Sami - OTJ but now with possible Kidney issues

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tina & Sammy

Tina & Sammy

Member Since 2010
Hi everyone,

It has been a few months since I have checked in. Sami is doing great and is still showing normal numbers with her glucose levels, and I haven't given any insulin since February.

Now she is experiencing some slightly higher than normal kidney values. I am hoping that I am jumping the gun and maybe this is just caused by some slight dehydration do to the hot, hot weather we have been having, and the fact that we don't have central air.

Anyway, Sami has been on canned food since I came to this board and her glucose levels have responded nicely, but with the higher kidney values the doctor wants to put her on a low protein diet, which will probably higher in carbs.

Does anyone have a cat with both diabetes and kidney disease? If so what do you feed.

Thanks. for all the help.
 
My kitty has borderline kidney issues, but not enough to really worry about diet. I do have Sub Q fluids that I can give at home as I see fit - we're not at the point where the vets insist it's necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

However, before Kasha was dx'd with FD, I was pretty sure she was going into kidney failure (misread the signs - drinking a lot, etc) so I did a lot of research on foods. I found mixed info on low protein diets - I think it was the phosphorus (?) in the diet that was the major thing to avoid (I could be wrong, but I think that was at least one thing I found). I was researching low phosphorus foods for a while. You might just want to google some more or ask in Health. All I know is that there was some controversy over whether a low protein diet was actually necessary.

Edit: you might want to check out this link:
The low protein myth
 
Nicole & Baby just posted today with the same question! See her condo today.

Could I ask what food you're feeding? And could I ask whether you noticed any symptoms that alerted you?

Also, does anyone know about the protein content of FF vs. Evo? Even if protein isn't the culprit...

FWIW, my kitty loves to spend time on the porch in the heat, and I think he eats more and pees more. (I add more water to his food because of the heat.)

I hope Sami is fine. Sending healing thoughts!
 
Hi Tina!!! Great to see you and Sami, but I wish it were better circumstances. I know there are alot of beans on the board that have sugarbabies with kidney issues. I can't offer any help but did you post on Health too? (((((hugs and scritches))))
 
Hi Tina, I'm new at all this. Stu was recently diagnosed with kidney issues as well as hyperthyroidism. I've been doing quite a bit of reading on both of them, and getting a lot of help from the board. From what I have read, the main culprit in the food is not the protein, but the phosphorus. So you should get your cat's phosphorus levels checked out and try to feed food that is 200 or below in phosphorus (see Janet & Binky's charts). So far, Merrick Cowboy Cookout, Wellness Chicken, Wellness Turkey, EVO 95% venison, all seem to be low on Janet & Binky's chart. Also, apparently chopped, cooked egg white has no phosphorus, is high in protein, and can be added to the canned-food diet so that you don't have to give as much canned meat. (I learned this in Elizabeth Hodgkin's very interesting book, "Your Cat"; she focusses on food and cat health.) Eventually, phosphorus binders might be added to the food to cancel out the phosphorus but leave the protein. If you check Stu's condo for the last week or so, you will find many helpful links that some of our most knowledgeable people on the board have sent me for my guidance.
Good luck and I hope that all will work out OK. The concensus seems to be that you shouldn't go with the vet "kidney" diets, since they are full of junk and are too high in carbs.

Ella & Stu
 
My Emma started out with kidney trouble, and developed diabetes shortly thereafter. At first she was eating the prescription kidney diet food, but her bg's ended up way out of control. I did a bunch of research myself, and found what everyone else here has been saying; that it's not the protein, it's the phosphorous that you need to restrict. My vet also encouraged me to buy good quality foods with better protein sources (i.e., not by-products). It's something I had been doing anyway, but just think its worth mentioning. I typically feed her Wellness Turkey or Chicken, some of the Merrick foods, like Cowboy Cookout (her current fave), and I often mix in a little FF or EVO canned food. She likes those better, but the phosphorous is too high, so I add just a small spoonful to the turkey or chicken so she gets a little taste of it.

Just as an encouragement, except for at the very beginning back in the fall of 2007, when she was recovering from a nasty kidney infection, I haven't had to give her any meds (related to the kidneys - she does get uti's sometimes, so I have to give her a/b's for that). I was giving her 100 mL of sub-Q fluids once a week, and in the last year have bumped it to 50 mL every other day. This keeps her kidney values in the normal range. When she had bloodwork done in June, she was completely in the normal range for everything - not even on the high end of normal. So, I know it sounds scary, but it's not a death sentence, and it's very manageable!
 
I want to check that I understand what Kristen wrote: Kristen, are you saying that both FF and Evo are higher in phosphorus?

Yikes. :sad:
 
Yes Kathy - I know the regular EVO is, and the FF that Emma likes are the fishy ones, and they're all higher in phosphorous. I had been feeding her EVO before her kidney diagnosis and had to wean her off of it. She loved that stuff. You can check janet and binky's chart here Janet & Binky's new chart and here Janet & Binky's old chart.

The regular EVO food has 440 mg of phosphorous. The chicken & turkey EVO is lower (237), but of course Emma doesn't like that one. Her favorite FF is the salmon, which is 401.

I believe the number you should shoot for is about 200. It's hard to find foods that low, but you can find several under 250.
 
Scroll down to the food list here: http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm
Helen and others have recently updated the food list by contacting food manufacturers, so this is much more current than Janet & Binky's list. However, they didn't gather carb info so you would still have to rely on J&B's list for that. There are some Evo varieties that are pretty low in phosphorus.

Sorry to hyjack your thread, Tina.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top