Sodium Limits for Dogs With Heart Disease: Milligrams per 1,000 kcal by Dog Weight and Low-Sodium Foods to Buy in Ontario

Most dogs with heart disease do best on a diet supplying 500–800 mg of sodium per 1,000 kcal for moderate restriction, dropping below 500 mg per 1,000 kcal in advanced congestive heart failure. Early-stage dogs usually only need salty treats and table food removed. Never drop below AAFCO's minimum of roughly 200 mg per 1,000 kcal without veterinary direction.

Milligrams per 1,000 kilocalories is the only fair comparison unit, because a bag printing "0.3% sodium" means nothing until you account for how calorie-dense that food is. Below you'll find the conversion math, daily sodium ceilings by body weight, the hidden salt sources that wreck an otherwise careful plan, and which formats to look for when you browse dry dog food or ask our staff to pull a manufacturer's typical analysis in person.

How veterinary sodium targets are set, and where the numbers come from

Veterinary cardiologists grade sodium restriction in three tiers: mild at roughly 800–1,000 mg per 1,000 kcal, moderate at 500–800 mg per 1,000 kcal, and severe below 500 mg per 1,000 kcal. The tier depends on disease stage and medication list — not on breed, not on size.

The 2019 ACVIM consensus statement on myxomatous mitral valve disease, indexed through NCBI/PubMed, advises avoiding high-salt foods and treats from Stage B1 onward, with deliberate dietary restriction once congestive signs appear at Stage C. Cardiology teaching services such as Tufts Cummings Veterinary Medical Center make the same point in plainer language: removing the salty extras often matters more than switching the base diet in early disease.

There is a floor as well as a ceiling. AAFCO dog food nutrient profiles — carried into the current Official Publication, including the 2026 revision cycle — set adult maintenance sodium at a minimum of 0.08% on a dry-matter basis, which works out to roughly 200 mg per 1,000 kcal. Sodium is an essential electrolyte, and dogs taking a loop diuretic such as furosemide are already excreting more of it. Chasing the lowest number you can find can cause real harm, which is why a written target from your veterinarian beats guesswork every time.

The conversion math, worked twice

To convert a guaranteed analysis figure into mg per 1,000 kcal, multiply the sodium percentage by 10,000 to get mg per kilogram of food, then divide by the food's kcal per kilogram expressed in thousands.

• Example 1: 0.35% sodium at 3,800 kcal/kg → 3,500 mg/kg ÷ 3.8 = 921 mg per 1,000 kcal — mild restriction at best.
• Example 2: 0.20% sodium at 3,600 kcal/kg → 2,000 mg/kg ÷ 3.6 = 556 mg per 1,000 kcal — solid moderate restriction.

Many standard adult maintenance kibbles land between 800 and 1,800 mg per 1,000 kcal. A dog who needs moderate restriction therefore needs a different formula, not smaller scoops. Shrinking portions lowers total sodium, yes — but it also cuts protein content and calories, which is the worst possible trade for a cardiac patient at risk of losing lean muscle.

Daily sodium ceilings by dog weight

Using a maintenance energy requirement of about 110 × body weight in kg^0.75 — reasonable for the reduced activity level of most cardiac dogs — here are approximate daily sodium allowances at the moderate (800 mg/1,000 kcal) and stricter (500 mg/1,000 kcal) targets:

• 5 kg (11 lb) — about 370 kcal/day → roughly 295 mg sodium at moderate, 185 mg at strict
• 10 kg (22 lb) — about 620 kcal/day → roughly 495 mg at moderate, 310 mg at strict
• 20 kg (44 lb) — about 1,040 kcal/day → roughly 830 mg at moderate, 520 mg at strict
• 30 kg (66 lb) — about 1,410 kcal/day → roughly 1,130 mg at moderate, 705 mg at strict
• 40 kg (88 lb) — about 1,750 kcal/day → roughly 1,400 mg at moderate, 875 mg at strict

Those totals cover everything the dog swallows: meals, chews, dental treats, pill pockets, the corner of toast someone slipped under the table. It's why an 11 lb Cavalier is so easy to overshoot. One ounce (28 g) of salted deli meat carries roughly 300–400 mg of sodium — a small dog's entire moderate allowance, gone in three seconds.

Where the sodium actually hides in a cardiac dog's day

In practice, the base diet is rarely the problem owners come in with. Treats, chews, training rewards, and medication delivery foods are where a carefully chosen 550 mg/1,000 kcal diet quietly turns into a 900 mg day. Customers often ask us to check a food's guaranteed analysis and then mention, almost in passing, that the dog gets two cheese-wrapped pills every morning.

The usual culprits, with rough sodium ranges per typical serving:

• Commercial pill pockets — frequently 50–120 mg per piece; two a day can be 240 mg, most of a 10 kg dog's strict allowance.
• Cheese — a 20 g cube of processed cheese can exceed 150 mg of sodium.
• Salted jerky strips and "seasoned" chews — salt is both a flavour agent and a preservative here; some strips run 200 mg+ per 30 g serving.
• Brine-processed rawhide and basted bones — variable and rarely disclosed.
• Human leftovers — deli meat, bacon, broth, bread crusts, and soup are the big four.

