Chronic Renal Kidney Failure & Food Options

[charliexoxo]

hello

My handsome man is waiting test results. Doc thinks it looks like kidney failure is approaching with his 11-12 year. I know my vet is going to recommend some prescription food filled with by-products and garbage (hills science diet, blegh!) I hate feeding him that crap. I’m also afraid those foods cause other problems. Has anyone experienced this? Do you feed the prescription food or another alternative

 

[maggiedemi]

Whatever your vet recommends, just ask them for the canned version.

 

[LTS3]

There are alternatives to prescription kidney food. See Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Which Foods to Feed, and Which to Avoid

Canned goods are preferred because through water content helps the kidneys work. Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease- Canned Food Data USA

 

[happilyretired]

I've lost 2 cats to CKD and neither one of them would touch prescription foods. You might find a lower phosphorus food that your cat will eat, but mine insisted on Fancy Feast [any vet will tell you that it's more important that they eat than what they eat], and for my second guy, I used a phosphorus binder. It's tasteless so he didn't reject the food, but I don't know whether it actually helped.

The disease progressed differently with each cat, so there's no way to tell how any cat will fare long term.

 

[kittyluv387]

You should check out catinfo.org. She is a vet and is very against the nasty and expensive prescription foods. I had a kidney scare recently so I'll tell you my recommended canned brands.

Dr Elsey's Chicken Pate - 1.25% Phosphorus on a dry matter basis.
Nature's Logic Turkey - .92%
Nature's Logic Chicken - 1.32%
Lotus Rabbit - .96%
Pride by Instinct Flaked Rabbit - 213 mg per 100kcal (low 1% range)
Primal Freeze Dried Turkey - .97%
Hound & Gatos Chicken - 1.26%

Catinfo.org actually has a chart showing the phosphorus levels in many canned foods. You want that dry matter percentage to be as low as possible. For commercial brands you wanna stay within 1-1.5% phosphorus. Prescription foods will have less but at what cost? They will be eating species inappropriate food. They will be surviving but not thriving. The choice is yours.

 

[molly92]

I fed Wellness Duo beef and chicken liver, Weruva steak frites, and Wellness morsels for a few months with my kidney kitty because those were low on the list of phosphorus. But I have switched to raw because she loves it and she's doing great on it! Rad cat specifically has low phosphorus because they use eggshell instead of bone. Here's a chart of their phosphorus numbers if you're interested:

 

[kittyluv387]

Oh I also wanted to mention that Dr. Pierson from catinfo.org recommended 300 mg of combined epa and dha of fish oil per day. She said fish oils are anti inflammatory and kidney disease is inflammatory. She mentioned a study where kidney compromised cats lived longer on a diet that was high in those fish oils.

 

[sivyaleah]

When our boy was diagnosed, about a year ago or so, we shunned prescription diets based on all the research I did. He also has poultry allergies as we discovered so finding proteins he could tolerate was our primary concern. We use Fancy Feast Beef quite a bit - as mentioned not the best but he will consistently eat it and eating is very important. We also feed him Lotus Juicy Pork, the Wruva Steak Frites, salmon, rabbit and other more novel proteins of various brands.

We had him on probiotics meant specifically for kidney disease for many months but my feeling was it didn't help or hurt so we discontinued it (very expensive also). Always, cool fresh water available from a fountain.

Thus far his labs have remained relatively stable, it's only climbed a small amount since we discovered his illness so whatever we are doing is working for him. Again eating is the main goal and sometimes one has to just give them what they will eat.

 

[Bbydoll]

Oh I also wanted to mention that Dr. Pierson from catinfo.org recommended 300 mg of combined epa and dha of fish oil per day. She said fish oils are anti inflammatory and kidney disease is inflammatory. She mentioned a study where kidney compromised cats lived longer on a diet that was high in those fish oils.

Which brand of fish oil do you recommend?

 

[denice]

I have a cat in the early stages of CKD. I do feed her the prescription food and it did help her numbers when I started it and they are holding good for now, of course there is no 'cure' other then a transplant. It's just about slowing the progression and quality of life.

My vet gave me a sampling of different types of canned prescription foods to try and there was one that she would eat so we have stuck with it. It is a Royal Canin food, I don't know that there is really any difference between it and Hills. If there were none that she would eat then I would have found another food for her.

The main things are avoid dry food and food with lower phosphorous levels. It used to be thought 'low protein' but now it is low phosphorous levels. Low protein may be the way to go for humans with kidney issues but not for cats.

This is the food table from Tanya's site for cat's with CKD. Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease- Canned Food Data USA It has foods in order by their phosphorous content. You want as low as possible that your cat will eat well. Keeping your cat eating well is always the most important thing. This site has a lot of other good info as well.

 

[kittyluv387]

Which brand of fish oil do you recommend?

I just use this one since the dosage is right and it’s super economical since I buy it from Costco.