I am waiting to hear from the vet; his staff seems to think it's ok but I'd like to know what you think: We have two 15 year-old Ocicats, one of whom (the female) appears from her recent blood test to have kidney issues. At her vet's direction I am giving her fluids and feeding her a special renal diet but it would make our lives less complicated if I could give this special food to both cats. It's a Hills prescription renal chicken pate. As always, thank you.
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Is it ok to feed one old cat's prescription renal cat food to the other (same age)?
- Thread starter bahger
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I don't know the answer but here's a great web site for all things kidney disease: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat The prescription food may not be necessary at all despite what your vet says / recommends. Lots of vets default to prescription food as a sort of "cure all" for any disease cats get 
We feed my cat's rx food to all kitties, but much smaller amount and mixed into their regular canned food. We do this with their dry food as well.
Hi. The web site link offered above is a superb place to learn what you need to know about how to handle kidney issues, including the severity. Don't let it scare you with its wealth of information, because kidney disease is progressive and the more you know about it the more you can help your cat.
But, aside from that, most kidney care foods are low in protein, which is really not beneficial to kidney cats or non-kidney cats. So, my personal opinion is to look for alternative foods.
But, aside from that, most kidney care foods are low in protein, which is really not beneficial to kidney cats or non-kidney cats. So, my personal opinion is to look for alternative foods.
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- #5
Thank you all for such helpful responses. I should clarify that she’s not symptomatic yet; we are just trying to respond to the blood test indications in the hope that we can stabilise her before symptoms appear.
My previous tow cats, one had CKD, the other was fine.
So one had to take fluids, meds, supplements and renal diet. For obvious reasosn I could not differentiate the food between them, so the healthy one had to eat the same food as the one with kidney issues, and she did it for years.
The vet said the main feature of renal food is the lower content of phosphorous and proteins, which aren't needed in high quantities in adult cats, so it was fine that both cats would eat the same food.
It would be a different matter if the healthy cat was very young.
So one had to take fluids, meds, supplements and renal diet. For obvious reasosn I could not differentiate the food between them, so the healthy one had to eat the same food as the one with kidney issues, and she did it for years.
The vet said the main feature of renal food is the lower content of phosphorous and proteins, which aren't needed in high quantities in adult cats, so it was fine that both cats would eat the same food.
It would be a different matter if the healthy cat was very young.
While the low phosphorus part is true, lower protein is no longer considered appropriate for older cats. As cats age, they tend to lose muscle mass - even the 'healthy' ones - so lowering the protein too much is only attributing to the naturally occurring muscle loss. That is generally the problem with many of the prescription renal foods available today - the manufacturing companies are still working off the old school of thought on this one.
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- #8
Interesting. A senior staff member at the vet’s office said that she thought it would be ok to give the renal chicken diet to our other cat because he is also an older feline in less need of protein. However, when she checked with the vet, he kiboshed that, so I am feeding them separate diets and keeping them apart at mealtimes. They are basically ok with it. Another challenge is going to be to find another renal prescription food apart from the Hills chicken because I fear that the patient will get bored with it and start to reject it. Any ideas? You’ve all been great, as usual.
This link is a sub-set of the one provided to you earlier, but it is specifically focused on canned cat foods, both prescription and non-prescription.
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease- Canned Food Data USA (felinecrf.org)
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease- Canned Food Data USA (felinecrf.org)
Do you have water fountains, and a couple other water sources such as cleaned daily mason jars or tall water glasses with fresh daily filtered water in unusual locations?
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Thank you for highlighting this issue. The tendency of manufacture to put senior cats (and dogs) on low protein (high carb diets) at a time they can ill afford the lack of protein (and the inevitable muscle loss that results) is deeply regrettable.
This sort of thinking has persisted for far too long, despite the evidence that--in the main--it is something that's in direct contravention of the nutritional needs older animals, and all cats and dogs (truth told).
With you 100%.
Bill