Our team at Ashario Pets recommends writing the daily milligram ceiling on a sticky note on the treat cupboard, because in multi-person households the sodium budget usually gets spent by whoever didn't read the vet's instructions. Pet owners tell us that switching the whole family to one jar of single-ingredient freeze-dried treats solves the problem faster than any lecture. When you shop dog treats, read the panel and stop at the first mention of salt, sea salt, or sodium-anything.

Related questions

How much sodium can a dog with heart disease have per day?

A 10 kg dog on moderate restriction can have roughly 495 mg of sodium daily, and a 30 kg dog about 1,130 mg. Under severe restriction for congestive heart failure, those fall to roughly 310 mg and 705 mg. Your veterinarian sets the tier using echocardiogram findings, current medications, and bloodwork.

Ask your clinic for a written milligrams-per-day number rather than a vague "feed something low-salt" instruction. With a figure in hand you can check any bag's guaranteed analysis and kcal/kg and know in under a minute whether it fits. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association is a useful starting point if you need to find a clinic or a referral cardiologist in Ontario.

What should a mitral valve disease dog diet look like?

A mitral valve disease diet is moderately sodium-restricted, calorie-dense enough to prevent weight loss, generous in high-quality protein (commonly 2.0–2.5 g per kg of body weight daily or more), and frequently supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids such as EPA and DHA. Palatability carries equal weight, because appetite tends to fade as the disease advances.

Cardiac cachexia — the loss of lean muscle seen in heart failure — is a bigger day-to-day threat than a slightly imperfect sodium figure. A food your dog refuses has 0% compliance. In our store we see customers do best when they keep two or three approved low-salt options in rotation plus a topper, so a dog who goes off one flavour still eats that evening. Warm water or a low-sodium wet dog food stirred through kibble lifts aroma and intake noticeably, especially in winter when GTA homes run dry and furnace-warm.

Are there genuinely low sodium dog treats in Canada?

Yes. Single-ingredient dehydrated and freeze-dried treats are the most dependable low-sodium category, because plain muscle meat, organ, fish, or sweet potato contains only naturally occurring sodium with nothing added for flavour or shelf life. Canadian-made options from Crumps' Naturals and Open Farm fit that description, and limited ingredient formats make label-checking fast.

Avoid jerky with salt in the ingredient list, cheese, "seasoned" bully sticks, brine-cured rawhide, most soft training treats, and commercial pill pockets. Treats alone can contribute 20–30% of a dog's daily sodium before anyone notices. If you need a training reward, a few grams of plain freeze-dried liver goes a long way — you can break one piece into six.

Do I need a prescription cardiac diet, or will an over-the-counter food work?

Over-the-counter foods can reach moderate restriction (500–800 mg per 1,000 kcal) if you choose carefully and verify the numbers. Severe restriction below 500 mg per 1,000 kcal, combined with the potassium and magnesium adjustments some diuretic-treated dogs require, generally calls for a veterinary therapeutic cardiac diet authorized and dispensed through your vet clinic.

That's an honest limit, and we'd rather state it than blur it. Retail formulas aren't formulated as therapeutic diets. What a specialty retailer can do well is help you locate a moderately restricted maintenance food, check it against the manufacturer's published typical analysis, and stock low-sodium treats and toppers so the prescribed diet doesn't get undone between meals. Our guide to pet food for specific needs outlines how those conversations usually go.

Does grain-free status matter for a dog with heart disease?

Grain-free is not a sodium question, and no causal link between grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy has been established. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine reviewed reported cases and has not confirmed a dietary cause. If your dog already carries a cardiac diagnosis, change diets with your veterinarian's input rather than on forum advice.

Taurine is the more productive conversation. Golden Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels, Newfoundlands, and Dobermans have documented taurine-responsive cardiomyopathy, and plasma taurine testing is a straightforward blood draw. Any move toward raw dog food or a novel protein for a cardiac patient should be cleared first, since raw and homemade diets vary widely in sodium and mineral balance between recipes and batches.

What to actually buy for a sodium-restricted dog

For moderate restriction, prioritize brands that publish a full typical analysis including sodium in mg per 100 kcal, choose an adult or senior life-stage formulation instead of an all-life-stages recipe (growth profiles carry higher sodium and mineral minimums), and replace every processed treat with a single-ingredient alternative. Puppy and performance formulas point in exactly the wrong direction.

Two brands on our shelves make the homework easier, for different reasons:

Beyond the base diet, build the rest of the plan around things you can verify. Plain single-ingredient chews instead of basted bones. A splash of unsalted bone broth rather than kitchen leftovers. Omega-3 supplementation only if your veterinarian recommends a dose — typical cardiac research protocols use roughly 40 mg EPA and 25 mg DHA per kg of body weight daily, which is a prescription-level decision, not a guess at the shelf. You can compare formats in our dog health and wellness range and read more on general care in our dog wellness guide.

Visit us at 1111A Finch Ave W, Unit 2, North York, ON M3J 2P7 — we're open 7 AM to 11 PM daily, and delivery is available across the GTA through apps like Uber Eats. Bring your vet's written sodium target and we'll check labels with you at the shelf.

Quick summary: Aim for 500–800 mg of sodium per 1,000 kcal for moderate restriction and under 500 mg per 1,000 kcal in advanced congestive heart failure, never below roughly 200 mg per 1,000 kcal. Convert any label by multiplying sodium percentage by 10,000 and dividing by kcal/kg in thousands. Count treats, chews, and pill pockets inside the daily milligram budget, and get the tier confirmed by your veterinarian.