Kidney (organ meat)
CautionPlain, fully cooked kidney in small amounts is fine for most dogs. The risk is quantity and preparation: too much causes vomiting and diarrhea, raw kidney carries bacteria, and pan-fried or seasoned kidney brings salt, onion and garlic.
This food guide has not been reviewed by a veterinarian. It summarises general information from sources and should not be used to decide whether a food is suitable for an individual dog or to assess an emergency.
Check before feeding
Check the precautions before sharing
Risk depends on preparation, ingredients or amount. Read the precautions below; body weight alone cannot establish a safe portion.
Signs and health concerns
This list includes both observable signs and conditions identified through examination or testing. It cannot establish the cause or whether an exposure is safe.
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Loose stool
- Excess gas
- Loss of appetite
- Lethargy
- Abdominal pain
- Dehydration
- Salmonella infection
More about this food
Kidney is beef, pork or lamb offal, dense in protein, iron, B vitamins and selenium. Nothing about it is toxic to dogs. It sits under caution for three reasons.
Quantity is the first. Organ meat is nutritionally dense, and the moment it goes past a spoonful stirred into a meal, the gut answers. The usual result is loose stool, diarrhea, vomiting and gas. A widely used rule of thumb keeps all organ meat combined, liver plus kidney plus heart, under about 5% of the diet, with all treats inside 10% of daily calories. VCA's point about feeding is that a dog's diet has to be complete and balanced in the correct proportions, and the more unbalanced topping you pile on, the less true that stays.
Preparation is the second. Raw kidney carries the raw-meat problem intact: FDA's survey found Salmonella in 15 of 196 raw pet food samples and Listeria monocytogenes in 32, and Merck ties raw meat feeding to clinical salmonellosis and to fecal shedding linked to human illness in the same household. Cooked the way people eat it is a different problem: steak-and-kidney pie, devilled kidneys and pan-fried kidney all arrive with butter, salt, onion, garlic and often Worcestershire sauce. Merck puts salt toxicosis at 2-3 g/kg for signs and about 4 g/kg as the acute lethal dose, and reports garlic as three to five times more toxic than onion, with most poisonings coming from concentrated powders. Allium hemolysis appears 3-5 days after the meal.
The individual dog is the third. Kidney is high in protein and phosphorus, which makes it a poor fit for a dog on a prescription renal diet. Do not add it without asking your veterinarian. One clarification worth making: vitamin A toxicosis is a liver problem, not a kidney one. VCA names raw liver, cod liver oil and vitamin A supplements as the causes and does not list kidney.
A small piece of plain cooked kidney is usually uneventful. Call your veterinarian if a large amount produced ongoing vomiting or diarrhea or signs of dehydration, and call after any seasoned dish, noting the amount and time. Do not induce vomiting at home. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is at (888) 426-4435.
Frequently asked questions
- How much kidney can I give my dog?
- Keep all organ meat combined, liver plus kidney plus heart, to roughly 5% of the diet, and keep all treats inside 10% of daily calories. For a small dog that means a piece or two chopped over a meal. Cook it plain and fully, with no salt, butter, onion or garlic.
- Isn't raw kidney more nutritious?
- Raw brings the bacteria with it. FDA found Salmonella and Listeria in raw pet food samples, and Merck notes dogs can shed those organisms without looking sick and have been linked to illness in people in the same home. Cooking leaves the protein, iron and B vitamins intact, so cook it.
- My dog ate kidney out of a steak-and-kidney pie. Is that a problem?
- The kidney is the least of it. That dish carries butter, salt, onion, often Worcestershire sauce, and pastry fat, which is a pancreatitis and Allium exposure at once. Note the amount and time and call your veterinarian, and watch gum color, urine color and breathing for five days.