? Kidney/Renal Failure Diet for my cat who is has been in remission from diabetes twice

[AJM]

Hello all,

I'm hoping someone may know how I can help my cat who is recently diagnosed with the onset of kidney failure. The vet, who is very good it seems, has done many blood tests and confirmed she has the onset of kidney failure and that with the right diet she may live several more years. She is 14.

She is also twice recovered from diabetes, once in summer of 2016, and second time in summer of 2017 after she had a tooth infection which caused a urinary tract infection and brought the diabetes back on. I've helped her through close monitoring and diet with your help all along, thank you!!!!!!!!

The vet is recommending seeing her off of Wellness Turkey & Salmon or Wellness Turkey (which she has been on for many years on and off) to something that is Science Diet for kidneys. I am hesitant as I don't know if that is the best course of action. Whenever she smells fresh grilled chicken she comes running nowadays and I wonder if her body is craving just plain chicken. Do you have any ideas of alternative diets/food brands that might be better for her? Thank you!

 

[Critter Mom]

Check out the following for advice on feeding CRF kitties:

Tanya's Site

Yahoo CRF Support Group

In the early CRF stages it's not good to feed low protein diets because it can lead to muscle wastage. Phosphorus control is usually the important thing to focus on as it helps slow progression of the disease (though a CKD kitty may have additional needs; regular blood tests will point to what diets and treatments will be needed for a particular cat).

April (@manxcat419) has made the following abridged list of diabetic-friendly, lower phosphorus foods:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nMBzt57Zi0PcAJ-gSt0NxrTyc3Twi7A0L8o2H2gGkoM/edit#gid=0

If you find that your cat doesn't like commercial lower phosphorus foods then, provided that her labs indicate her phosphorus levels are higher than desirable, you can add a phosphorus binder to the food(s) she will eat.


Mogs
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[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Hi, you do not mention what his kiddney values are but if he's just on the onset (stage 1 or 2) and his phosphorus values ain't too high just look for a low carb lo phos diet that he likes and he should be ok, other opition as Mogs mentioned is just keep the food that he likes and ad some phosphorus binder , unless his kidney problem is advanced he does not need to be on a renal diet, all the renal diets that I've found are way high in carbs sometimes even higher that food with gravy which may put his diabetes out of control and that could damage his kidneys more than the non renal food could.

If he likes plain chicken so much you may want to consider home cooking that way you could have a very good low phosphorus and low carb diet that would help protect his kiddneys