Help on diet from those with Renal Disease & Diabetic kitties.

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Erin Patters

Erin Patters

Member Since 2015
Do any of your sugar cats have kidney disease AND diabetes?
How do you balance the low protein (so higher in carbs) needs of the kidneys with the high protein, low carb needs of diabetes?
I'm so scared right now because she went from having bad renal results to going back within COMPLETELY normal values only after putting her on a renal perscription diet (no other possible sources for the change)...it's the only one that worked, even though I know everyone's opinion on those diets here, I don't know what else to say. :(

Please help!

PS: I don't have any medical records of her situation yet, I'm so sorry! :(
 
At some stage, particularly with older or sick cats, everything you do is a compromise. Quintus had early-stage CKD when diagnosed with diabetes. Looking at his numbers it was clear that dealing with the diabetes was a priority. This is also the guideline on Tanya's CKD site.

I actually never managed to transition Quintus to low-carb food completely, so he still had some "renal" food in the mix. Overall it will come down to your cat's specific situation and numbers -- it might be something to discuss with your vet: what is the most urgent/important thing to take care of? It's probably the diabetes. You can always add phosporus binders if his P numbers start to go up.

Fingers crossed for you and your kitty!
 
Unless the cat is stage 4 kidney failure, what you are looking for is low phosphorus, not low protien. There are several low phosphorus /low carb food choices. I had one diabetic and one ckd cat, and I feed them both weuruva bff in cans. It really helped lower my ckd cats phosphorous levels.
 
JanetNJ said:
Unless the cat is stage 4 kidney failure, what you are looking for is low phosphorus, not low protien. There are several low phosphorus /low carb food choices. I had one diabetic and one ckd cat, and I feed them both weuruva bff in cans. It really helped lower my ckd cats phosphorous levels.
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Janet, Mishka's kidney labs were borderline last check. Vet didn't recommend any changes in diet, etc. However, I noticed increased thirst in the last week even though BG #s have been good. Afraid that his CKD has worsened and will get lab results next week. I've been trying to look for a different food for my finicky boy. I see you mentioned Weruva. Exactly what food did you feed? Thanks in advance.
 
Debbie & Mishka said:
Janet, Mishka's kidney labs were borderline last check. Vet didn't recommend any changes in diet, etc. However, I noticed increased thirst in the last week even though BG #s have been good. Afraid that his CKD has worsened and will get lab results next week. I've been trying to look for a different food for my finicky boy. I see you mentioned Weruva. Exactly what food did you feed? Thanks in advance.
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Best Feline Friend (B.F.F.) Can Variety Pack! Cat Food by Weruva 3.0oz Can (Pack of 12) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RP4FA6/?tag=felinediabetesfdmb-20
 
Hello - so glad to know there are others that have this situation. It has been hard to find foods that cover both conditions that they will eat. Don’t know about the rest of you, but my boy likes something like crazy for a while - then not. So have to have something on the back burner for when that happens. I know in our situation when the vet originally diagnosed the kidney issue (the diabetes had already been diagnosed about 8 months prior), she said renal food was the only way and to manage the diabetes with increased insulin. WRONG! One day on the renal food sent his BG up to almost 500! Took me almost 8 months to get his sugar regulated and one day to undo that. Nope. Not going that route. So, naturally (just as with the diabetes - when am I gonna learn?) I took matters into my own hands and started trying to figure it out. Of course the people on this site and on Tanya’s site have been such a great help. Everyone is in the same situation. At this point I have had luck with Whole Earth Farms duck pate and chicken pate, also Organix turkey pate and chicken pate. I am looking at some Soulistic and Weruva as well right now, however in the past for some reason Rex has had a strong aversion to both. Probably just like a kid - whatever mom wants them to do, or what is good for them, they don’t want...

Please, if it is possible - can we keep each other in the loop if/when we discover something new regarding managing these two conditions simultaneously?
 
