? Your experience with Purina NF Kidney food for diabetic cat

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Kate MacCorkle

Kate MacCorkle

Member Since 2020
Hello,

Everyone here helped my cat, Baker, get his diabetes in remission in Dec of 2020, and I only spot check his BG now and then (that is why his spreadsheet is not up to date). Last week, the vet noted increased BUN and Creatinine levels in Baker, indicating renal failure*.

The vet instructed me to put Baker on a renal care wet food, which I think will necessitate using insulin to manage his BG again. I have read the resources here for Kidney Disease cats (thank you to who ever created that repository).

The food options given to me by the vet are:

Royal Canin
Renal support D, T, E dry and canned

or

Purina
NF Kidney Function Early or Advanced care, dry and canned

Before I plonk down the cash for a case of Purina, I thought I'd check and see if anyone sees any red flags here that I am missing or has suggestions, as I know sometimes you all know more than vets do about living with complicated kitties!

Thank you for your time.

-Kate

* I know some of you pros want the numbers:

Creatinine 2.9 mg/dL Range 0.8 - 2.4
BUN 36 mg/dL Range 16-36

Specific Gravity of urine - 1.013, where dilute urine is < 1.02 and concentrated is >1.03
 
I don't think ang dry food would be good and we don't know the carbs in any of the ones your vet suggested

Found this when I did a search in the search box
Posted by one of our members
For kitties with kidney disease and diabetes



. First number is carb percentage, second is mgs of phosphorus/100 cals, all less than 10% carb and less than 250 mg phos:

Weruva Truluxe Steak Frites can 6% 118
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen La Isla Bonita can 3% 166
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Meowiss Bueller pouch 7% 174
Weruva Truluxe Glam 'N Punk can 0.6% 180
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball can 4% 180
Weruva Classic Pates Jeopurrdy Licious pouch 4% 187
Weruva Classic Pates Family Food pouch 0% 191
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Cattyshack pouch 9% 211
BFF PLAY Tuna & Salmon Shhh... pouch 3% 223
BFF PLAY Tuna & Turkey Totes! pouch 2% 226
BFF PLAY Tuna & Chicken Chill Out pouch 2% 226
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates Cat to the Future pouch 8% 235
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Pates The Breakfast Cat pouch 9.7% 235
Weruva Classic Pates Meal of Fortune pouch 8% 236
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Lamburgini can 8% 236
Weruva Cats in the Kitchen Double Dip can 8% 248

You want carbs under 10% and phosphorus ideally low 200's or less.
 
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I never used the kidney foods with Neko. The "special" kidney foods are too high in carbs. Never feed dry food, it's just too hard on kidneys. I just went with a low phosphorus raw food. You new best friend website is: http://www.felinecrf.org/

There is a Labs tab on the spreadsheet, it is a useful place to enter blood and urine data. I found it helpful for tracking trends, which you will want to do. We will also want to see other data like phosphorus and SDMA numbers.
 
I never fed Gabby kidney specific food. The major issue with kidney issues is giving your cat a low phosphorus diet. It makes far more sense to use a phosphorous binder than to change around your cat's diet and deal with the diabetes flaring up.

If you've not found it, Tanya's site is wonderful and the Bible for cats with kidney issues.
 
I always feed my ckd cats weruva foods.

the numbers are stage 2…. With care they can potentially live several years. At about this level I usually start sub q fluids a few times a week. Most start when the cat is over 3 creatinine.
 
Please don't start subq fluids unless your vet suggests it and says it is OK to do so. Cats with underlying heart conditions can go into heart failure if fluids are started. I found out the hard way, even though the vet suggested it. :( Making sure kitty gets lots of liquid through food will help. Which is also why dry food is not good for kidney cats.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Please don't start subq fluids unless your vet suggests it and says it is OK to do so. Cats with underlying heart conditions can go into heart failure if fluids are started. I found out the hard way, even though the vet suggested it. :( Making sure kitty gets lots of liquid through food will help. Which is also why dry food is not good for kidney cats.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah definitely make sure the heart is good first. :)
 
Thank you all so much for chiming in on this. I suspected there was more to the story than what the vet told me and what I could find on my own. I will look for a low phosphorus food and add Baker's labs to his spreadsheet. I will also look at the references people supplied above:
http://www.felinecrf.org/
and Chloe's spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...xl1l7v10-GMbEw_vskUU_gSO-IOo4gjk0CPg5/pubhtml

I really appreciate the info about the food -- I agree with Sienne and Gabby (GA)'s point: "It makes far more sense to use a phosphorous binder than to change around your cat's diet and deal with the diabetes flaring up." I just wasn't sure because some vets say that you treat the CKD with diet and the diabetes with insulin.

