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Does your dog have liver disease or problems, and as a result, often turns their nose up at their food? Lack of appetite is a common symptom of liver disease in dogs and can be anxiety-inducing for a dog parent, who quite rightly wants them to eat for their health. If your pooch has a liver that’s somewhat dysfunctional, sourcing the most beneficial food for them - and making sure they want to eat it - is an essential part of their ongoing treatment.
So, what’s the best dog food for dogs with liver disease? In this article we’ll go through the attributes you’ll need to look for when planning the best diet for your liver-strained pooch, and go over some key foods they should and shouldn’t eat in order to stay fit and well.
Just as in humans, the liver is mightily important to a dog’s internal function - put simply, it helps digest food, filter toxins and regulate the blood. There’s lots of contributors to liver disease in dogs, and if you’re not sure if your dog has it, you can read more about its symptoms and causes here.
If you already know that your dog has liver disease, you’ll hopefully be aware that the right diet is essential to their daily functioning and needs to be carefully chosen. A diet that’s tailored to support a damaged liver is called a hepatic diet - and that’s a phrase you’ll want to remember. A hepatic diet contains easily digestible ingredients and a clever balance of food groups that will nourish your dog, and their liver, while putting as little pressure on the organ as possible.
So when your dog has liver disease or problems, you’ll want to find a high-quality hepatic dog food for their regular meals. But what exactly does this mean, and what should you look for when sourcing this food?
Let’s lay out the main attributes of a hepatic diet, i.e. the best food for your dog’s liver problems:
Usually, a hepatic dog food has:
Though protein-heavy food is usually recommended for dogs of standard health, for dogs with liver dysfunction it tends to be the opposite. The liver works especially hard to process protein, so reducing the amount it has to work with means your dog’s body isn’t being put under stress that it can’t handle.
Protein is still an essential food group however, so dog food for liver disease will usually derive protein from small amounts of fish, eggs or peas as an alternative to red meat or offal.
So exactly what kind of food should you go for that supports a liver-friendly, hepatic diet for dogs?
For dogs with liver issues who also have a grain allergy or who prefer a grain-free diet, Pooch & Mutt offers a vet recommended, specialist dog food for liver disease that contains zero grain. Our Veterinary Food for Liver Disease uses the specifications of a hepatic diet for healthy liver function and is entirely grain-free. What’s more, unlike other prescription hepatic foods, we’ve boosted flavour by adding delicious chicken skin and salmon oil - the perfect amount of succulent fats to make it irresistible to dogs who may have gone off their food. To top it off, we’ve added milk thistle - its nutrients are excellent for liver function.
If your vet has instructed that your pooch eat hepatic dog food, then a premium specialist hepatic food such as our Pooch & Mutt Vet range should be fine, but chat it over with your vet first to be sure.
Hepatic dog food is usually prescribed for dogs with the following conditions:
If your dog doesn’t have liver problems, do not feed them hepatic dog food as it doesn’t contain the right balance of ingredients to support a standard dog diet and they could become unwell.
Not only are blueberries deemed a ‘superfood’ for humans, in moderation they are packed full of benefits for dogs too - and are even recommended for boosting liver function in dogs. Blueberries contain anthocyanins - clever antioxidants that protect the liver from oxidative stress; and also Vitamin K, which is especially good for liver health.
Peanut butter is generally safe to give your dog, however unprocessed peanut butter is not recommended for liver disease and it's always best to check the packaging for any harmful substances.
Unprocessed peanut butter contains aflatoxins which is a cancer-causing mycotoxin that often targets the liver.
The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) warns that acute, prolonged exposure to aflatoxins “inhibit the normal functions of the liver, including carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and protein synthesis.”
Finally, any peanut butter brand that contains Xylitol - an artificial sweetener that is fine for humans, but toxic to dogs - should definitely be avoided, as Xylitol has also been reported to contribute to liver failure.
If your dog is craving peanut butter, our dental sticks are a great option for those with hepatic disease as they're low in protein too.
Bananas sometimes get a bad rep for being relatively high fat and high sugar, but they’re high in B vitamins and a safe snack for dogs with liver disease when given in moderation.
Eggs are one of the best sources of protein for dogs with liver disease. As they’re nutrient-rich and gentle on digestion, eggs are a tasty alternative to meat protein sources (especially red meat) as part of a hepatic diet.
Yummy sweet potatoes are packed with B vitamins which help support liver function, so it’s a great food option for a dog with liver disease. It’s also rich in starch and a good source of complex carbohydrates.
There’s lots of reasons dogs develop liver disease, and this can dictate what foods they should and shouldn’t eat. Some dogs have liver dysfunction due to copper build-up, for instance, so need to avoid foods rich in copper - but for other dogs, this may not be the case. Always talk to your vet to get specific recommendations over the needs of your pooch.
