Weruva BFF Grain free can food for kidneys?

[movinintime]

Anyone use it & recommend it? I won't use fish flavors but the others seem ok? I want low phosphorus levels for 2 cats to protect vs kidney probs. TY

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! I've read that it is, here are a couple of posts;
Kidney disease diet

Best Food To Prevent Kidney Disease In The Future

 

[movinintime]

TY again!

I am getting canned food just in case my raw food doesn't always work. I use Vital Essentials duck & rabbit raw. Also, their raw dog food, beef, for the 2 kitties. They seem to like it & I was told it is ok for cats. I hope so, if anyone knows for sure?

 

[Furballsmom]

You probably saw this, but my two cents are that Vital Essentials beef toppers are indicated on their website to be used for both dogs and cats, although there's bone in the ingredient list. Being these are intended as toppers, (ie used in small quantities) the bone is probably not an issue. The other beef products are listed for only dogs and don't appear to have ground bone in the ingredients, but looking at the ingredient lists otherwise I can't see issues, particularly since you're doing a rotational type of menu for your furbabies
.

 

[movinintime]

Great info!! & no I didn't see it.

I miss more than I see nowadays, haha.
But I come here b/c I know so many here are very good at what they do.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

The Vital Essentials for DOGS doesn't contain extra taurine. That's not good. I feed Stella and Chewy DOG to one of my cats because they don't carry the flavors he likes in their cat line. I don't feel bad about doing that because they do add taurine to their DOG line.

Also, if your cats don't currently have kidney issues, I'm not sure it's a good idea to feed low phosphorus foods. Did you discuss this with your Vet? Healthy cats need phosphorus in their diet. Kidney cats need less. (I've had three kidney cats so am kind of well versed on this) I'm doing my best to prevent my current cats from getting kidney disease, so I feed all wet food (raw or low carb canned) and lots of filtered water mixed in.

 

[movinintime]

No I did not know that.

Just began it this past wk so will mix it w/ more cat raw not their dog.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm sure one week won't hurt . Stella and Chewy has a Beef in dog. Large patties or Lil Bites, which are cat sized pieces. I'm talking freeze dried DOG. I feed both because sometimes my guy likes larger pieces, so I take a large patty and break it up into larger pieces than the Lil Bites, and of course soak them in warm water, then serve them in more warm water like a little gravy. Sometimes I mix them with S & C lamb (also DOG) which comes the same way.

S & C is heavy on the bone, so I always add in some Zesty Paws freeze dried RAW chicken (pure chicken, nothing else) to add muscle meat to the plate.

 

[movinintime]

I tried S&C's Selects both turk & chick. Neither cat likes it much

Also, I have turk & chick from Answers A+. But no idea re bone in it??

Also, have Vital Essentials rabbit & duck. I will no more use the raw dog beef then. had no idea re taurine as the lady at Vital said it is ok for cats & has taurine. hmm, I may need call them again to clarify.

But ok -- til then, no more beef from dogs. TY for alerting me asap.

 

[lisahe]

Also, if your cats don't currently have kidney issues, I'm not sure it's a good idea to feed low phosphorus foods. Did you discuss this with your Vet? Healthy cats need phosphorus in their diet. Kidney cats need less. (I've had three kidney cats so am kind of well versed on this) I'm doing my best to prevent my current cats from getting kidney disease, so I feed all wet food (raw or low carb canned) and lots of filtered water mixed in.

This is pretty much what our vet recommends, too.

Our last cat had kidney disease, so I notice phosphorus levels now, too, when I look for foods for our current cats... but I don't try to keep the levels low since we feed only wet foods and also add extra water. That said, I do avoid feeding our middle-aged cats a lot of foods that are relatively high in phosphorus. Some is fine and would balance out thanks to all the low and moderate levels we feed. But I wouldn't want to feed a lot that's high in phosphorus, particularly because in some cases (like Stella & Chewy's, at least what I called the company about some years ago) the phosphorus can be extremely high and may also come because of high bone content, which can contribute to or cause constipation. Bone is another thing that's good andnutritious in limited quantities but can cause problems if there's too much.

I'll also add, since BFF was the original question, that our cats say many of Weruva's BFF foods are very good! They like the Play pates. As well as some of the pouch foods that are very similar. Those are probably on the low end of the cats' phosphorous intake!

Also, I have turk & chick from Answers A+. But no idea re bone in it??

I just noticed this question, too! I'm not familiar with this brand but since "chicken" or "turkey" can sometimes include bone, it's worth calling the company to check if you're concerned about bone. Which I would be since one of our cats has a tendency to get constipated! There are so many things to consider with cat food!

 

[Furballsmom]

I will no more use the raw dog beef then. had no idea re taurine as the lady at Vital said it is ok for cats & has taurine. hmm, I may need call them again to clarify.

Since your cats like it, I'd stick with it.
It's possible that they've added it since the issue with dogs and taurine a couple months ago.

You can supplement taurine to your kitties diet if necessary;

Cat Taurine Requirements

VetInfo: Your Trusted Resource for Veterinary Information

www.vetinfo.com

StackPath

Feline-nutrition . org taurine

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yes, I was gong to say you could simply buy some powdered Taurine and add it to the beef.. BTW, my cats do not like ANY Stella and Chewy except their freeze dried items . So weird. You'd think they'd at least like the frozen patties, but no way. And the Selelcts, OMG, you'd think they thought I was trying to poison them

 

[Furballsmom]

you'd think they thought I was trying to poison them

lol ...cats...

 

[lisahe]

And the Selelcts, OMG, you'd think they thought I was trying to poison them

Ours love the Selects... unless they don't. They are such cats!

 

[lisamarie12]

I've been using BFF's Oh My Gravy line for about a year without any issues, my cats (both 9 years old) like that it's soupy. I usually add in a few pieces of freeze dried meat treats (boneless meat, e.g., Vital Essentials chicken breast treats or Fresh is Best turkey tenders) to the BFF, they love it. Since BFF is on the lower phos side, I don't worry that the few pieces of freeze dried meat will effect the phos percentage too much.

 

[lisamarie12]

Also, I have turk & chick from Answers A+. But no idea re bone in it??

When I asked Answers about the bone percentage 2 years ago, I was told 10%.

 

[movinintime]

So Answers should be out? Can i use ALL Vital as in their raw; chicken, turk, rabbit, duck & dog beef? All have taurine and are fairly low in phosphorus compared to Stella's (other than their Selects & neither cat likes it) & had been using Answers but will stop it? Also, BFF is ok but shredded sint a hit here w/ them, or is there a pate? Not too keen on the shredded but havent tried more than 2 cans. WILL NEVER USE ANY FISH THO EVER!

TY for this info