Fred, stage 1-2 chronic kidney disease - advice on food etc

gettingready

Fred still not trusting the water fountain and drinking from a normal bowl.

All the rest - hapy with the fountain. Sighhhhh

BUT - Integra k/d and Hills k/d are Fred's new favourite food. Royal Canin - not really but Integra and Hills - great...

gettingready

Fred is still scared of the water fountain.. sigh....

Actually I do not see him drinking anything at all - hopefully he does when I am at work? Hmmmm

Food wise - Integra lost its appeal but he is happy with Hills K/D... sachets with littke chunks in it (Integra is a pate thingy).

Hills k/d absolutely STINKS - yukkkkkkkk

gettingready

Been away for a week visiting my daughter in the Lake District and had someone staying in with my furries.

Poor guy, how did he manage for a week I have no idea but he did hahaha

Fred is being fed separately his k/d food, he gobbles up Hills k/d sachets but not so keen on Animonda Integra k/d "squares" as much, still he is being fed separate and the main thing is that he eats..

So.....

The poor pet sitter had to:

lock Fred in the bathroom with his food
feed the other 3 cats in the kitchen making sure Zara does not steal their food
Give Teddy a tablet (Teddy was bitten by a dog just before I left, had a swollen elbow that needed to be drained and antibiotics twice per day for 6 days plus painkillers)
Give Zara a tablet (she is on Onsior, one per day, for life)
Let Fred out of the bathroom, clean all dishes so Fred or Zara do not have left overs after other cats
Take Zara for a walk
Feed Zara
top up cat's dry food, change water for Zara, top up filter for cats

all above before going to work for 7:30 - I really feel for him as he always thought it is not a big deal to look after 4 cats and a dog hahahahah

Similar after work again

In any case - all furries and pet sitter are fine.... sighhhh

Does anyone know why k/d food STINKS so bad?
I mean it really stinks as soon as I open a pouch/tray - the smell is absolutely horrible.. Got 4 different "flavours" but all same nasty yukkk smell....

Shoshannah

gettingready wrote: »

Been away for a week visiting my daughter in the Lake District and had someone staying in with my furries.

Poor guy, how did he manage for a week I have no idea but he did hahaha

Fred is being fed separately his k/d food, he gobbles up Hills k/d sachets but not so keen on Animonda Integra k/d "squares" as much, still he is being fed separate and the main thing is that he eats..

So.....

The poor pet sitter had to:

lock Fred in the bathroom with his food
feed the other 3 cats in the kitchen making sure Zara does not steal their food
Give Teddy a tablet (Teddy was bitten by a dog just before I left, had a swollen elbow that needed to be drained and antibiotics twice per day for 6 days plus painkillers)
Give Zara a tablet (she is on Onsior, one per day, for life)
Let Fred out of the bathroom, clean all dishes so Fred or Zara do not have left overs after other cats
Take Zara for a walk
Feed Zara
top up cat's dry food, change water for Zara, top up filter for cats

all above before going to work for 7:30 - I really feel for him as he always thought it is not a big deal to look after 4 cats and a dog hahahahah

Similar after work again

In any case - all furries and pet sitter are fine.... sighhhh

Does anyone know why k/d food STINKS so bad?
I mean it really stinks as soon as I open a pouch/tray - the smell is absolutely horrible.. Got 4 different "flavours" but all same nasty yukkk smell....

I hope you got him a big pressie!

I find that all wet food seems to reek but maybe that's just me! :rotfl:

gettingready

pressie?

you kidding?

on top of what I paid for this?

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

no, no pressie...:rotfl:

he was living in my place for a week by the way, kept his normal job, dog walker was still taking Zara lunch time but he was feeding/medicating/watering/walking morning/evening for a pre-agreed rate per day :cool:

all wet food smells but k/d is 10 times worse than any other I have ever fed to my furries...

gettingready

OK, time for an update.....

Fred is not interested in k/d food - despite the horrid smelly stuff costing me around £130 per month, for one cat :eek:

If he enjoyed it - fine, would have no problem but he does not.

Had to mix it for him with Felix as Good as it Looks - I know crap food BUT Fred would starve otherwise.

So at the moment he is going through about 6-8 sachets per day - I mix one kd with one Felix and he gobbles it down. While later he is begging for more.

This cat eats like a horse - he did never EVER touch dry food EVER - which is not a bad thing considering his kidney issues of course.

But I really wonder about that kidney failure diagnosis (bloods/USG confirmed) as Fred does not look/behave unwell. At all.

Does anyone know if there is anything else that could "mimic" blood results (not USG I guess) and make it look like kidney disease?

I trust my vet, she is a proper cat vet and really really good BUT even the best professionals can sometimes get it wrong.

Scratching head....

jenny-wren

We took in a stray cat last March. She was put on a kidney diet after blood tests came back showing abnormal kidney function before she had substantial dental work. The vet prescribed Hills k/d tins which she had difficulty eating. The food is so sticky it stuck to her gums. Although the vet reckons she's only about 4 years old, she only has 7 teeth left. We tried her on the Hills k/d dry food, she liked it and, as it's small, she managed to eat it despite the lack of teeth. However, I used it more as a supplement rather than her sole diet as I'd much rather feed her wet food because she's not a great drinker (unless it's cat milk). I asked the vet for an alternative and was given Royal Canin Renal pouches. She loved them. The texture and smell is much more appealing (to both me and the cat!).

We also bought a water fountain and sited it away from her food. It was two months before we saw her use it.

Two months later I asked the vet to retest her kidney function and it was perfectly normal. It may be worth getting repeat tests to see if the results are the same. If they are, it's worth trying the Royal Canin food. If the cat has dental problems, is it possible that a gum infection could be causing the kidney problems?

The only problem we had was that our little pudding piled on the pounds whilst on the kidney diet and is now on a metabolic diet to get the weight down. But she's one happy puss and, better still, she's found her forever home.

gettingready

Thanks - Royal Canin pouches is what Fred is on.

He does not have teeth problem, those were just cleaned for him.

Got the water fountain too.

Really scratching my head with Fred , his diagnosis and his appetite...

krlyr

Did you look into the possibility of his diet affecting results? I posted the link before re. raw diets creating high results on blood tests, and although I don't really know all that much in terms of cat diets (not having a cat myself), I would be looking into whether his high meat diet could have impacted on the blood test results.

gettingready

Thanks - I was also thinking about stress affecting his results as Fred being taken out f the house is a massive stress for him - panting like a dog, foaming at the mouth , the whole works.

So having him retested - will have to put him through this stress again.

Even if someone he does not know comes over - Fred dives under a duvet and does not come out till whoever it is is gone.

From my 4 boys, Fred is just MY cat ad terrified of anyone else/any "new" - always been like that...