Best canned food for cat with elevated kidney levels?

[ethelguy]

I hate being that person who posts something that has been asked before :/ I promise I've looked through recent posts, but it's really overwhelming, so I apologize!

I've posted about this elsewhere on the site, so bear with me if you've read it before! Buster seemingly inexplicably starved himself about 6 or so weeks ago. He's gone on bratty fasts before, but not one for so long. Then I believe he had a bad reaction to Frontline, a lot of his symptoms pointed to kidney issues, so I took him to the vet. They ruled out diabetes and thyroid problems, but said his kidneys were only slightly elevated in a way that was consistent with a cat who was a little dehydrated. Fast forward to now and he's eating about 10 oz of wet food a day, which I add water to. He's a big cat (not fat.. His legs were as long as Dali's elephants when he was a kitten) so I think he's close to what he should be eating.

Anyway, I want to give him the best, most ideal food to possibly prevent further kidney problems. We're going back in a couple of months for more blood work to make sure he's HOPEFULLY fine. I've looked at felinecrf.org, too. I had been feeding him and my other 3 Taste of the Wild dry and they seemed to love it until Buster decided he'd rather die than ever eat it again, haha. Their 3oz canned food is 8% protein and phosphorus is 0.31%. Is that ideal? Again, I apologize, but I wouldn't be asking if it clearly wasn't keeping me up at night, haha

 

[missmimz]

I hate being that person who posts something that has been asked before :/ I promise I've looked through recent posts, but it's really overwhelming, so I apologize!

I've posted about this elsewhere on the site, so bear with me if you've read it before! Buster seemingly inexplicably starved himself about 6 or so weeks ago. He's gone on bratty fasts before, but not one for so long. Then I believe he had a bad reaction to Frontline, a lot of his symptoms pointed to kidney issues, so I took him to the vet. They ruled out diabetes and thyroid problems, but said his kidneys were only slightly elevated in a way that was consistent with a cat who was a little dehydrated. Fast forward to now and he's eating about 10 oz of wet food a day, which I add water to. He's a big cat (not fat.. His legs were as long as Dali's elephants when he was a kitten) so I think he's close to what he should be eating.

Anyway, I want to give him the best, most ideal food to possibly prevent further kidney problems. We're going back in a couple of months for more blood work to make sure he's HOPEFULLY fine. I've looked at felinecrf.org, too. I had been feeding him and my other 3 Taste of the Wild dry and they seemed to love it until Buster decided he'd rather die than ever eat it again, haha. Their 3oz canned food is 8% protein and phosphorus is 0.31%. Is that ideal? Again, I apologize, but I wouldn't be asking if it clearly wasn't keeping me up at night, haha

Was he diagnosed with kidney disease? Ideally you want to feed a high protein low phos canned food, and def don't feed any kibble. What canned food are you feeding? Here are some other good ones that are high protein low phos. 

Weruva truluxe steak frites

Weruva truluxe cats on the wok

Weruva truluxe peking ducken

Weruva cats in the kitchen chicken frick-a-zee

 

[ethelguy]

Was he diagnosed with kidney disease? Ideally you want to feed a high protein low phos canned food, and def don't feed any kibble. What canned food are you feeding?

The vet said nothing he saw on the lab results was a definite sign of kidney disease, just that the slight elevation was consistent with the minor dehydration he had. We're going to follow up in about 2 months for another round of tests just to make sure. He prescribed an acid reducer and anti-nausea medication which seemed to help and he hasn't shown any signs of discomfort or a lack of appetite since being weaned off the meds.

I had planned on trying to get him back to at least *some* kibble, but we've got a pretty good food system worked out right now and it just isn't worth the risk to me. Plus, when I tried to introduce a couple of pieces on top of his wet food, he ate around it, haha.

I've given him some BFF and Tiki Cat, but now I'm afraid of the gums I read about on other threads. He's primarily been eating Friskies Super Supper, which I'm embarrassed to say. I have my excuses, but that's beside the point. I want to feed him as well as I can manage. I'm getting ready to head to a local pet food store that has better quality food and I'll check out the labels. I mostly wanted to find an ideal food so I can start buying more than a few cans at a time. And I'm glad I read about staying away from fish varieties! If this really is him just being picky about dry food after happily eating the same stuff for 3 years, I don't want to risk him getting hooked on fish, haha.

