Best food for cat with CKD

bananamillie

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Hi, I'm hoping for advice on what's the best food for my cat with early CKD.
Her creatinine value is on the higher side (1.9) but other values like BUN are well within limits.

However, she has moderate arthritis and has been losing weight due to muscle atrophy as well as the k/d therapeutic diet.

I'm now convinced that a low protein diet is not appropriate for her. She barely weighs 6 lbs and can't afford to lose any more weight.
The vet insists on keeping her on the therapeutic diet but she hates it and she's losing weight. She's now down to 5.84 lbs from 6.06 lbs.

I have heard of Tanya's website, but the food table is now slightly outdated. I don't think it's been updated in the last 2 years.

Any advice from CKD cat parents, and specific recommendations on what food has worked for your kitties? Would appreciate any insight.
I've ordered a whole load of varieties from Weruva, hoping my picky kitty takes to one of them!
 

maggie101

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I feed my cat with a throw up problem Simply Nourish Tender Morsel Kitten Natural Chicken, farmina venison or quail in pumpkin. No more throwing up. Farmina is very expensive so I have started cooking ground meat with ezcomplete since farmina is mostly ground meat
High protein,fat,low carb

Catfooddb.com
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I've had three kidney cats and always contended that the prescription diets were half the reason kidney cats get so thin. My Vet finally agreed with me (that they didn't need the prescription foods) after attending several conferences on the topic. Aside from that, (at which time we were on the third cat) none of our cats would eat the prescription kidney foods, so it was a moot point. SO, we used the listing on Tanya's site to find foods with fairly low phosphorus and low carbs, but higher protein and fat than the prescription foods, but more than that, I fed foods they would eat. Sometimes those foods ended up being pretty high in phos and carbs, but at least they were also high in calories. Our Vet was fine with that because she said the most important thing was that they eat. We also used Appetite enhancers to try to keep them eating.

The listing on Tanya's site says it was last updated in November 2020, so I take that to mean all the info is fairly current. Here's the link to the food page: http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm

Are you doing anything for her arthritis? Cosequin is good for some cats with arthritis if it's not too bad, and is also good for UTI's, so a win-win for kidney cats.
 
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bananamillie

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens Thank you for sharing your experience!

Yes, I agree, the k/d food is not helping. My cat hates it and she does reluctantly eat it; but much less than she used to eat of her normal food.

I looked at Tanya's list and figured out a few options to try out which are low in phosphorous. Did you use a phosphorous binder with your kitties? If you don't mind me asking, did you think following their normal diet advanced their kidney disease?
I'm trying to judge quality of life vs quality. At this point it seems like k/d food is a lose-lose situation since my cat isn't eating much of it and decline in weight isn't great for kidneys either.

Did you use appetite enhancers (e.g. food toppers) or appetite stimulants?
Our vet suggested that we try Mirtazapine (appetite stimulant) to get her to eat her k/d food. It worked for the first dose and then she was sick of the k/d food again. I also think its resulted in her drinking less water.

Yes, she is getting Cosequin and Omega 3 supplements for her arthritis. She also gets weekly anti-inflammatory shots of Adequan.
If we feel like she is in too much discomfort, we do give her Onsior, which is an NSAID. It's not good for the kidneys either so we're a bit cautious with that one.
I'm also considering accupuncture, laser therapy or CBD. Please let me know if you have any suggestions?

Thank you!!
 

crouton

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I've had three kidney cats and always contended that the prescription diets were half the reason kidney cats get so thin. My Vet finally agreed with me (that they didn't need the prescription foods) after attending several conferences on the topic. Aside from that, (at which time we were on the third cat) none of our cats would eat the prescription kidney foods, so it was a moot point. SO, we used the listing on Tanya's site to find foods with fairly low phosphorus and low carbs, but higher protein and fat than the prescription foods, but more than that, I fed foods they would eat. Sometimes those foods ended up being pretty high in phos and carbs, but at least they were also high in calories. Our Vet was fine with that because she said the most important thing was that they eat. We also used Appetite enhancers to try to keep them eating.

The listing on Tanya's site says it was last updated in November 2020, so I take that to mean all the info is fairly current. Here's the link to the food page: http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm

Are you doing anything for her arthritis? Cosequin is good for some cats with arthritis if it's not too bad, and is also good for UTI's, so a win-win for kidney cats.
I did the same as mrsgreenjeans, my old girl didn’t do well on the vet diets so I did a lot of research and fed low phosphorus with higher protein. My cat also developed hyperthyroidism and was one of the rare cases where she had a scary reaction to the drugs used to treat it. So keeping that in mind I also fed her foods that shouldn’t disrupt thyroid stuff. It was hard I’m not gonna lie but she did great for years until she turned 20.

in our case I believe the diet helped the kd from getting worse. We didn’t need appetite stimulant as we found she liked certain foods. I went shopping with my spreadsheets all printed out so I could find new foods for her to try.
 
