Cat with kidney problem

Marmaduke123

Our cat with chronic kidney disease fortunately liked the Royal Canin renal food, but I know a lot of cats won't touch it.

This is a very good website about the condition, with all the information you could possibly want. It includes a guide to suitable food

https://www.felinecrf.org

Our cat with the condition lived for over two years following diagnosis, quite happy and active until the last couple of months. She went downhill quite quickly at the end. She was over 16 when we had her pts.

charlie3090

nicter wrote: »

We have had cats over the years with renal problems We, like you ,have tried various kidney diets and all have been rejected by our cats We decided that quality was more important than quantity and they were allowed to eat what they liked

Our previous boy lasted 3 years from diagnosis so didn't seem to do him much harm !

I too have a cat with kidney disease,at 17 they said her kidneys were bad and had to have a special diet,she wouldnt touch any of them.
I decide to focus on her eating what she wants in the time she had left.
She is now 21, skinny, deaf,her fur is tatty but she eats well,drinks(a lot), plays ,can still jump around and is content,I know she is near the end of her life now but until the time comes she still has quality of life which is the most important thing.

donnac2558

nicter wrote: »

We have had cats over the years with renal problems We, like you ,have tried various kidney diets and all have been rejected by our cats We decided that quality was more important than quantity and they were allowed to eat what they liked

Our previous boy lasted 3 years from diagnosis so didn't seem to do him much harm !

My 15 year nearly 16 was found to have kidney problems last year, she has to go every 2 months for blood tests and is stable. It did start the year before and then seemed to settle but the bloods taken a few months later showed her kidneys would not return to normal. But she refuses to eat the kidney food, I have 4 boxes of the wet stuff. I moved her to James Wellbeloved wet as she actually eats that. My vet said it was quality food and a compromise. As she is also has a tendency to getting cystitis so no dried food. I was also told to give her a potassium supplement. I buy it online. She does have to take the Simintra(sp) liquid as my vet decided to get her started on it

KiKi

Both my vet and a specialist said that the current thinking around a diet for cats with kidney disease is moving away from a renal specific diet - which was the recommendation in the past. Current research is (apparently) more that they should eat full stop, rather than trying to get them on a low protein, low phosphorus diet if they won't eat it. There are downsides of a low protein diet, which may be as damaging as eating higher protein foods which are good for muscle mass (which they lose with failing kidneys).

Like the previous poster, I also took the view that I'd rather my cat ate properly, than making her eat something she clearly detested. I didn't let her eat pure protein (like Applaws or Almo Nature) but I did let her eat cra**y foods like Gourmet, and occasionally Whiskas, esp near the end, as I just wanted her to eat, regardless of what she was eating. I also gave her Semintra (vet prescribed) which was brilliant.

And like other posters, there were fewer signs for a while, then she suddenly went downhill and I knew I couldn't let her suffer anymore.

I wouldn't let your cat eat dry food anymore (unless that's all she'll eat), and if she's eating pure tuna type foods (like Applaws) then add water to them to ensure she drinks a lot.

The reality is that a different diet isn't going to make a *really* significant different to your cat long term. My vet and my specialist were both of the view that she needed to eat full stop, and that forcing her to eat food she hated was leaving her with a lower body weight which was contradicting the kidney disease anyway, all for a potential few extra months. I just fed her what she wanted in the end, and she lived a good year after being diagnosed with stage 4 CKD.

Unfortunately I don't have the research / evidence for what my vet said, but he's a feline specific vet, and I took his and the specialist's word for it!

HTH
KiKi

Starbar1972

Thanks for your replies everyone, sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get back to you. I'll have a good look at the website too.

To be honest, it's horrible seeing her so miserable on renal food so I've given her her usual normal food. She seems much happier and settled and looks healthier, if that makes sense. I'd rather see her like this and have a good quality of life. Will try the renal tuna food as well.

Back at the vets in 2 months for repeat bloods so I'll see how they come back and take it from there.

Thanks everyone x

jenny-wren

We have a cat who was diagnosed with kidney disease in November 2017. It took us almost 6 months to get her onto an entirely renal diet. Being the diva that she is, she wouldn't touch Royal Canin or Hills wet food. We tried almost everything before we discovered that she would eat Purina NF Renal Function (chunks in gravy which we mash up) and Specific FKW (pate). She'll eat more or less any renal dry but, having very few teeth, we found that Kattovit Renal dry was small enough for her to manage. We give her that to graze on overnight or when we're out.
She can be a really picky eater but warming the food and raising the food dish seems to help.
Our vet advised that if a cat won't eat renal food then senior food is the next best wet food option. You can also add a phosphorus binder to any food that any food that she will eat (we used Ipakitine).
It's also worth investing in a water fountain. We have the Cat Mate Fountain (available from Amazon, Zooplus and Pets at Home).
Almost 14 months on her kidney results are stable (partly down to diet and partly due to her also getting sub-cutaneous fluids at home every 3 days) and she's a very contented but rather overweight puss!

no1catman

Starbar1972 wrote: »

In her drinking bowl? Yes I do, is that ok?

Rainwater is best. Do you have any water butts outside? Does the cat go out? Is there any old dishes/saucers you could leave outside.
I've got an old litter tray.
To help with the need to drink, I added a bit of warm water to her wet food, and stirred into a soup, it stopped the howling to go out at night.

My previous cat's blood test results were about triple of 'high' one was off the scale! Sometimes its better that they eat something rather than not eat the right thing. Bizarrely a couple of fishfingers saved her (no breadcrumbs)- all she would eat.

Finally PTS when she was twenty and a half - her back legs weren't strong enough to jump.

Good luck.

Redacted

My old boy had kidney problems for the last few years before he passed. The site that Marmaduke123 posted a link to is excellent.

It contains a list of the phosphate and protein content of a lot of different types of cat foods, so if your cat won’t eat any of the renal diets, you can still pick one that is lower in phosphate and protein and use a binder.

I used Vet UK to get most of our supplies as was cheaper than buying from the vet. They’ve got a few different brands of renal foods as well as potassium supplements and phosphate binders, should you need them. Zooplus also has quite a few different brands of renal foods too. Although it can get expensive buying lots of different types for them to turn their noses up at it.

I found that my boy would (mostly) eat them for a few weeks and then I’d need to rotate onto the next food. I also found that things he turned his nose up at initially he might eat when tried again after a few weeks. It was all rather hit and miss though and eating something is more important than eating renal food.

gettingready

I had a cat diagnosed with kidney issues and renal food was recommended.

He hated any renal food I tried.

I decided him to eat what he LIKED for the rest of his life rather than try to prolong it at the cost of him being unhappy/hungry.

I had to PTS about 2 years after diagnosis but those were 2 good years for him.

If your cat hates renal diet - just give him/her what he/she ENJOYS xx