 

[missmimz]

The vet said nothing he saw on the lab results was a definite sign of kidney disease, just that the slight elevation was consistent with the minor dehydration he had. We're going to follow up in about 2 months for another round of tests just to make sure. He prescribed an acid reducer and anti-nausea medication which seemed to help and he hasn't shown any signs of discomfort or a lack of appetite since being weaned off the meds.

I had planned on trying to get him back to at least *some* kibble, but we've got a pretty good food system worked out right now and it just isn't worth the risk to me. Plus, when I tried to introduce a couple of pieces on top of his wet food, he ate around it, haha.

I've given him some BFF and Tiki Cat, but now I'm afraid of the gums I read about on other threads. He's primarily been eating Friskies Super Supper, which I'm embarrassed to say. I have my excuses, but that's beside the point. I want to feed him as well as I can manage. I'm getting ready to head to a local pet food store that has better quality food and I'll check out the labels. I mostly wanted to find an ideal food so I can start buying more than a few cans at a time. And I'm glad I read about staying away from fish varieties! If this really is him just being picky about dry food after happily eating the same stuff for 3 years, I don't want to risk him getting hooked on fish, haha.

Gums aren't really a big deal unless you have a cat that's sensitive to them. I'd feed Tiki cat or Weruva with gums over friskies any day. I use some Weruva in my cats snack food rotation. If you have to feed kibble feed something low phos, like Halo, but ideally it's best not to feed a kidney cat or even pre-kidney cat any kibble. Did they do an SDMA? Was that in range? 

 

[ethelguy]

Gums aren't really a big deal unless you have a cat that's sensitive to them. I'd feed Tiki cat or Weruva with gums over friskies any day. I use some Weruva in my cats snack food rotation. If you have to feed kibble feed something low phos, like Halo, but ideally it's best not to feed a kidney cat or even pre-kidney cat any kibble. Did they do an SDMA? Was that in range? 

That's good to know about gums. And yeah, I feel bad about giving him crappy food. I've been super busy and the area pet food stores are either half an hour away or I'm working the same hours they're open :/ Like I said, I'm hoping to find something I can just buy case quantities of so I can stop worrying about it, haha.

They don't have any of the Weruva Truluxe food, but I may ask if they can get them. I got a couple cans of Frick A Zee and two Weruva varieties with pumpkin in case there's any issue with switching foods.

I actually need to go see the vet to set up the appointment still and drill him about the results. My husband is the one who spoke to him and relayed the info to me. I'm going to try and pop in tomorrow to just have him give me a copy of the results because we usually end up playing phone tag otherwise, hah.

 

[missmimz]

That's good to know about gums. And yeah, I feel bad about giving him crappy food. I've been super busy and the area pet food stores are either half an hour away or I'm working the same hours they're open :/ Like I said, I'm hoping to find something I can just buy case quantities of so I can stop worrying about it, haha.

They don't have any of the Weruva Truluxe food, but I may ask if they can get them. I got a couple cans of Frick A Zee and two Weruva varieties with pumpkin in case there's any issue with switching foods.

I actually need to go see the vet to set up the appointment still and drill him about the results. My husband is the one who spoke to him and relayed the info to me. I'm going to try and pop in tomorrow to just have him give me a copy of the results because we usually end up playing phone tag otherwise, hah.

Friskies isn't all bad, but there are better choices for cats with possible kidney issues, as long as it fits your budget. If you find some foods he likes you can order cases from Chewy, which is sometimes cheaper than buying locally. Def get copies of the tests that way you have a better idea of what you're working with. 

 

[lisahe]

 
Was he diagnosed with kidney disease? Ideally you want to feed a high protein low phos canned food, and def don't feed any kibble. What canned food are you feeding? Here are some other good ones that are high protein low phos. 