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bananamillie

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crouton crouton Thank you for sharing!
I'm so glad your kitty did great for the most part.

I have a quick question for you - when you said that the diet helped the kd from getting worse, are you referring to the low phosphorous but higher protein diet? Or vet-prescribed therapeutic diet?
 

crouton

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crouton crouton Thank you for sharing!
I'm so glad your kitty did great for the most part.

I have a quick question for you - when you said that the diet helped the kd from getting worse, are you referring to the low phosphorous but higher protein diet? Or vet-prescribed therapeutic diet?
Low phosphorus. We saw no change in her labs or imaging while trying the prescription diet, but she wasn’t on it long as she didn’t do well on the food.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens Thank you for sharing your experience!

I looked at Tanya's list and figured out a few options to try out which are low in phosphorous. Did you use a phosphorous binder with your kitties? If you don't mind me asking, did you think following their normal diet advanced their kidney disease?
I'm trying to judge quality of life vs quality. At this point it seems like k/d food is a lose-lose situation since my cat isn't eating much of it and decline in weight isn't great for kidneys either.

Did you use appetite enhancers (e.g. food toppers) or appetite stimulants?
Our vet suggested that we try Mirtazapine (appetite stimulant) to get her to eat her k/d food. It worked for the first dose and then she was sick of the k/d food again. I also think its resulted in her drinking less water.

Yes, she is getting Cosequin and Omega 3 supplements for her arthritis. She also gets weekly anti-inflammatory shots of Adequan.
If we feel like she is in too much discomfort, we do give her Onsior, which is an NSAID. It's not good for the kidneys either so we're a bit cautious with that one.
I'm also considering accupuncture, laser therapy or CBD. Please let me know if you have any suggestions?

Thank you!!
We never needed to use phosphorus binders, even though some of their food was higher in phos than I liked. But we did feed a large variety of foods, some quite low in phos, so I guess it all evened out. I can't say if not feeding a kidney diet shortened their lives or not. All three of them lived three years after being diagnosed, and when they were diagnosed, they were already in kidney failure, probably stage 3. But I do think giving them sub-q fluids when the time came helped, feeding wet food with extra water added helped, giving them acid reducers and appetite stimulants (Mirtazipine) all helped. And now there are other prescription drugs available that I hear are helpful that weren't around even a few years ago! As well as Mirtazipine, we also used toppers. Anything to get them to eat, especially on bad days.

No, NSAIDS aren't good for the kidneys, but I am also a believer in quality of life vs quantity, and if she's in pain, is it worth it? When someone, human or animal, has a chronic disease, I say try to make their life as happy and uncomplicated as possible for the time they have left. If that means painfree but a shorter life, I would chose to go that route if it were MY life. Just sayin'. But acupuncture or laser therapy or great options for arthritis. I've heard good things about them both .
 
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bananamillie

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens You're absolutely right, quality of life is more important than quantity.

We took her to a specialist yesterday and as it turns out, her current numbers do not indicate kidney disease.
While it is still very likely that she will develop kidney disease in a couple of years, it's not the case right now.
Switching her to a renal diet was not a good idea and I am disappointed in our primary vet who insisted that she eat k/d food ASAP.
It's done way more harm than good.

What's concerning is that the specialist found enlarged lymph nodes, intestinal wall thickening and low B12 numbers.
This points to either something chronic in the gut, IBD or lymphoma. The specialist has recommended an endoscopy and we will likely be doing that soon.

Her appetite has reduced to almost none without Mirtazapine. I'm guessing this is because of the back and forth on the diet changes, and not because of an illness even though that could be a contributing factor.
She takes a few licks of the Weruva gravy but will only enthusiastically eat Beechnut turkey baby food without the stimulant.
 

crouton

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens You're absolutely right, quality of life is more important than quantity.

We took her to a specialist yesterday and as it turns out, her current numbers do not indicate kidney disease.
While it is still very likely that she will develop kidney disease in a couple of years, it's not the case right now.
Switching her to a renal diet was not a good idea and I am disappointed in our primary vet who insisted that she eat k/d food ASAP.
It's done way more harm than good.

