Preventing Chronic Renal Failure in Diabetic Kitties

[Rachel & Gus]

I had a scare recently that Gus might be at the beginning stages of CRF, but fortunately his latest blood work came back really good. His creatin levels have dropped, but his BUN levels did rise. I told the vet I had added plain chicken to his diet and she said the increased protein could be the source of that increased level. She is more concerned about his creatin levels though and is happy that those dropped and said he has no signs of CRF.

My question:

Felines with diabetes can't be fed carbs so that leaves a diet high in protein. I worry that this high protein wears on the kidneys, but I only know about renal failure in humans and not cats so I have no idea if this is true or not for felines. Does the diabetic diet for cats contribute to CRF???? Is there something I need to be doing to prevent this or can it be prevented?

By the way - Gus's numbers are good and the vet asked that I reduce his dose of Lantus a bit because she felt his numbers were a bit too low.

Thank you for any feedback.

 

[Steph & Cuddles (GA)]

I asked this a LONG time ago when I had Cuddles.. she was diabetic, but didn't have CRF yet. I basically got the answer that no.. you can't really prevent it, other than feeding a low carb wet diet, which is best for the overall cat. When they DO get CRF though, what's usually best, is to restrict the phosphorus in the food. I still fed Cuddles low carb wet food, but tried to restrict which foods that were higher in phosphorus on janet & binky's food charts.

I guess the best way to try & push CRF off as long as you can is maybe to add a little bit of water to the canned food, and make sure kitty is well hydrated! Cuddles did fine on the low carb canned food, as long as she also got her daily sub-q fluids too. Her kidney values went back down into the normal range, as long as she got her fluids. I also added extra water to her food to help with the hydration. The kidneys can't concentrate urine like they used to, so kitty ends up peeing a LOT.. so you want to get fluids into them so they don't dehydrate that way. Without CRF though, there's not much you can do (that I know of) other than just feeding a low carb wet food (or raw) - since that diet is best for the overall health of kitties. BTW.. Cuddles was on fluids for 2 years or so, and her kidneys were in the normal values when she passed away. We believe it was cancer that took her from me, as her bloodwork was all perfect, and she had a mysterious mass in her abdomen.

 

[Jill and Remi]

I agree with everything Steph said. And unfortunatley there is no way to prevent it if it it going to happen. Heck, it even happens to kitties that aren't diabetic. That being said, you can always provide filtered water for Gus as well so the kidneys do not have to work as hard to filter out the unnecessary stuff. BUN will fluctuate more than the creatin depending on diet. I think it is great you are already keeping an eye on the kidneys, doesn't hurt to be proactive with that too.