Weruva truluxe steak frites

Weruva truluxe cats on the wok

Weruva truluxe peking ducken

Weruva cats in the kitchen chicken frick-a-zee

Weruva is exactly what I'd suggest, too: we had a cat who had mild-to-moderate kidney disease and Weruva was the food I fed most because of the low phosphorus. I used the charts on Tanya's site (here) to select foods that were at or under (or at least not much over!) 1% phosphorus dry matter. Friskies Super Supper is pretty high in phosphorus but some of their others are much lower.

Good luck! It can be difficult to find foods that fit all the criteria you have to match, like low phosphorus and, of course, the cat liking them! We were very lucky with Weruva, particularly Steak Frites, which our cat ended up loving, relatively speaking, anyway, for a cat who was very sick with multiple illnesses.

 

[ethelguy]

Friskies isn't all bad, but there are better choices for cats with possible kidney issues, as long as it fits your budget. If you find some foods he likes you can order cases from Chewy, which is sometimes cheaper than buying locally. Def get copies of the tests that way you have a better idea of what you're working with. 

I'm losing my mind! He vomited the Friskies I gave him yesterday morning at some point while I was at work. My husband cleaned it up and said there was something in it (Christmas tree, I assume). Fed him again and then he vomited the Weruva Funk in the Trunk last night all over my husband's pajamas on the bed when we went out. This morning, he was laying next to me, as he usually does if he's not laying on a pillow above my head. I rolled over to put my arm around him and he jumped up like he wanted to be fed, but instead started cleaning himself. I drifted back to sleep and he had peed on the bed. He acted like he wasn't feeling super hot, so I waited until the last second to leave for work. I came home tonight to find another urine spot as well as on the pillow he usually sleeps on. The first time, there was no squatting. It seemed involuntary. And I guess it's possible that another cat thought "Hey! A king size litter box!" and peed near the first spot, but he most likely was the one who went on the pillow.

Aside from keeping an eagle eye on him the next couple of days, I'm going to try and give him smaller, more frequent meals and try to not give him refrigerated food, as in I'll warm it to room temp. Is waiting half an hour between feedings pointless? Should I wait longer? Say 2 ounces first thing in the morning, wait 30 mins or so, then give another 2 ounces? As for the urinating thing... I don't know. He's picky about the box, so I completely changed out their litter tonight. Hopefully that will resolve itself. I know these are things I need to relay to the vet, which I will. I called today and, of course, didn't hear back. I'm going to make some time Monday to go in. I have to. I'm already worried sick about him. The stress of his behavior isn't helping.

I really appreciate your help and insight, too. This is one part hoping everything is fine and one part being proactive in prevention, so thank you for the info. Sigh.

 

[missmimz]

I'm losing my mind! He vomited the Friskies I gave him yesterday morning at some point while I was at work. My husband cleaned it up and said there was something in it (Christmas tree, I assume). Fed him again and then he vomited the Weruva Funk in the Trunk last night all over my husband's pajamas on the bed when we went out. This morning, he was laying next to me, as he usually does if he's not laying on a pillow above my head. I rolled over to put my arm around him and he jumped up like he wanted to be fed, but instead started cleaning himself. I drifted back to sleep and he had peed on the bed. He acted like he wasn't feeling super hot, so I waited until the last second to leave for work. I came home tonight to find another urine spot as well as on the pillow he usually sleeps on. The first time, there was no squatting. It seemed involuntary. And I guess it's possible that another cat thought "Hey! A king size litter box!" and peed near the first spot, but he most likely was the one who went on the pillow.

Aside from keeping an eagle eye on him the next couple of days, I'm going to try and give him smaller, more frequent meals and try to not give him refrigerated food, as in I'll warm it to room temp. Is waiting half an hour between feedings pointless? Should I wait longer? Say 2 ounces first thing in the morning, wait 30 mins or so, then give another 2 ounces? As for the urinating thing... I don't know. He's picky about the box, so I completely changed out their litter tonight. Hopefully that will resolve itself. I know these are things I need to relay to the vet, which I will. I called today and, of course, didn't hear back. I'm going to make some time Monday to go in. I have to. I'm already worried sick about him. The stress of his behavior isn't helping.

I really appreciate your help and insight, too. This is one part hoping everything is fine and one part being proactive in prevention, so thank you for the info. Sigh.

