Can My Cats Get Too Much Protein??

[bpenniman]

I ordered wysong epigen for my 2 senior cats and it should arrive tomorrow or tuesday. I got it because I've read cats are carnivores, they need more protein etc. But now I'm reading cats, when older, should not get too much protein or their kidneys will get bad and that there's other health issues. Should I be giving them this food? It's 60% protein.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know if it is as much of an issue if your cat's kidney function has been tested and is within normal ranges. If you haven't had your cats go through a full senior check up including senior blood panel - which they should have at least annually - you might want to consider doing so before you change their diet.

 

[bpenniman]

Both my cats are healthy. I got boots's exam at the vet in feb, sunshine goes in this wk.

 

[bpenniman]

But they mentioned other health issues from too much protein, but then other sites say to give seniors more protein or else their muscles and bones lose density.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Maybe other members will have different opinions about this, but if both cats are deemed to be healthy after their senior check ups/blood work, you can always still ask the vet about the diet change. Perhaps, they/you could consider follow up tests to be done 6 months from now to see if any negative changes show up?

And, as you probably already know, when/if you make the food change, it should be done gradually - a little of the new food added to the 'old' food, decreasing the old food and increasing the new food over time. That is probably even more important to follow this process with older cats to avoid digestive disruptions.

Instead of changing their food, you could ask the vet about vitamin supplements that might take care of your worries about their aging?

 

[daftcat75]

I think if your senior cats don’t have kidney issues, they should be eating more high quality protein to prevent muscle wasting, e.g. becoming skinny old cats. They should also still have several 5-15 minute play sessions daily as I’ve just discovered with my 15 year old. I think the exercise is helping with her digestion, appetite, arthritis, and overall mood.

60% protein sounds about right as far as the ratio. But what you really need to focus on is the amount. To prevent wasting in senior cats, you will probably need to feed more than you thought you would.

My Krista is an 8 lbs, 15 year old with IBD. She could stand to gain another 1 lbs but she’s definitely up from her lowest at 6 lbs. I do the calculations with her ideal body weight of 9 lbs. That’s approximately 4 kg. An adult cat needs about 5 g protein / kg of bodyweight. If she were 2-9 years old, she could get by on 20 g of protein a day. I feed her Rawz Rabbit which is 50% protein on dry matter basis and 78% moisture. In a 154 g can, there is approximately 34 g of “food” (what’s left when the moisture is removed.). Of that, 17 g is protein. So the feeding guidelines of 1 can per 6-8 lbs bodyweight looks to be spot on.

But Krista isn’t 2-9 years old anymore. She just turned 15 last weekend.

According to https://feline-nutrition.org/nutrition/dont-let-your-senior-cat-become-a-skinny-old-kitty, a geriatric cat may need 6-8 g / kg. Let’s go with the high end because Krista also has IBD so that’s another strike against her digestion. 4 kg * 8 g / kg = 32 g of protein. Her Rawz can has 17. I have to feed her almost 2 cans or about 10.5 oz. I’m feeding her between 8 and 8.5 oz just to maintain her weight right now. I’m hoping we’ll be seeing weight gain soon. I’m hoping she’s not on that high end but I keep increasing her daily portions by about a quarter ounce per week. It’s taken several weeks to get her back up to this amount of food after her last round of dental extractions. Her kidney and thyroid numbers are in range every time we’ve looked at them.

 

[daftcat75]

Long story short, I think that 60% protein is just right. Just make sure they are eating enough (6-8g/kg bodyweight.). I hope they are also receiving wet food too. Because it’s not just the amount of protein but the quality and digestibility of that protein that is important as well.

 

[daftcat75]

My first post had a math mistake. I’ve fixed that in an edit. But it showed that I’m actually feeding Krista on the low end of that 6-8 g/kg range. I expect I’ll know over the next few weeks whether this is sufficient for weight gain or if I keep growing her portions a little each week (and adding more play to drive that appetite.)

