Low Sodium Diet For High Blood Pressure In Senior Kitty

[Yoheved79]

I have two 18 year old kitties. One we just found out has very high blood pressure. we immediately changed his diet over to the Hills Prescription K/D. I have researched all the ingredients in the Hills food and was rather disgusted. Not to mention it smells awful and my cats despise it.
I typically feed my cats Halo and Weruva. There seem to be less additives, the food actually looks like "Food" and it doesn't smell like something is rotting right after I open up a can. When I shared my thoughts with my vet he was adamant that I keep my cat on Hills and was trying to dissuade me from seeking out a nutritionist because according to him it is nearly impossible to balance a cats diet with accurate ingredients unless you are a specialist. I find this hard to believe.

There has to be alternatives out there that are holistic and healthy!

I am wondering who out there has struggled with balancing a senior kitties diet that has High Blood pressure and what you fed them to help successfully prolong their lives outside of the awful Prescription foods? Looking for low sodium diets whether you make them from scratch or purchase them?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

WAs your cat with high blood pressure also diagnosed with kidney disease? That K/D is for kidney disease, NOT for high blood pressure, although sometimes cats with kidney disease also have high blood pressure. Was your cat given blood pressure medication. That's the normal option vs diet for high BP.

Now, if this cat does have kidney disease, certainly the K/D can be beneficial because it's lower in phosphorus than "regular" cat food. That being said, there are many, many cat foods out there that are still fairly low in phos (and sodium). Here is a chart of canned cat food listed in order of the amount of phosphorus in them: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease- Canned Food Data USA

That website was my "go to" for anything kidney related, since I've had three kidney cats. If you DO have a kidney, be sure to look at more than just that food chart...there is a section on high blood pressure in there also.

As far as discussing cat food with a feline nutritionist, they certainly should be able to help you with complete and balanced meals. Maybe your Vet's issue is whether or not they could tailor it for kidney issues ?

 

[white shadow]

Hi Yoheved79 !

Yes, I'd be looking at diet, too.

BUT, first, did the Vet prescribe medication for the high blood pressure...?

I'll give you a couple of reliable (and readable, in plain English !) references:

1. Treatment of Hypertension - At the bottom of the first section there (Sodium Restriction) you'll see a link to "food data tables", and you can check those for foods low in sodium.
2. Hypertension - That's a really good overview of high blood pressure (Hypertension).......scroll down a little to "Why Monitoring Blood Pressure Is So Important" and you'll see the very real dangers of uncontrolled BP.

[While the focus of that site is kidney disease, the treatment of HBP is applicable generally.)

Hope that helps.
.

 

[Yoheved79]

Thanks so much for the quick reply!!! The vet prescribed Amlodipine .625mg once a day. I am bringing him back this week to see if his BP went down after 2 weeks.
The comment on his bloodwork stated that BOTH SDMA AND CREATININE ARE WITHIN THE REFERENCE INTERVAL which indicates kidney function is likely good. I don't see any mention of the urine analysis.
The vet did state he has a Heart murmur w/ a possible arrhythmia and is underweight (strange because he is a healthy eater). He came back negative as well for hypothyroidism.
He put him on the K/D as a preventative measure. At least that is how I understood what the Dr. was explaining.
I know his Systolic BP was very high over 200. They did not write that exact measurement down on anything they provided me so I need to get that as well.

These are great references! Thank you. I see Amlodipine is on Tanya's list. I definitely need to spend more time reviewing the food tables. I'm comparing the values for the recommended "Therapeutic Kidney" foods vs the wet Weruva and the sodium looks comparable. Assuming everything is measured in Mg. I don't know how "Off" the foods need to be, to be considered problematic. I don't see that on the site yet, but I'm guessing it's buried in there somewhere.
THANKS!!!