I think he needs to see a vet again, or at the very least ask your vet what they think. CKD cats are prone to urinary issues. What a urinalysis done when he had blood work done? Does he have a history of a high pH? How long after he eats is he vomiting? Is he prone to hairballs? 

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad you've already contacted the vet, @ethelguy: peeing in the wrong place can be an important sign of serious problems. It was one of the first indications that our previous cat's health was starting to give out, and I still regret that we were so slow to realize what was happening. How old is Buster, by the way?

 

[ethelguy]

I think he needs to see a vet again, or at the very least ask your vet what they think. CKD cats are prone to urinary issues. What a urinalysis done when he had blood work done? Does he have a history of a high pH? How long after he eats is he vomiting? Is he prone to hairballs? 

Yeah, I'm going to call first thing in the morning, definitely. They did a UA, but I'm not sure what they tested it for. And he never vomits, which was one of his first signs a couple of months ago when he vomited white foam and then bile. He has only done it maybe twice since this whole thing started, but the recent times, he vomits about 2-3 hours after eating. There hasn't been any issue since the pajama incident, making it 3 times in under a week. As for pH, I'm not sure. He hasn't needed to see a vet since he was neutered as a kitten, so it isn't something I've ever looked into.

 

[ethelguy]

I'm glad you've already contacted the vet, @ethelguy
: peeing in the wrong place can be an important sign of serious problems. It was one of the first indications that our previous cat's health was starting to give out, and I still regret that we were so slow to realize what was happening. How old is Buster, by the way?

He's 6 and will be 7 in July. I'd heard that peeing in odd spots was a sign, but I'd never heard of cats just peeing in their sleep or while laying down. It makes sense, though. If it's a UTI, as a human, it's hard to tell when you need to actually go. I can't imagine what it's like for the poor guy. I now have no pillows and the sheets are being washed for the 2nd time in 24 hours. I'll probably be camped out on the living room floor tonight so I don't develop a urine scented mattress, haha.

I'm sorry to hear about your cat. It's so hard for us and them, both. We're trying to figure out if anything is actually wrong with no real ability to communicate. Buster is acting totally fine and happy right now, but if it hadn't been for the ordeal a couple weeks ago or looking things up online, I don't think I would have really suspected anything. Obviously, involuntarily peeing in the bed is alarming, but I probably would have just tried to wait it out. I thought I knew a lot about cats, but apparently was so wrong, hah :/ It's difficult!

 

[lisahe]

Yes, the peeing is definitely alarming -- let us know what the vet says. I think we all feel the same way you do about getting things wrong about not being able to communicate. It's very hard! (The happy news with our cat is that she lived a very long and active life -- she was at least 17 or so -- despite having all sorts of diseases, including such a wild arrhythmia that the vet was shocked to see her come back for her annual exams. The peeing was in her last year and there seemed to be reasonable explanations: a neighbor cat had been spraying a shrub outside a window and Brooksie only peed on the floor right inside the window! But looking back, it's pretty obvious her illnesses were beginning to worsen then...)

I hope you're able to figure out what's ailing Buster!

 

[ethelguy]

@LisaHE  & @missmimz  we ventured back to the vet today and will hopefully have the UA results back soon. I dropped him off and spent an entire hour at home without him. Worst hour I've endured in the past 6 years! 

 He's home now and is happily watching the robins outside. The vet is going to email me the full results, which is cool. Buster is still in good spirits and doesn't seem uncomfortable. They gave him an anti-inflammatory medicine and sent him home with an antibiotic (one pill to be taken the next two days). I need to do some research on probiotics because.. I so don't want to risk anymore nonsense, haha. 

They gave me a 2.5 page printout of his blood and urine test from just before Thanksgiving, when I thought his kidneys were going out. Although a lot of it doesn't make a ton of sense to me, he seems mid-range on pretty much everything. Like I said, he was slightly dehydrated when I took him in and the vet said Buster's results weren't terribly abnormal for a cat experiencing dehydrating. pH was 7 and there were no crystals, but there was trace protein and ketones in his urine. His cholesterol was low at 75 and those that were either higher or lower than most everything else were creatinine at 2.3 (BUN at 29 and BUN:creatinine ratio at 12.6), TCO2 (bicarbonate) at 21, bilirubin (unconjugated) at 0.2 and bilirubin (conjugated) at 0, making the total 0.2. The note at the bottom says "Both SDMA and creatinine are within the reference interval which indicates kidney function is likely good. If at the upper end of reference interval, early kidney disease cannot be ruled out. Evaluate a complete urinalysis to confirm there is no other evidence of kidney disease." It's all easier to understand with the piece of paper in front of me, obviously. Again, we've got an appointment in February for another full run of tests. 