 

[bpenniman]

It's hard food, wysong epigen. But im also going giving them wet food as well. I'm trying to figure out how many grams of protein it is per serving but I'm having a hard time. I'll have to wait until I get the bag of food in the mail.

 

[daftcat75]

If that 60% is already dry matter basis (which it sounds like it is), then you convert a serving to grams and multiply by 0.60 to arrive at grams of protein per serving.

 

[bpenniman]

If that 60% is already dry matter basis (which it sounds like it is), then you convert a serving to grams and multiply by 0.60 to arrive at grams of protein per serving.

So then a 1/2 cup a day would be 38.4 grams of protein.

 

[bpenniman]

So with their weight, they would each get about 7 grams per kg.

 

[denice]

I really don't think there is such a thing as too much protein as long as a food is complete. A cat's natural diet is almost exclusively meat. Even for cats with CKD the thinking is beginning to change, keeping the phosphorous content of food down rather then the protein content down is becoming the more conventional idea.

 

[white shadow]

.
Hi bpenniman !

What you've been reading is not current thinking nor recommendations for feeding older cats.....although there used to be (maybe even still are) "senior diets" on the market.

Today we have come to realize that senior cats require higher levels of protein and fat. Here's a snippet for you showing the difference between two age groups, 7-11 years and 12+:

Cross-sectional studies in cats have documented that aging adult cats fall into two categories based on metabolic differences. In middle-aged cat populations (7 to 11 years of age), average energy requirements are reduced while the prevalence of obesity is increased. In geriatric cat populations (ages 12 years and above), the reverse is true in that average energy requirements increase while the prevalence of obesity greatly decreases. A limitation of cross-sectional studies is that they do not follow changes in individual cats over time....
LINK: http://www.vetinfo.pt/vetinfo/MEDIA/SEMINARIOS/Can_Summit_USA_2010.pdf - p40 - [my emphasis]​

One more tidbit for you from that same lecture/paper:

Abstract
A longitudinal study found that a diet containing supplemental antioxidants, polyunsaturated fatty acids and a prebiotic increased longevity and improved the health of senior cats.Body weight and body composition data from the study were evaluated to assess possible associations of these parameters with longevity. Body weights along with all body composition parameters measured by DEXA were significantly related to survival, confirming the hypothesis that loss of body mass is a risk factor for mortality in aging cats. Cats eating the supplemented diet better maintained body weight and body composition over time. Nutrition can play a role in delaying age-related changes in body weight and body composition in senior cats....
[again, my emphasis]​

If you want to know what those supplements were, read the "Materials and Methods" a little further on there. I'd suggest a read of the entire paper for full context.

While I was preparing this, I noticed you were talking about 'grams of protein'. (Just as a sidebar, today we talk in terms of calories, not weights/volumes.) If you read through the paper, you'll see (and understand why) that these cats were free-fed, or "ad lib". While every cat won't conform to this paradigm, chances are greatest that a senior cat will not become overweight with open access to food.

Meantime, I'd encourage you to focus on wet foods so far as you can.

One last point: should there be a loss of kidney function in a cat [within the scope of this discussion] and there becomes an identified need to reduce/restrict phosphorus (usually in late-stage CKD), I'd be using a phosphorus binder, rather than reducing the protein content. (unfortunately, imo, there still exists the divide between full and restricted protein diet recommendations for "kidney cats").

The entire focus of that nutrition conference was on geriatric animals - so, the rest of that compendium has lots to offer as well. A very worthwhile read (and worthy of a major bookmark, imo)

Hope something there helps!



Just noticed the latest input....3 cheers for @denice there !
.

 

[bpenniman]

Thanks. It makes more sense now.

 

[zed xyzed]

I think a bigger issue with cat is the lack of water in many diets. That is why I feed my guys a high quality wet food. When Midi was completely taken off of dry his kidney values stabilized and even improved.