Usually, dogs with liver disease are recommended to avoid:
If your pooch has a poorly liver, you may be nervous over whether they’re eating the best food for their condition, especially as dogs with liver dysfunction suffer from a suppressed appetite. With the right specialist dog food, however, you needn’t worry - as they’ll be getting the exact right balance of food groups and nutrients to support their liver’s needs and boost their health and wellbeing overall.
Pooch & Mutt’s Veterinary Range has been developed for a variety of specific health conditions in dogs - including our Hepatic/Liver Veterinary Food which contains all the active ingredients and specifications of a prescription dog food on a tasty, grain-free base. With added chicken skin and salmon oil, your pooch will be licking the bowl clean every mealtime.
If you're worried your pooch might be suffering with liver problems, take a look at our blog post all about liver disease in dogs.
Comments (57)
How much would I feed a 16 lb dog? Do you ship to the United States?
Hi Adrian, We aren’t able to ship the US currently, but I will feedback to the team and hopefully we can in the near future :)
Hi Heidi,
We do have 2 dry foods available that don’t contain chicken, both our Health & Digestion and Skin & Coat dry food would be suitable for your pooch. :)
My dog is 15 weeks old and has been.diagnosed with liver shunt and has to be put on a HA plan
Is this hepatic food suitable for my puppy being so young
Hi Paul,
Our Hepatic food is suitable for puppies and if you would like to reach out to the team on [email protected] , we can send you the feeding guidelines over. We would still advise consulting with your vet, but our product team have confirmed this is suitable for puppies. :)
My dog has a lesion on her liver. Last year she had a benign mass removed from her liver.
Hi
Love the idea of this dry food for dogs with liver disease being so this is an issue with dogs and we know prescription dog food isn’t very tasty
Why haven’t you come up with a wet dog food to feed alongside your dry ?
Hi Jane,
We have passed this feedback onto our team and hopefully we can release a wet food that could be fed alongside our dry food :)
My Daisy has liver problems and has had for several years, she is also an
extremely fussy eater so am restricted to what she will eat, my vet is aware of this, she gets scans and blood tests every 6 months, and never any changes, but am worried she is not getting enough of the essentials, but the vet is very happy with her, she gets a small bite mixer and a small thin piece of steak, she will not eat anything else, I’m at my wits end with her, she is also allergic to chicken.
My dog will not eat dry food. Is there a hepatic canned food? He is bad about not chewing his food. He is 14 years old with elevated ALT.
Hi Carol,
We don’t currently have a Hepatic wet food available, but we will get this feedback passed onto the team! :)
Do you know when you will be shipping your products to the US? My dog is currently on a hepatic diet and I’m always looking for hepatic foods for him to try-only a few ones here in the US and some hard to get (like Royal Canin). I would be interested in trying your food for my dog.
Hi Fern,
We don’t currently ship to the US, but this is something the team are actively working on! :)
Hi my dog ALP and GGT is a little high but ALT and AST are in normal range. Can I give this hepatic food to my dog?
Hi Pariya,
We reached out to vet Linda on this and she has mentioned that we can’t advise on whether or not this dog has hepatic disease.
We would suspect not, given the normal ALT and further tests are needed.
Unless your vet had explicitly said to, we don’t think hepatic food is appropriate here. If you have any other questions, please do reach out to the team on [email protected] :)
My yorkie is twelve and her. Liver numbers are up would your food be good for her
Hi Carol, we would only advise feeding this food if your vet has recommended you feed a Hepatic diet due to liver disease. If you have any other questions, please do reach out to the team on [email protected] :)
Checking in to see If you’re delivering to the US?
Hi Lisa,
We don’t currently ship to the US, but this is something the team are actively working on! :)
I’d love if you could ship to us in the U.S.
Hi Catherine,
We don’t currently ship to the US, but this is something the team are actively working on! :)
do you deliver to Canada? what is your anticipated date you plan on delivering to the US? does any supplier deliver to the US?
thanks
Hi Kirsty,
Unfortunately, we don’t currently ship to the US/Canada, but this is something the team are actively working on and I will be sure to get this feedback passed on :)
Hi my dog is on pooch an mutts dry food just now but I found out she has liver prob so need change her diet I’d like to try the pooch mutt wet food what would you recommend for her she ti eat boiled chicken turkey white fish an veg she so fussy it’s not easy getting her to eat x
Hi Elizabeth,
Our Hepatic Dry Food is designed specifically for pooches with liver disease and may be a good option, we don’t currently have any wet foods suitable unfortunately. We will however be sure to get this feedback passed on – if you would like some more specific advise then please do reach out to the team on [email protected] :)
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