High cost of food for renal diet

LooniesMum

Just wondering if anyone has found buying renal diet food online cheaper than at the vets? He's been on the renal diet (Royal Canin) for about five weeks now. He's OK with it but there's very little choice by way of flavour. Also, the vet said we could give our cat tuna or chicken "to encourage him to eat" (not quite sure what that means.....). So we give him some chicken and tuna (without salt) if we've had some ourselves. Am just wondering if it would be cheaper to give him a tin of tuna a day (though would have to ask the vet next trip about that one)?!

He's putting up with the prescription food but now scavenges much more than before and there's been a bit of 'breaking and entering' going on in the kitchen at night!! If we throw any sandwich scraps out for the birds he dashes out there to lick the butter and cheese off!

Mark_stimpo

Hi the company where i get my dog food from, sells the Royal canin renal support food nutrecare.co.uk/prod1.asp?ID=146, dont know how much it is at your vets but these prices are £22.99 for a 4kg bag and £27.69 for 48 pouches of the food in either tuna, beef or chicken flavour, i pay £3.95 delivery to.

~Chameleon~

LooniesMum wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has found buying renal diet food online cheaper than at the vets? He's been on the renal diet (Royal Canin) for about five weeks now. He's OK with it but there's very little choice by way of flavour. Also, the vet said we could give our cat tuna or chicken "to encourage him to eat" (not quite sure what that means.....). So we give him some chicken and tuna (without salt) if we've had some ourselves. Am just wondering if it would be cheaper to give him a tin of tuna a day (though would have to ask the vet next trip about that one)?!

He's putting up with the prescription food but now scavenges much more than before and there's been a bit of 'breaking and entering' going on in the kitchen at night!! If we throw any sandwich scraps out for the birds he dashes out there to lick the butter and cheese off!

Please don't give him a tin of tuna a day, especially if he already has kidney problems as it's far too high in sodium. Even the canned tuna in spring water or oil contains far too much for a cat. It's only suitable as a very occasional treat but I wouldn't give any at all to a cat in renal failure.

I don't know what you're currently paying for you food but have a look here to see if it's any cheaper....

http://www.vetuk.co.uk/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=royal+canin+feline+renal

LooniesMum

Maybe the vet just meant us to give tuna in the earlier stages when he wasn't eating at all (though that turned out to be his teeth not his kidneys!). We're back at the vets this week so I'll ask again.

I've paid £18.32 this week at the vet's for 24 pouches of wet food which is 76 p per sachet I think.

LooniesMum

PS: He's only shared some of our tuna twice in 6 weeks (though he would stand on your head to get to it....)

LooniesMum

Thanks for that - does look a bit cheaper on line, 65 p per sachet if you buy a box of 32 from vetuk.

LooniesMum

Make that 71 p per sachet from vetuk including delivery.....

spookylukey

If your (heavy) food order is over £39 at VetUK then delivery is free so you could bulk buy.

My cat wouldn't eat renal foods, which in a way I was thankful for as they were so expensive, so I fed her low phosphorous regular foods ie Felix senior in the aluminium trays.

This site is an absolute mine of information and there is lots of info on suitable diets...

http://www.felinecrf.org/

http://www.felinecrf.org/which_foods.htm

LooniesMum

Thanks Spooky, that's useful. The Royal Canin which he currently eats is 0.37% Phosphorus, whereas the Felix Senior is 1.21% Phos. My cat had advanced renal failure when it was detected, so he may not be allowed any slack diet wise! He's back at the vet tomorrow (he's still struggling with his teeth and wasn't fit for the op cos of the kidney problem). We'll stick with Royal Canin for now and try to bulk buy, and I'll ask the vet if it's ok to use Felix Senior if we hit a fussy stage!

spookylukey

Sorry I should have mentioned that the Felix senior was chosen as it was one of the lowest 'non CRF' foods but that I sprinkled an odourless and tasteless phosphorous binder on it. She had regular blood tests and her phos levels were always within the correct ranges for phosphorous when using the binders. In the end she decided she would prefer Gourmet Pearl so that was sprinkled with binders too and again the phos levels were always within range.

http://www.felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#phosphorus_binders

pinkneonmartini

Our yorkie is in renal failure, and our vet specifically told us not to use the renal-specific foods, as they offer very little nutritional difference to some of the more "premium" dog foods, and would only be beneficial if swapping from a poor initial diet like supermarket own economy tinned food or human food (apparently there are some very funny folk round my way who think it's perfectly normal to give their dog tea & biscuits/hotdogs/burgers/leftover currys etc :eek:).

So we have had her on either chicken/turkey/any white fish/salmon with wheatabix and skimmed milk, for about a year now, and with her meds (Fortekor) her kidney function has improved from "it's time to think about letting her go" last Easter, and by September it was NORMAL!!!! Our vet is absolutely gobsmacked! Even her phosphorus & urea which were well and truly off the scales, normal is 20 she was 180, are back down to about 12 lol!

She can be really faddy, due to her other problems (diabetic&pancreatitis) so when she's being moody about her food she has a tray of poultry based Caeser Editions (smaller than standard tray of Caeser with meat &veg) or a pouch of Felix lol. Even the vets keep a stash of Felix in now, as she has to go in regularly for glucose curves, but it's sods law that this day-long treatment tends to set off her faddiness, and its often all they can get her to eat.

Our vet told us to treat it a bit like weight watchers, she can have anything in moderation, so things like "regular" dog food and doggy treats, have become her luxury items, and fresh white meats & wheatabix are her staple diet.

I don't know if it works quite the same in Cats, but it might be worth looking into? We get the bags of 10 frozen white fish fillets/chicken fillets at under £2 and they last the week, their pre portioned, and theres no risk of them going to waste if she has a faddy. But her all time favourite is hot turkey mince (79p a bag) on a bit of puppy mixer (£1 a bag) to soak up the juices. Not quite sure what the cat equivalent of puppy mixer is?????

Just a suggestion anyway