OTJ cat, numbers higher because of chicken intolerance?

[Riyah]

Hi all!

Though Lily is OTJ at the moment, I've still been trying out different foods with her because long term I'd love for her to not be on Fancy Feast all the time, even though that's what she prefers. Because of her latest bloodwork, which indicated Stage 2 CKD, I've been trying to keep in mind phosphorus levels. Unfortunately, I've had a feeling for a while now that she's got chicken allergies/intolerance. About a month ago, I was still feeding her Weruva Meal or No Deal and trying out some other flavors that had chicken, and noticed her numbers were getting higher, although still normal. We did catch some blue numbers so that was concerning to me.

After that, I took out all chicken and she now has a mix of seafood flavors from FF, Purina, and Weruva, and FF Turkey/Giblets and Beef. Since then, she's steadily stayed in the 80s and upper 70s (on an Alphatrak monitor). Is my train of thought sensible? I don't love the idea of buying a few more cans of chicken and testing again, but I've also seen that most of the lower phosphorus options tend to be chicken. Would love a way to confirm without what feels like experimenting on her!

Does anyone have recommendations for low carb, low/moderate phosphorus foods that don't have chicken? And am I right to remove the chicken even if her numbers post chicken are still in the normal range, although a bit higher?

 

[Wendy&Neko]

If you check this CKD Diabetes food list, you'll see a number of options without chicken. They includes ones with turkey, quail, duck, bison. Also not on that list are the Merrick Limited Ingredient ones. Neko liked the duck and there is turkey too. Dr. Lisa's list has the duck as high carb, but I suspect a typo on the document as it never raised her numbers.

 

[Riyah]

Thanks Wendy! I have gone through that list. We've tried a few flavors from there and Lily hasn't been a fan. I'm planning on ordering La Isla Bonita as our next option but I'm wary of how much seafood she's been consuming. Most people tend to say cats should be limited to seafood a few times a week but it's definitely her preferred food option.

Some of the options we haven't tried are from brands we could only get online, I think? I'm wondering if those companies would send out samples? We're currently stuck with a huge pack of Tiki After Dark and another Weruva flavor she won't eat, so I'd love to not have that happen again.

Thank you for the Merrick recommendation though! Lily does really like duck and their food is in stock at Petsmart/Petco. I'll try and pick some up today.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I think @Diane Tyler's Mom has a list of low phos foods.