The vet has recommended that I feed my 'older' dog something which is kinder to her kidneys - she doesn't actually have kidney disease but it needs watching.
She has always had dried food but the 'speciality' ones are very expensive. I would rather spend the money (and even a bit more ) on cooking from fresh.
I just wondered if anyone does this and has any recommendations - including cheap meat cuts. Is it worth asking the butcher do you think?

I cook for mine, protein 33% carbs 33% and vegetables 33%. But they don't have an underlying problem. I would say find out what percentage of protein etc you need to feed. I use chicken and minced beef/eggs and cheese as protein source. Carbs are potato (baked) and rice. A big bag of frozen mixed veg works well as the veg portion.

I also add dairy in the form of biscuits as calcium is lacking other wise.

Biscuits are one tub garlic and herd cream cheese, 1lb gluten free flour (you could use plain flour if your dog is not gluten intolerant) and milk to mix. Bake biscuits until hard.
I add cheddar and any other bits of cheese I have hanging around to the mix too. Also yogurt makes good sweeter fruity biscuits.

It is easy to do but takes a bit of time. I cook 3 times a week but you could do once a week or month if you freeze some.

But you do need as I suggested to find out what proportions to use with a dog that has an underlying problem.

You could look up, 'Raw and Natural nutrition for Dogs' by Lew Olsen.
There's lots of info in it about raw and cooked diets for dogs with specific needs.

I asked my vet about cooking my own dog food as McGee had a dodgy tummy. She said not to bother and to get Chappie! It's cheap as hell and has all the nutrients a dog needs. Several friends who have worked with dogs all agreed.

Possibly but one of the bonuses with cooking for them I find is no bad breath and smaller poos something chappie is not as good at providing I found.

I have a 16 year old dog who's been on a home prepared kidney diet for 3 or 4 years now. Her rate of degeneration is very gradual, so I guess we're lucky.

The main thing is to keep levels of phosphorus & sodium as low as possible, and to feed smaller quantities of high quality protein. Mix the protein with rice and/or veg (steamed sweet potato is good). I feed my dog about 1/3 steamed chicken, 1/3 boiled white rice 1/3 sweet potato, all mashed up together.

I also use Burns hypoallergenic mixer as it has very low phosphorus/sodium - as low as the less palatable renal diets on sale. My dog enjoys this as a treat and, I guess, for the change in texture. It's also useful to have some in stock in case I ever run out of rice.

It used to be thought that 'kidney dogs' needed a low protein diet, but actually that's wrong; what they need is good quality protein which is easily digestible. Renal diets are quite often relatively high in fats (because this is a high quality easily digestible protein) but be careful that you don't overdo it as it can lead to pancreatitis. I give my dog a 'low fat day' (lean meat, no Burns kibble) twice a week just to keep things steady.

You may need to feed your dog smaller meals more often as they sometimes feel a bit sick if they eat too much. It's also common for kidney dogs to become very picky - this is again because of nausea. The trick is to find tasty flavours to tempt them when they feel bad. I find scrambled egg whites (not yolks - high phosphorus) & rice work with my dog if she's feeling off-colour. Readily availble fresh water is also a must - my dog has a water bowl in every room.

There's a Yahoo group which goes into great detail about all the options and has recipes and so on. I found it a bit too intense, but there is some good information there, including how to balance calcium with phosphorus correctly which is very important.

Hope this helps.

Wow very helpful thanks!
The thing that struck me is that the ready made 'kidney diets' are very expensive (compared to her previous diet of Pascoes). If I am going to spend that sort of money I am sure I can do it better and fresher myself.
I am learning as I go along. Yesterday I cooked up some heart, boned chicken thigh, potato and green veggies. She was on chicken and rice for the first couple of days.
I might yet go with another suggestion I read somewhere - which is to cook and store the different components separately - adding steamed (and fresher) green veg just before serving.

The commercial kidney diets are outrageously expensive! I tried my dog on Royal Canin in the early days, but she lost condition rapidly and hated the flavour. I thought at the time that it was as if it was saving her kidneys but killing the rest of her - hence switching to home-cooked.

Freezing elements is a good tip - you do have to be quite organised

There's a really good website here: link

The main thing is to find a diet your dog does well on and enjoys - they are all different. Regular blood screenings at the vets will give you the information you need to see how your dog is doing.

When my dog was first diagnosed (early stage, like yours) I was really worried, but 4 years later she's doing well, so hopefully yours will be the same

A very heartfelt thank you!
My next problem is that after my dog was under anaesthesia for various checks, she stopped drinking water. I think possibly she wasn't as thirsty because I have put her on wetter home made food but I panicked a bit because of the kidney issues and because she is on prednisolone for bronchitis so I added a bit of milk to her water (she has always been able to tolerate small amounts of neat milk) and she lapped it up. I also gave her broth from cooking the meat. So now she won't consider straight water!
She is not dehydrated however and seems well otherwise. I would tough it out were it not for these other issues.But the vets gave me a silly little sample bottle so they can do a urine check to rule out a water infection. Yeah right... Has anyone had to collect a urine sample from a dog?
Edit: I'll do a separate thread on this.

My older dog had a few UTIs so I was often seen chasing her around the garden with a little pot.
I cut down an old take away tray, sterilised it with boiling water and just popped in under when she went and it can be easily poured into the vet's pot.

My dog is raw fed and drinks very little, in fact usually only when she's been running, her diet has all the water she needs, so I wouldn't worry too much, unless they're showing signs of dehydration.

HTH, all the best x

Just a big thank you to everyone for the advice. The 'taking the piss' day is Friday. I think I will have to try to do this under cover as the neighbours already think I'm a bit strange...

Yes it certainly did help thank you. I've looked into joining that group but I got a very 'heavy' email response (with lots of words in capitals for emphasis ) requiring all sorts of info - including name and address and a paid email (which I don't have) account. They even want to know the name of anyone referring. Over the years I've joined a few Yahoo groups and loads of forums but I've never had anything like that.
Do you mind me asking if you got the Burns mixer at a high street shop? So far have only been able to find it online.
Cheers

Well I did warn you

I've found the dogaware website has pretty much everything I need to know and is much more user-friendly.

Regarding the Burns mixer, I usually get it online from them direct (they deliver within 24 hours) unless there's some unmissable offer elsewhere - it's worth googling around to check.

The dogaware website is great.
I'm going to order some of that Burns mixer to go with her home cooked food. This dog is eating better than me!
I don't think she has kidney disease as yet but higher levels of urea and creatinine have been flagged up as a warning.
Plus as she has ongoing bronchial problems I need her to be as healthy as possible.
At the vets suggestion, I got a small bag of a proprietary kidney blend which I'm using up in a small amount for breakfast at the mo (dinner is home cooked). Looking at the ingredients, it may well be 'balanced' but it's rubbish.