Sean & Rufus said:
Try having a cat with diabetes, early CKD, and food intolerance to who knows what. Now that is a fun game to play when searching for food :)
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Which may be Tyler's current issue although triaditis is the dx and thought right now.

Diabetic ; CKD stage II and the stool issue.

Today a perfectly formed log. Yesterday a yellowish soft cow pat.

I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment over which foods will be best overall. Still stuck on wet pouches of renal and gastro intestinal + pumpkin/bit of rice.

Must admit to being concerned to get too out there with his food in case the diarrhea returns big time.
 
PussCatPrince said:
Which may be Tyler's current issue although triaditis is the dx and thought right now.

Diabetic ; CKD stage II and the stool issue.

Today a perfectly formed log. Yesterday a yellowish soft cow pat.

I'm at a bit of a loss at the moment over which foods will be best overall. Still stuck on wet pouches of renal and gastro intestinal + pumpkin/bit of rice.

Must admit to being concerned to get too out there with his food in case the diarrhea returns big time.
Click to expand...
It's difficult. Fortunelty Rufus had decent stools, when he has them. But his licking and scrathing and biting is no good. Plus he now has IBD, so really need to get him on something different. He does take probiotics and that helps, because before that he would have soft one day and reg next day. Also just bought some slippery elm bark. We'll see if that works for gi issues.
 
FWIW — and this is my civvie, so no FD — I seem to have gone from crazy diarrhea with the hypoallergenic food (HA) to beautiful logs by switching her to RC Hair and Skin. Yes yes, kibble. But logs are a good place to start. The “standard” sterilised food she was on before: on/off diarrhea. She has a GI issue (jejunal lesions visible on US) but right now nor exploring more as she is asymptomatic. Quintus also does better poop on dry, which is why he never transitioned completely to wet while he was on insulin.
 
I think it's not so much as everyone thinking renal diet are terribly bad just their are not adequate for a diabetic kitty and usually a cat does not need the low protein diet unless his CKD is very much advanced (stage 4) even a non diabetic cat does much better with a higher protein diet because they do not lose muscle mass, what you do have to do is keep the phosphorus low so a normal/high protein diet with a low phosphorus content would be just fine. But as they said sometimes and depending on the case (each cat is different) you'll have to compromise.

On general terms I do think is better to keep his BG under control because an unregulated diabetes can be hard on the kidneys and make everything worse for a CKD cat, in my case since there are no comercial low carb low phosphorus diets available where I live so I home cook Babu's (and my other 2 CKD kitties ) food.
 
Vtambo & Rex said:
Hello - so glad to know there are others that have this situation. It has been hard to find foods that cover both conditions that they will eat. Don’t know about the rest of you, but my boy likes something like crazy for a while - then not. So have to have something on the back burner for when that happens. I know in our situation when the vet originally diagnosed the kidney issue (the diabetes had already been diagnosed about 8 months prior), she said renal food was the only way and to manage the diabetes with increased insulin. WRONG! One day on the renal food sent his BG up to almost 500! Took me almost 8 months to get his sugar regulated and one day to undo that. Nope. Not going that route. So, naturally (just as with the diabetes - when am I gonna learn?) I took matters into my own hands and started trying to figure it out. Of course the people on this site and on Tanya’s site have been such a great help. Everyone is in the same situation. At this point I have had luck with Whole Earth Farms duck pate and chicken pate, also Organix turkey pate and chicken pate. I am looking at some Soulistic and Weruva as well right now, however in the past for some reason Rex has had a strong aversion to both. Probably just like a kid - whatever mom wants them to do, or what is good for them, they don’t want...

Please, if it is possible - can we keep each other in the loop if/when we discover something new regarding managing these two conditions simultaneously?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Mishka is in the same situation -- he's drinking tons of water and labs are do back tomorrow. I find Tanya's site to be so very overwhelming, but understand it's best to feed food with less than .5% phosphorus. I'm going to try Weruva. Did you have any luck finding food with less than 10% carbs and low phosphorus? At this point, I'm overwhelmed and just need some recommendations. Thanks.
 
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