Carb diet for cats with kidney disease?

Kat06112

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 11, 2020
Messages
9
Purraise
1
Carb diet for cats with kidney disease?

I recently adopted an old cat and noticed she was drinking alot of water. We got her tested and it turns out she has kidney disease. She still has great appetite but is very picky with the types of food she likes. I usually give her Royal Canin Oral care and steak mince meat for cats from the fridge section for cats (which she adores).
Because of her recent condition I was advised to put her on special renal cat food. I looked up Royal Canin Veterinary Renal Select Dry Cat Food which has the following top ingredients:
maize flour, rice, animal fats, wheat gluten*, soy protein isolate*, vegetable fibres, maize, maize gluten, hydrolysed animal proteins, minerals, chicory pulp, dehydrated poultry protein, fish oil, soya oil, fructo-oligo-saccharides, psyllium husks and seeds, marigold extract (source of lutein).
I care alot about my animals but this diet seems to be loaded with carbohydrates which are not only inflammatory but also seems strange to give to a carnivorous animal. It just doesn't seem right to me, could someone please explain? I want to make sure I'm not harming my animals.
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
A high carb diet isn't good for any cat. Cats can't process carbs. Vets often prescribe the prescription junk because they have no clue about proper nutrition. It's ok to not feed the prescription food :agree: Many kidney disease cats are able to eat regular commercial cat food, even raw and home cooked foods, with no issue at all.

Have you seen this web site for info on managing your cat with kidney disease? Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat There's a section there on diets to feed and a group to join.
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,390
Purraise
7,126
Location
Arizona
:yeah: I've had three kidney cats, and the last one had just been converted to a raw diet when she was diagnosed. Our Vet was ok with us keeping her on raw, however, we switched from including bones to using eqq shell powder for her source of calcium because the latter had less phosphorus, which is what you need to try to monitor with kidney cats. BUT, IMHO, dry food is the absolute worst for kidney cats. They need moisture, and as much of it as possible. And they need highly digestible protein, not carbs..

That website LtS3 provided was my "go to" for everything kidney related, so be sure to give it a thorough examination. Good for you for questioning this.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4

Kat06112

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 11, 2020
Messages
9
Purraise
1
A high carb diet isn't good for any cat. Cats can't process carbs. Vets often prescribe the prescription junk because they have no clue about proper nutrition. It's ok to not feed the prescription food :agree: Many kidney disease cats are able to eat regular commercial cat food, even raw and home cooked foods, with no issue at all.

Have you seen this web site for info on managing your cat with kidney disease? Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat There's a section there on diets to feed and a group to join.

Thanks for a link I will definitely look into it. When I looked at the ingredient list of Renal food it definitely didn't look right to me.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

Kat06112

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Jul 11, 2020
Messages
9
Purraise
1
:yeah: I've had three kidney cats, and the last one had just been converted to a raw diet when she was diagnosed. Our Vet was ok with us keeping her on raw, however, we switched from including bones to using eqq shell powder for her source of calcium because the latter had less phosphorus, which is what you need to try to monitor with kidney cats. BUT, IMHO, dry food is the absolute worst for kidney cats. They need moisture, and as much of it as possible. And they need highly digestible protein, not carbs..

That website LtS3 provided was my "go to" for everything kidney related, so be sure to give it a thorough examination. Good for you for questioning this.
I read that Kidney disease is quite common in older cats (and humans). I think you are right, vets don't have a good answer to how to treat the cat so they just follow the protocol. I actually used to collect egg shells that I dried and turned into powder in the past for as plant food. Do you think if I add a little bit of that to cat's fresh meat it would be okay? Thanks for the website suggestion :)
 

LTS3

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 29, 2014
Messages
19,209
Purraise
19,695
Location
USA
I think you have to bake the crushed egg shells first to sort of sterilize it. You can ask for more details on that on the Raw and Home Cooked forum, Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food There might be a ready to use egg shell powder product you can also use.
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,150
Purraise
4,968
Location
Maine
I read that Kidney disease is quite common in older cats (and humans). I think you are right, vets don't have a good answer to how to treat the cat so they just follow the protocol. I actually used to collect egg shells that I dried and turned into powder in the past for as plant food. Do you think if I add a little bit of that to cat's fresh meat it would be okay? Thanks for the website suggestion :)
I'm not sure if I understand your intent here or not... but just in case, I'll say that I would not, under any circumstances, make homemade food for a kidney cat without a valid/vetted recipe. Egg shell is great but cats' bodies are very sensitive so there needs to be a proper nutrient balance. I use a premixed supplement for our cats' homecooked food so I don't mess that up!

Tanya's site is a great resource for kidney cats. When we had a kidney cat, I fed her protein-rich wet food for her final months -- she died of digestive problems but her kidney numbers did improve in her final months and she really enjoyed raw food! Catinfo.org also has some information on kidney disease. Dr. Pierson is a serious advocate of not limiting protein for kidney cats and I chose her school of thought when feeding Brooksie.
 

Talien

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
2,650
Purraise
5,131
Location
Michigan
The "prescription" diets often contribute to a whole host of health issues because they are full of things Cats should not eat. The problem is the major studies are almost exclusively done by or funded by the major pet food companies, and they have a vested interest in selling their products so those studies can hardly be considered unbiased. Vets study this "research" in school, and most take it at face value and just don't know any better. It's really sad because a lot of vets will say things like, "Ingredients don't matter, only nutrients" to which I often reply, "How healthy would you be if you ate nothing but white bread and nutritional supplements?"


Feline Nutrition Foundation also has a lot of good info on diet.
 

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
16,390
Purraise
7,126
Location
Arizona
K Kat06112 , TC Feline makes a supplement to a raw diet that is specific to kidney cats. Its called TC Feline Special Formula. Not sure if they ship all over the world however.

I do want to say, however, that the mince you are purchasing in the fridge section for cats may already include organs and bones, or some sort of calcium, so I wouldn't automatically add in anything else before checking. Also, it's calcium carbonate you need to add for calcium. Egg shells are full of that, but if you want to just purchase something, that's what you want to look for (but again, only if the meat you are using doesn't already have calcium in it and if it doesn't, in order to make it a completely nutritious meal, you also need to add in organ meat, and in the proper percentages for everything, so definitely visit our Raw and Homecooked Forum referenced above)
 
Top