit is 14 years old and is in early stages of kidney disease. He's lost 6 lbs since he's been on the KD diet because he doesn't like the kibble very much so I talked to my vet about alternatives and this is what he suggested. I'm sorry to see Cuddles has passed on since you wrote this, he was very cute! Thank you for saving him!
Marye Audet says
🙂 We miss him so much! Good luck with your pit. 🙂
Mike says
We have our 14 YO Terrier mix breedwith CRF on something very similar; Ground beef, boiled egged chopped up, white rice, and mixed veggies like carrtots, green beans, and peas which he eats up pretty well. We feed him this in the evening and he eats cheerios witrh milk in the morning. What additional supplements do we need for him? He will share a graham cracker with me sometimes. This diet has really helped him. He was first diagnosed in October 2015.
Marye Audet says
You should check with your vet. I know my vet said no milk as it is hard on the kidneys.
Jen says
Thank you Marye! He's already putting some weight back on with this new diet and he's sleeping through the night too! He used to bark at me all night, I just blamed it on him being a crazy old man lol
Marye Audet says
That's wonderful!
Chris Chaffee says
Mayre, sorry to hear Cuddles has passed on, I know the loss remains in the heart for a long time. I have a question regarding the food recipe. Shouldn't a fiber component be added? The recipe has none, unless you use brown rice. It seems this recipe would cause constipation.
I have a 14.5 yr old purebred male dachshund, Peanut, that I want to start making food for, since he just doesn't like crunching dry food. I'm considering adding to you recipe some omega-3 fats (salmon oil) and antioxidants such as small amounts of spinach leaf, and fiber through frozen peas, carrots and cauliflower. These additions would result in a mix of 2 senior dog recipes, yours here and another I found online from a Veternarian, who uses ground turkey instead of beef. I was thinking of rotating the meat for variety, ground beef as suggested, and also chicken breast and salmon.
Your thoughts? Anyone want to chime in?
Thank you,
Christopher
Marye Audet says
My vet gave me this recipe and so it's the one I use. 🙂 I'd talk to your vet if I was you to find out his/her suggestions.
Sharon says
We found out a month ago that our 9 year old chocolate lab is in kidney failure. He has been eating the kid canned food and I have been mixing the apakitin supplement and Pepcid into it twice a day. He did go to the pet hospital 2 weeks ago for IV fluids due to vomiting for 2 days but then he needed a blood transfusion because the fluids diluted his red blood count. He had his levels rechecked yesterday and his creatinine is 11 and BUN is 130. I am going to make this recipe tomorrow and am hoping it will make him feel better for a little while until it's time for us to say goodbye.
Marye Audet says
I hope he likes it. 🙂
Phat Tran says
Does the egg have to be boiled or can we fry the egg and mix it in with the rice??
Marye Audet says
I think frying would be fine.