UK-er's Rom has stage 3 kidney disease. Food reccommendations for diabetics needed

[Sue484]

Rom was diagnosed yesterday with stage 3 kidney disease. I have to take him back tonight to the vet where he will probably be admitted for fluids, as he is a bit dehydrated, but the vet would want him on fluids before examining his eye which is the problem I originally took him in for. He will need to be under anaesthetic for the procedure as it is so swollen at the minute, the vet really cannot see it properly. He will have a dental at the same time. I have been given the website felinecrf.org. that has a list of UK foods suitable. Unfortunately Rom's favourite Felix As Good As It Looks is not on the list! What do you recommend that is low phosphorous and low carb?

EDIT Please ignore the attached picture. I am doing this at work and uploaded by mistake and I've got no idea how to remove!

 

[Vtambo & Rex]

Well, in the same boat! Sorry. My cat was diagnosed with diabetes in January 2017 and after I finally got that all under control, in august he was also diagnosed with kidney disease. so I am still trying to figure it all out. can be very overwhelming. I too have been to the felinecrf.org site but there is so much information there (which is a good thing), but it is completely too much to digest. I have been taking baby steps. My cat seems to be doing well. I am still figuring out the food. the first thing I did though was put him on prescription food because the vet said he HAD TO. she sold me $40 worth of "samples" (5 cans and a bag). within ONE day he went from a pretty well regulated diabetic cat to BG numbers almost 500! so, my advice there would be - don't do the prescription kidney food. from what I have heard/read anyway, the whole notion that the cat shouldn't have protein with kidney issues is being proven to be false. I agree that perhaps a lower protein might be good, but not LOW protein. I had Rex on a lot of food that was VERY high in protein (for the diabetes), so what I have done is still doing the high protein, but just not AS high. I am not sure where you are from, but some of the ones I am choosing for Rex are Organix GF Chicken and GF Turkey Pate, many of the Weruva flavors are ok for diabetics and kidney, Wysong seems to be very good (although I have not found that here at my locale), a few of the Soulistic flavors seem to be good. I seem to remember maybe it was Dr. Lisa saying to aim for foods in the 30-something range for protein. that that is what I have used as kind of a guideline. her food chart has again been VERY helpful, since it also lists the phosphorus contents of foods. I also feed Rex Nutro canned, which I have found out is a bit higher in phosphorus than I would like, but for right now I am alternating a low phosphorus food with the Nutro (since he LOVES it and it is very good at regulating the diabetes) and plan to start with a phosphorus binder when I feed the nutro. his phosphorus numbers were not elevated on his august bloodwork. and I am still researching the phosphorus binder thing.

so, like I said, I am still VERY new at this kidney stuff, and I am sure there are others out there that know much more, please chime in - and please also let me know if I am totally barking up the wrong tree here.

best of luck to you!

 

[Sue484]

Thanks @Vtambo & Rex . I am in the UK so none of the foods you mentioned are available here. I said a very firm no to the vet when she mentioned speaking to Hills and Royal Canin about which food would be suitable for diabetics. Luckily she knows I know my stuff (and even admitted to learning from me!) and accepted what I said without argument. I have found fairly low phos and carb food here which I know he likes, so will be buying up the shops for when he gets out. Either that, or because his phos level is still normal, (but high end at 1.66) just keep him on his normal food and if his numbers start creeping up put him on a binder.

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Sue, in my food list the blue column shows the phos level (where the data was available). Tanya's CRF list may have some foods you could try too, however, as far as I know (and I could well be wrong!), the UK CRF list hasn't been updated for some years.

What are Rom's blood phos levels? Are they higher than normal? ...If you're willing to use a phosphorous binder that will greatly increase the availability of foods you can try.
Many folks use aluminium hydroxide which, in the UK, can be bought online from Clear Chemist (as 'Alu-caps', I think...). Tanya's website has a table that shows how much you add to food depending on the blood phos level. There are a couple of other phos binders available in the UK too (specifically for pets) but I can't think of the names off the top of my head...

I do suggest you join a CRF group for further advice. As with diabetes, some vets can be a little behind the times with regard to management of the disease, especially with regard to diet...

Bertie has early CRF, but his blood phos is still in normal range, so I just feed those foods that have the lowest phos levels and that he will actually eat....
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