Feeding Patients that have Chronic Kidney Disease: The Controversy and Lessons from the Literature

Nutritional assessment of patients with chronic kidney disease A complete nutritional assessment and staging of a patient’s chronic kidney disease (CKD) is required prior to making nutritional recommendations. The World Small Animal Veterinary Associations has guidelines to complete a nutrition assessment. 1 Guidelines for staging and sub-staging recommendations are provided by the International Renal Interest Society (IRIS).2 When taking a diet and general history, the owner of a patient with CKD should be questioned about appetite, weight loss and time frame for weight loss, current diet, evaluation of current protein intake, treats or table foods, foods used for medication administration, and supplements. Evaluation of the patient should include body weight, body condition score (BCS), evaluation of muscle mass, and systolic blood pressure. Important laboratory parameters include creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), potassium, albumin, bicarbonate, urine specific gravity, and urine protein-to-creatinine ratio.