What's concerning is that the specialist found enlarged lymph nodes, intestinal wall thickening and low B12 numbers.
This points to either something chronic in the gut, IBD or lymphoma. The specialist has recommended an endoscopy and we will likely be doing that soon.

Her appetite has reduced to almost none without Mirtazapine. I'm guessing this is because of the back and forth on the diet changes, and not because of an illness even though that could be a contributing factor.
She takes a few licks of the Weruva gravy but will only enthusiastically eat Beechnut turkey baby food without the stimulant.
Have you tried offering her any kibble dry foods?
 

mrsgreenjeens

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens You're absolutely right, quality of life is more important than quantity.

We took her to a specialist yesterday and as it turns out, her current numbers do not indicate kidney disease.


What's concerning is that the specialist found enlarged lymph nodes, intestinal wall thickening and low B12 numbers.
This points to either something chronic in the gut, IBD or lymphoma. The specialist has recommended an endoscopy and we will likely be doing that soon.

Her appetite has reduced to almost none without Mirtazapine.
She takes a few licks of the Weruva gravy but will only enthusiastically eat Beechnut turkey baby food without the stimulant.
Well I'm glad she doesn't have kidney disease after all, but it IS concerning about the other issue discovered :frown: Did they give her a B12 shot yesterday. That usually helps with the appetite pretty quickly, and I know IBD cats typically need B12. Just in case, here is some good information on IBD: Feline Nutrition – IBDKitties

Neither of my cats like Weruva even though I hear from most people that their cats love it. And I do have one cat who only eats with an appetite stimulant now, even though he has not been diagnosed with any health issues. This bothers me greatly that his ony issue is appetite as deep down I feel something must be wrong. But he has never been a good eater since we got him as a kitten, so I've been begging him to eat now for 12 years. It's just getting harder and harder the older he gets. So Mirataz it is now, every few days :sigh:

Keep us posted on future developments, like results from the endoscopy, etc.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:
 

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens You're absolutely right, quality of life is more important than quantity.

We took her to a specialist yesterday and as it turns out, her current numbers do not indicate kidney disease.
While it is still very likely that she will develop kidney disease in a couple of years, it's not the case right now.
Switching her to a renal diet was not a good idea and I am disappointed in our primary vet who insisted that she eat k/d food ASAP.
It's done way more harm than good.

What's concerning is that the specialist found enlarged lymph nodes, intestinal wall thickening and low B12 numbers.
This points to either something chronic in the gut, IBD or lymphoma. The specialist has recommended an endoscopy and we will likely be doing that soon.

Her appetite has reduced to almost none without Mirtazapine. I'm guessing this is because of the back and forth on the diet changes, and not because of an illness even though that could be a contributing factor.
She takes a few licks of the Weruva gravy but will only enthusiastically eat Beechnut turkey baby food without the stimulant.

So sorry to hear that :( You will need a biopsy to know what it is. Really stinky food like fancy feast pate might get her eating. Try heating it up to. I would honestly get a ton of different wet that is carrageenan free (super important for IBD/gi lymphoma cats) and feed something different daily. She needs a b12 shot as well as something for the nausea. I had to feed my first cat something different every few meals. You wanna feed small meals, no less than 3 times a day. The more meals the easier it is for her to digest. I would add something like it catitsticks to the wet food to try and get her to eat more.
 
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bananamillie

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We ended up taking her to the emergency vet today because she is really not being herself.
Her appetite is low, excessive drooling, very lethargic. She perks up when we really engage with her, but she's not herself at all.
Rapid breathing as well, which she does when she's cuddling or about to get really comfortable; but this went on for 2 hours.

The vet said she is likely very nauseous. Everything else seemed fine. They gave her sub Q fluids, B12 shot and anti nausea shot. We have to give her Cerenia for the nausea for the next 4 days.
I'm really worried about her at this point. She seems a bit better since we got back but she's still lethargic and salivating, particularly when we put food in front of her.
 

maggie101

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We ended up taking her to the emergency vet today because she is really not being herself.
Her appetite is low, excessive drooling, very lethargic. She perks up when we really engage with her, but she's not herself at all.
Rapid breathing as well, which she does when she's cuddling or about to get really comfortable; but this went on for 2 hours.

The vet said she is likely very nauseous. Everything else seemed fine. They gave her sub Q fluids, B12 shot and anti nausea shot. We have to give her Cerenia for the nausea for the next 4 days.
I'm really worried about her at this point. She seems a bit better since we got back but she's still lethargic and salivating, particularly when we put food in front of her.
My cat was diagnosed with uti yesterday. Not as severe as your cat. I forgot to give her the cerenia til I saw your post. Thanks for the reminder! I Arpad that tiki shredded chicken in consume is a good brand for uti. Right now the vet gave me science diet c/d cans. Only a quarter of 5 oz can a day mixed in her regular food. He also wants me to feed her dry for hair balls though I might not do that. I think it's a small bag to pick up wed.
 