My brain is tired,. I stared at a chart of cat food while standing in the grocery store until it didn't make sense anymore, haha. Should I keep trying to find food with lower phos and higher quality protein? I know nothing from the results is super out of whack, but I guess the whole reason I started this thread is because I'm looking to take preventative measures. I know that if kidney disease has already started, there's no way of stopping it. But if it hasn't, I want to do whatever I can to prevent it or at least try to slow it down. 

 

[missmimz]

 
@LisaHE  & @missmimz  we ventured back to the vet today and will hopefully have the UA results back soon. I dropped him off and spent an entire hour at home without him. Worst hour I've endured in the past 6 years! 

 He's home now and is happily watching the robins outside. The vet is going to email me the full results, which is cool. Buster is still in good spirits and doesn't seem uncomfortable. They gave him an anti-inflammatory medicine and sent him home with an antibiotic (one pill to be taken the next two days). I need to do some research on probiotics because.. I so don't want to risk anymore nonsense, haha. 

They gave me a 2.5 page printout of his blood and urine test from just before Thanksgiving, when I thought his kidneys were going out. Although a lot of it doesn't make a ton of sense to me, he seems mid-range on pretty much everything. Like I said, he was slightly dehydrated when I took him in and the vet said Buster's results weren't terribly abnormal for a cat experiencing dehydrating. pH was 7 and there were no crystals, but there was trace protein and ketones in his urine. His cholesterol was low at 75 and those that were either higher or lower than most everything else were creatinine at 2.3 (BUN at 29 and BUN:creatinine ratio at 12.6), TCO2 (bicarbonate) at 21, bilirubin (unconjugated) at 0.2 and bilirubin (conjugated) at 0, making the total 0.2. The note at the bottom says "Both SDMA and creatinine are within the reference interval which indicates kidney function is likely good. If at the upper end of reference interval, early kidney disease cannot be ruled out. Evaluate a complete urinalysis to confirm there is no other evidence of kidney disease." It's all easier to understand with the piece of paper in front of me, obviously. Again, we've got an appointment in February for another full run of tests. 

My brain is tired,. I stared at a chart of cat food while standing in the grocery store until it didn't make sense anymore, haha. Should I keep trying to find food with lower phos and higher quality protein? I know nothing from the results is super out of whack, but I guess the whole reason I started this thread is because I'm looking to take preventative measures. I know that if kidney disease has already started, there's no way of stopping it. But if it hasn't, I want to do whatever I can to prevent it or at least try to slow it down. 

Seems like perhaps he's not in CKD? But if the new results show something different the best and easiest things to do are high protein low phos. High protein is important for all cats, regardless, but low phos is the best way to slow down the progression of the disease. What you don't want to do is go low protein, which is an old school outdated theory. If he's not in CKD then I would simply feed him the highest quality wet food that he likes. 

 

[lisahe]

 
Seems like perhaps he's not in CKD? But if the new results show something different the best and easiest things to do are high protein low phos. High protein is important for all cats, regardless, but low phos is the best way to slow down the progression of the disease. What you don't want to do is go low protein, which is an old school outdated theory. If he's not in CKD then I would simply feed him the highest quality wet food that he likes. 

Yes, I agree with high protein -- animal protein only, not vegetable proteins -- and low phosphorus. I'd throw in low carbs, too. There are lots of good foods that fit those criteria... that's pretty much how we feed our cats: I limit foods with phosphorus dry matter over around 1.5%. We feed a lot of different wet foods so the numbers all balance out and the cats get plenty of water.

I'm glad Buster seems to be feeling fine and hope the rest of the tests go smoothly. (And yes, it's really hard, isn't it, when there's no cat in the house?)