For cats with early kidney disease, and their parents...

[myrnafaye]

Mittens was just diagnosed with a slightly elevated SDMA. BUN and Creatinine are normal. Vet wants her on a renal diet, either Hills KD or a Royal Canine product. My question for those of you who have your cat(s) on a renal diet: what do they prefer? Mittens currently is on ID canned and dry and she especially loves the dry stuff...so does Yuki...

PS I am bummed that I have to separate their food now, They are both grazers, and now I have to force them to be meal feeders. If I leave food out (since they will be on different diets), they will eat each others' food.

 

[Furballsmom]

I have to force them to be meal feeders.

Hi! Will you be able to use timed feeders, would that help?

If you aren't already familiar with this group and the website in general, they may have additional information and support for you. I would check not only about the preferred food but what those test results indicate;
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Tanya's Support Group

 

[stephanietx]

What's important for kidney kitties is to eat a food low in phosphorus. Rx diets aren't all that great to be honest. Here's a list of low phosphorus foods. Look at the AAA Starter Food List.

Feline CKD Food Lists - Google Drive

 

[myrnafaye]

Hi Stephanie tx and furbalks mom. Another person sent me the Google doc, and I don't know what to do with it. I can't read it. I know there is the school of thought that CKD cats should have less protein to not stress the kidneys; and the other school of thought that says less protein means muscle mass loss. IDK how the consumer sorts this out and makes a solid decision. BTW, I can't use a feeder because I feed mostly canned, and they can't eat each other's food.

 

[stephanietx]

I had a kidney kitty who passed 10 years ago and now have another kidney kitty. The most important thing is low phosphorus food. Protein is okay. My girl is on a grain-free diet, which is all protein, but her food is lower in phosphorus. Something that can affect muscle wasting is low potassium. She is now on a potassium supplement and doing much better. She's jumping again and just overall participating in the family more. I don't think she'll regain any muscle loss, but she's using what she has much more than previously.

 

[Furballsmom]

There are timed feeders for wet food, plus there are automatic feeders that are activated by the identification microchip that each specific cat has. I was thinking that you'd need more than one feeder.

Here's some info from that document;
Starter List: Low Phosphorus, Moderate Protein Foods Updated, May 20, 2020
START WITH THIS LIST and feed from it if you can before venturing on to the other lists. These are wet foods with phosphorus under 200mg/100kcal (200mg per 100 calories) and below 35% of calories from protein. Not all of these are low carb or grain-free; check the ingredients. Weruva BFF and Weruva Stews are most likely found in the US at Petco(US) or Ren's Pets (Canada) and hard to find elsewhere. Some may be available on Chewy or Amazon.
The Organix and Wellness Tiny Tasters should be available at Petmart (maybe Petco).
The Performatrin is made for Pet Valu and sold in their stores (US and Canada).
The Kaikoa foods may be available in the US/Canada only at retail stores in the Pacific Northwest.
Dave's Restricted Magnesium is not available at the big chain stores. Note that the magnesium level (0.04% DMB) is not much lower than in some of the Weruva foods. Check with your vet if you are worried about a low magnesium diet for your cat.