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maggie101

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My cat was diagnosed with uti yesterday. Not as severe as your cat. I forgot to give her the cerenia til I saw your post. Thanks for the reminder! I Arpad that tiki shredded chicken in consume is a good brand for uti. Right now the vet gave me science diet c/d cans. Only a quarter of 5 oz can a day mixed in her regular food. He also wants me to feed her dry for hair balls though I might not do that. I think it's a small bag to pick up wed.
Hills prescription diet. Not science diet. I know,ingredients are bad but I don't have to give her a lot.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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We ended up taking her to the emergency vet today because she is really not being herself.
Her appetite is low, excessive drooling, very lethargic. She perks up when we really engage with her, but she's not herself at all.
Rapid breathing as well, which she does when she's cuddling or about to get really comfortable; but this went on for 2 hours.

The vet said she is likely very nauseous. Everything else seemed fine. They gave her sub Q fluids, B12 shot and anti nausea shot. We have to give her Cerenia for the nausea for the next 4 days.
I'm really worried about her at this point. She seems a bit better since we got back but she's still lethargic and salivating, particularly when we put food in front of her.
How is she doing now after several days on the Cerenia, and the fluids, and B12 shot? And what are the future plans for her possible diagnosis?
 
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bananamillie

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens The last week was a rollercoaster.
She had stopped eating completely and we had to hospitalize her so that they could monitor her and syringe-feed her. She was there for about 3 days and they did an endoscopic biopsy on her to try to figure out if she has IBD or Small Cell Lymphoma.
The biopsy wasn't conclusive but they are suspecting "emerging" Small Cell Lymphoma. We're trying to run additional diagnostics on the sample they have to try to get a more definitive answer.

She's been on Prednisolone since the endoscopy and it looks like it's helping her.
I had to administer a subQ Cerenia shot for her a couple of days ago and she HATED us after. Wouldn't let us near her, growled whenever she saw us, stopped using her litter box.
She's since recovered from that episode and is letting us pet her now, but she's still hyper-alert if we try to pinch the skin at the back of her neck for the subQ B12 shots.

Things are improving slowly overall. While we're waiting on more diagnostics to confirm if it's IBD or SCL, we will continue to give her daily Prednisolone and weekly B12 shots. We will probably get a vet tech to come home to administer those shots.

Her diet has had to be switched back to Blue Buffalo wilderness, which is what she used to eat before the CKD diagnosis.
It's the only food she will happily eat and even purrs as soon as she smells it.
We had to discontinue the Mirtazapine since she had some really weird side-effects 36hours post dose.
Keeping her happy and comfortable is our main goal at the moment.
 
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bananamillie

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My cat was diagnosed with uti yesterday. Not as severe as your cat. I forgot to give her the cerenia til I saw your post. Thanks for the reminder! I Arpad that tiki shredded chicken in consume is a good brand for uti. Right now the vet gave me science diet c/d cans. Only a quarter of 5 oz can a day mixed in her regular food. He also wants me to feed her dry for hair balls though I might not do that. I think it's a small bag to pick up wed.
Sorry about the UTI!
How is your cat doing now? Is the Cerenia helping?
We saw some strange behavior in our cat (drooling, restlessness) which we think might be due to the Cerenia, but aren't 100% sure.
The vet has asked us to try Ondansteron (Zofran) instead, but the downside is that it has to be given every 8-12 hours and not every 24 hours unlike the Cerenia.
 

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The vet has asked us to try Ondansteron (Zofran) instead, but the downside is that it has to be given every 8-12 hours and not every 24 hours unlike the Cerenia.
Have you considered administering it with some sort of food/treat that she likes? These are the things I use for Feeby's meds (unrelated to your issues), which have to be administered every 12 hours:
1.) 'juice' from canned tuna and chicken, and then give a piece of the meat as a treat afterward
2.) baby food meats (Gerber Stage 2 or Beechnut)
3.) lickable treats, such as Applaws, Wholehearted, Tiki Cat Stix, Inaba Churu, Vitakraft - just to name a few
4.) Tiki Cat Mousse (which is complete meal, not a treat)
I am a 'broken record' on this site about these options, but any time any of us can find easier solutions to giving meds to our cats, I am all for it.
 
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