Foods for kidney failure

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terri1962

terri1962

Member Since 2011
I just found out that my cat Arthur is in the very earliest stages of kidney failure. Are there any commercial foods that appropriate for him to eat. The vet wanted to give him some pill which was a capsule form and prescription cat food. I said no to both. I already have to give him a pill twice a day for his thyroid and that's hard enough without having to shove a capsule down his throat.
I also have two other cats in the house so trying to feed him prescription cat food probably is not going to work either.
They eat canned Fancy Feast right now, usually Chunky Chicken or Turkey.

Terri
 
They just updated this. My vet told me last time he was in that he was showing beginning signs of kidney disease so I just went through this search as well. If your looking at the list though it goes through lowest to highest for phos so you have to do some searching for one with low carbs as well since theyre all hit and miss with the carbs. I decided to go with Holistic Select and my cats are doing good with it. I dont know what type of levels your cat has, but I think the phos for those are like 1.10 Once again though the key is to find something your cats will eat lol


http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm
 
Thanks for the list. My cat is not diabetic. My diabetic passed away in 2011. He is just old and has thyroid problems. So what is it I need to be watching for? Low phos and low protein? The vet tech who called did not tell me anything past that they wanted to give me prescription food.

Terri
 
low phos for sure......the thing with the protein is still debated some say lower protein others say it doesnt matter. I figure to be on the safe side stay towards the middle lol. Also i'd keep an eye on the sodium level.....this info is just from me reading though. Like I said im still learning about kidney issues
 
Thanks for all your info. This is all very new to me as well. I have had diabetic, heart problems and high blood pressure, constipation, pancreatitis, with previous cats but never one with kidney failure. so, I guess we will be learning together.
I am going to stop by tomorrow and get a copy of his bloodwork.
The vet did not even examine him today, they just took his blood and sent him and I home and then had the vet tech call me on the phone. I was not to happy about that.
So I have no idea what his levels are.

Terri
 
Definitely get a print out, also it SHOULD be on the lab work but find out if they did a USG (urine specific gravity) I found out my vet should have done that but did not. Im not even certain if Hidey has kidney issues or not because the levels that usually are elevated for kidney disease were not, heck some were even low. There were a couple things that were slightly high, but when they did the blood work he was fasting (he was going in for a dental and a few extractions) under stress, and had inflamed gums.

I dont know if you have already, but check out Tanya's site. Its a great resource to understanding all the special terms and also deciphering the blood work levels.
 
well Fancy Feast is way too high in phosphorus - so you will need to get him off that.

If you want easy option - Friskies Special Diet is the way to go - it's low carb AND low phosphorus....and there are a few flavor choices -- chicken, chicken & beef, turkey & giblets, etc
 
Hillary,

I looked at the Friskies website and they do not list a Special Diet cat food only a Senior Diet cat food. Where do you buy this from? Edit, I just found that Petsmart may carry it.

Terri
 
I've found it at Pet Supplies Plus on Lane Avenue, Columbus, west of campus. Give them a call to see if it is stock.
I did a Google search and it came up for WalMart's online shopping, too, so you could go through the shop link at the top of the page and order it online.
 
BJ,

I found it at Petsmart but I can`t find the phosphorus count of the Special Diet foods. They are not on the list and not on the can. Any idea where I might find this?
On the other hand so far I put some down and they are eating it. It is also cheaper than FF.

Terri
 
the phos content is on Dr. Lisa's list - she even has a list especially for phos content -- www.catinfo.org

and that is where I got the info from - years ago when I needed to use it for my kidney kitty while maintaining the low carb for maui.


there are other brands listed - the key when using the chart is to stay under 250 mg phosphorus - and the lower the better in this case.


I know several stores had issues with stocking Friskies, something about a shortage -- but I think they are getting restocked fairly well on this -- and Senior Diet is VERY different from Special Diet -- it's clearly marked on the label - so you don't get the wrong ones.

and good thing - price is the same for this as the regular friskies.
 
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