Learning to administer Subq fluids may be in our future (if his heart is healthy and the vet is supportive). Another milestone for me. Do we get some kind of achievement certificate at the end of all this? Can I get a job as a vet tech? I'm only joking -- it just seems like there's always more to learn, and I find myself nursing my old kitty in ways I did not anticipate. Thank you all for being here; because of you I am not alone in my love for my kitty and the lengths I will go to for him!
 
Kate MacCorkle said:
Thank you all so much for chiming in on this. I suspected there was more to the story than what the vet told me and what I could find on my own. I will look for a low phosphorus food and add Baker's labs to his spreadsheet. I will also look at the references people supplied above:
http://www.felinecrf.org/
and Chloe's spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...xl1l7v10-GMbEw_vskUU_gSO-IOo4gjk0CPg5/pubhtml

I really appreciate the info about the food -- I agree with Sienne and Gabby (GA)'s point: "It makes far more sense to use a phosphorous binder than to change around your cat's diet and deal with the diabetes flaring up." I just wasn't sure because some vets say that you treat the CKD with diet and the diabetes with insulin.

Learning to administer Subq fluids may be in our future (if his heart is healthy and the vet is supportive). Another milestone for me. Do we get some kind of achievement certificate at the end of all this? Can I get a job as a vet tech? I'm only joking -- it just seems like there's always more to learn, and I find myself nursing my old kitty in ways I did not anticipate. Thank you all for being here; because of you I am not alone in my love for my kitty and the lengths I will go to for him!
Click to expand...
This is my fave sub q video
 
When you go to Felinecrf.org scroll down the list of other illnesses and you will find diabetes and from there a link to foods low carb and low phosphorus.
 
Hi Kate,

I'm very sorry to read of Baker's diagnosis of renal insufficiency. As others above have noted, Tanya's Site is an extraordinary resource. I'd suggest not trying to wade through the whole site in one big hit. (I attempted that and completely overwhelmed myself. :rolleyes: ) There is a great deal that can be done to manage the progression of the CKD.

Kate MacCorkle said:
I know some of you pros want the numbers:

Creatinine 2.9 mg/dL Range 0.8 - 2.4
BUN 36 mg/dL Range 16-36

Specific Gravity of urine - 1.013, where dilute urine is < 1.02 and concentrated is >1.03
Click to expand...

On Baker's spreadsheet there's a tab for LABS. I suggest starting to record Baker's successive test results on that page. It would help you to monitor Baker's progress over time more easily. Also there are some experienced members here who are quite good at interpreting labs and having the data in the spreadsheet means it will be accessible to members helping you from your signature on any of your posts, just like the BG numbers.

* Important: *

If your vet hasn't already done so, I strongly recommend you get Baker's blood pressure checked A.S.A.P. to make sure he's not hypertensive (has the potential to cause sudden blindness if left unmanaged) and also get an eye exam just to check on their overall health.

Do you have Baker's current phosporus level? Also, did the vet run a full blood count?


Mogs
.
 
I'm sorry to hear about Baker's diagnose, but it can be managed even with the diabetes, just don't give him comercial renal diets because they are almost all ( at least all I know of ) very high in carbs but there are non renal options that you can use you just have to look as they have already mentioned for the ones low in phosphorus and low in carbs , uncontrolled diabetes can make his kidney problem worse so you need to address both issues and controlling his phosphorus levels is one of the best things you can do you do not mention his phosphorus levels but this is one important issue to monitor.

A 2.9 creatinine is a bit high but not terribly high you are catching the problem before it is very advanced so that you can start taking care of his kidneys and he can be ok, the damage he already has is not going to reverse but you can help so that it does not get worse, in my experience and from what I've learned subcutaneous fluids are not recommended this early, usually not until they are above 3.5 in creatinine consistently, which is fortunately not his case unless he is very dehydrated for some reason and if that were the case it would be just for a few days and not as a long term treatment.

Cats with chronic kidney desease have lower specific gravity than normal but there's little you can do about it other than start taking care of his kidneys so try not to worry so much about this part
 
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