? Kidney disease with diabetes

[Sue C]

How does kidney disease effect what my diabetic cat should be eating? The vet wants me to feed her Hills KD and she will not touch it. He said high protein was not good for her because of the kidney issue. Does that mean I should try to feed her a balanced cat food and adjust her insulin accordingly? The vet is insisting she must eat KD to survive, and unless I give her something other than KD, the poor cat is going to starve!

 

[Kris & Teasel]

I can't advise but there are many people on here who have diabetic cats with kidney disease as well. I'm sure someone will see your post and be able to help. One way to get more attention is to attach a question mark to your thread's title. That icon is in a pop up menu to the left of the bar where you typed in the thread title at the start.

 

[Sue C]

I can't advise but there are many people on here who have diabetic cats with kidney disease as well. I'm sure someone will see your post and be able to help. One way to get more attention is to attach a question mark to your thread's title. That icon is in a pop up menu to the left of the bar where you typed in the thread title at the start.

Thank you. I put the question mark in the title.

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

The idea of high protein food being bad for kidneys is old school thinking.....the newer information shows that what's most important is to control the amount of phosphorus and feed the highest quality protein possible

Did your vet tell you what "stage" of kidney disease your cat was in? If you have blood test results you can post here, we have several people who are really good at interpreting them

 

[Rebecca Thomas]

Hi Sue, I have a lot of experience with kidney disease kitty's and always found Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease brilliant. There is a particular page on CKD and Diabetes http://www.felinecrf.org/diabetes.htm. There is a really good list of food dry matter analysis which will give you an idea of low phosphorous, low carb but reasonably high protein diets. You could also join their support group as I know there are quite a few diabetic/CKD kitties on there and they may have some more advice. I agree with Chris the 'high protein food = bad for kidneys' view is now considered old school. Powdered egg whites (without any other additives) are a great source of protein which you can just add to food if you can't find one that is both low carb and low phos. They contain around 1% carbs and it's tasteless. Helen (who runs the site) does say that diabetes control takes priority over CKD and that if you get the diabetes under control you may see the CKD numbers getting better.

 

[Red & Rover (GA)]

I agree with Chris. A low protein kidney diet is old school. k/d is super high carb. Rover's numbers shot up like crazy when I tried it. Also, he needed to eat tons of the stuff in order to get enough protein. The wet is less carbs than the dry, but they are both up there. In a nutshell, you want low carb diabetic food that is as low in phosphorus as possible.

And that can be very hard to find (at least in Canada). Depending on what kidney disease stage your cat is at, you might have to add a phosphorus binder (aluminum hydroxide - get the powder - the stuff from the vets usually has sugar in it).

Tanya's site is the best encyclopedia of kidney knowledge and experience. Like diabetes, a steep learning curve.

 

[Anitafrnhamer]

Squeaker had chronic renal failure. There are so many things you can do to extend your cat's life comfortably. Big things to watch for with kidney disease is BUN, creatinine, Phosphorus and hematocrit. Getting your cats on B12 and B complex supplements now is a good thing. You can also try mixing cooked (boiled not fried) egg whites into your cats food. They are high protein but have low phosphorus (phosphorus is the enemy of failing kidneys). Read through felinecrf.org and it will benefit both you and your cat

 

[jacereske]

I have a diabetic cat with kidney disease. I agree that controlling the diabetes is the priority since uncontrolled diabetes only makes the kidney issues worse.

When we adopted her in June, I was told by Keno's internist to give her Hill's k/d and that was a huge mistake that I regret. The phos is low but the carbs are just way too high at over 30%. I next tried Hill's m/d because it has half the carbs of k/d but still a reasonably low phosphorous percentage. But the carbs were still too high to get the diabetes regulated.

It is close to impossible to find a food that is low carb and low phos. I am now feeding Core Wellness Beef, Lamb & Venison. At 5% carbs it is helping with the diabetes and it is 85% phos which isn't great, but better than most. But unfortunately it has carageenan, which is concerning to me.

There is a Weruva food, Steak Frites, that is low carb and low phos, no carageenan. But unfortunately it has potato starch which Keno has a sensitivity to and it sends her BGs up way too high. If your kitty does not have a potato starch sensitivity, it might be something to try.

It's a difficult balancing act. Tanya's site (http://www.felinecrf.org) is an excellent resource and there is also a great Facebook Feline CKD group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/felinecrf/

Jeanette

 

[Critter Mom]

For info: a big problem with CRF cats is muscle wastage so an adequate supply of protein in their diets is necessary to prevent this, especially in the early IRIS stages.

Phosphorus binders can be very helpful in maintaining blood phosphorus within a reasonable range. (Note: Target range may vary depending on the IRIS stage of the cat.)

Regular blood tests are needed to check phosphorus levels and dose may need to be adjusted (and attention needs to be paid to the phosphorus levels in the kitty's food - especially if switching to a different brand/variety).

Phosphorus binders may be constipating. This may be resolved in some cases by adding slippery elm bark or canned plain pumpkin (not the pie filling!) to their food. Miralax is a stool softener which may also help. Lots more info at:

www.felineconstipation.org


Mogs
.

 

[JanetNJ]

Don't feed the kd. There are several lower phosphorus foods that are also low in carb. If you can post the lab report I can give you advice. I have a ckd cat who has been stage 2 for over a year with little progression. He isn't on prescription food because the low protien is terrible for them in early stages. Adding bff food to his diet lowered his phosphorus from 4.7 to 3.9 in just a few weeks. My guy was also borderline anemic, but b 12 and b complex solved that in a few weeks.

We also do 100 ml of sub q's every other day.
Here's a copy to Zimmy's labs. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tIt9u2HSuUbzUKUXvcbHTDld9Y2JyNSkZUZfgt8003s