advice for elderly cat and renal diet

charlie3090

Hi all,
I am hoping for some advice regarding the foods available for elderly
cats with reduced kidney function.
I took my 18 yr old to the vets as she has been drinking a lot more
the last couple of weeks,
shes in good shape for her age but her kidneys are not working as well as they could be.
the vet has advised for her to go on a special diet,gave me some samples of royal canin ,I nearly fell over when they told me they
were £9.99 for 12 pouches.
can any of you lovely people advise me of a good place to buy
these or something similar please?,
thanks in advance,
Charlie.

Lilith1980

Hi,

My old boy is now on a renal diet. I order Hills Science Plan K/D food online from pets at home - it's £7.50 for 12 pouches. I'm not sure you'll find them much cheaper to be honest. I was shocked with the price too lol.

There is also the zooplus website where I believe you can buy larger quantities which might work out a bit cheaper

EDIT: Just noticed your username. My boy's name is Charlie

charlie3090

Thank you so much,
I will look in pets at home,
Charlie is one of my other cats name, he is a huge black and white tom but soft as butter,
thanks again,
Charlie.

GwylimT

You can feed any wet food with a phosphorus binder, royal canin etc renal foods are high in sugar and low in animal protein, a big no no for any cat.

Marmaduke123

I'm in the same position as you. My 14 year old cat Chloe has recently been diagnosed with Stage 2 kidney disease, and the special renal diet recommended.

I bought a few Royal Canin pouches from the vet as I wasn't sure she would eat a diet food. Fortunately she really likes them, so I ordered a bulk purchase from Zooplus - free delivery over £29, and you can pay just under £5 pounds to get 7% off every purchase including your first, in addition to any special offers they may have.

This was the best deal I could find - the renal food is terribly expensive but at least it's cheaper than the vets! I tried a branch of Pets at Home but they didn't stock it. They do online, but dearer than Zooplus

Torry_Quine

When my cat had renal problems ( which I diagnosed, but the vet confirmed) I was told to feed the lowest protein wet food I could get mixed with cooked boiled rice. She didn't have fancy food just regular tinned food.

Marmaduke123

GwylimT wrote: »

You can feed any wet food with a phosphorus binder, royal canin etc renal foods are high in sugar and low in animal protein, a big no no for any cat.

It's not only a question of reducing phosphorus though is it? I've looked into this a bit as I was unsure about low protein too at first. The renal food has above minimal requirements for cats, and it's higher quality protein than most wet food. Renal cats need more calories to maintain weight, and the food also has extra omega 3 and other vitamins and minerals balanced for renal cats.

Look at the tanyackd website for loads of information. Any wet food with a phosphorus binder is better than not eating at all if your cat won't eat the renal food. Getting food in them is the top priority.

charlie3090

thank you to you all for all the great advice and tips,
Im really grateful for your replies,
Charlie.

no1catman

My previous cat (as opposed to current one) had CRF - at nineteen her blood test results were three times the 'high' figure - indeed one of them was off the scale!
The challenge was to find anything she would east! She had lost weight, we'd gone past the howling at night stage.
One thing that we tried that was useful - was too add hot water to her food, to make it into a thick soup. It stopped her imperative to go out for a drink in the early hours - sometimes two or three times!
Her appetite was saved by fish fingers! Yes seriously, microwaved a couple of fish fingers, cut the 'breadcrumbs' coating off, chop it up a bit - onto saucer - give to cat.
It restarted her eating, and after being told by the Vet (in February) 'weeks' she enjoyed the summer sun in the garden. However, in November, when she lost the ability to 'jump' we new it was time, and said good-bye when she was almost twenty-and-a-half - back in 2008 still miss her.

charlie3090

Thank you no1catman,
thats really useful,shes always been a small eater,
so far she is not very keen on the hills renal sachets,as Marmaduke123 said,getting food in them is the top priority so I will try both the fish fingers and hot water,
thanks again for your help,
Charlie.

Marmaduke123

Do be careful! If your cat is in early stage kidney failure it's important to keep phosphorus and protein low.

If it's more advanced then getting them to eat anything at all becomes a priority. Maybe try a different brand of the kidney food? Or consult the vet nurse about options. Or look at this website

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

I think there's a Facebook group too.