My old girl now 22 about 6 yrs ago was diagnosed with beginning stages of kidney failure - I stopped feeding dry food and started nothing but canned + a little bit of fresh meat + occasional grass to nibble on. The CRF never got any worse and in fact seemed to get better - no more flooding of the litterbox.

Sadly she has developed some other health concerns, being 22 - but I think it's still safe to say that pets like people often develop health problems from diets that are not like what they evolved to live on. Cats evolved to eat meat and may not be getting enough H20. Dry foods are hard on the kidneys and the high carbs can be a factor in feline diabetes . My younger cats now get 1/2 grainfree dry + 1/2 canned. They don't seem to binge eat so much on a grain free diet either, which is good.

This post was edited by kashka_kat on Wed, May 29, 13 at 17:05

When our kitty had kidney problems, I remember that the vet recommended Hills k/d...cannot remember if it was canned or dry (I think there are both). I do remember she didn't like it, but she wasn't a good eater anyway. If your kitty is having kidney trouble, I'm very sorry.

Gosh...my little girl who just passed away became ill with renal failure three years ago. I tried every renal diet food under the sun, to no avail. I syringe fed her her regular wet food (wellness turkey) pureed with water. Eventually, her appetite picked back up, and the vet said as long as she was eating, that was the main thing. The cat never did adapt to a renal diet but did really well until recently, when she succumbed to carcinomatosis.

If you can get your kitty eating anything, let her do so.

I supplemented my kitty with sub-q fluids. She had three great years after her initial diagnosis.

If you need more info, just ask. I can give you my email addy or phone #.

Good luck.

Wow, whatever you are doing, you must be doing something right! That is really old! My cat just had to be put down at the age of 19, but he had kidney failure for 7 years. I finally got fed up with all the conflicting info on diet, and fed him what he liked to eat best, as he became extremely picky. More and more toward the end, I fed him a raw diet (he liked that). Made total sense to me.

My last couple of cats and dog had many health problems. I feed my current pets a grain free diet and they are much healthier than the previous. I wish I knew this with my previous pets instead of feeding them a standard diet. I would take the route kasha_kat suggested.

Thank you all for your kind sentiments. I have been giving my cats only canned for awhile now, while looking for a better alternative and a job. Am happy to report that I now have a job and have settled on trying Feline Instincts. Tigger is right on the border of kidney failure. He's lost weight, but is still active and eating. He's a grandpa kitty, but I'm going to do everything I can to keep him happy and pain free for as long as I can.
{{gwi:1512233}}

For a long time, the standard dietary recommendation for cats with any degree of renal insufficiency was low protein. That recommendation has been under considerable scrutiny and the subject of a lot of discussion and controversy in recent years. Some vets and CKD caretakers now believe that restricting protein for early and mid-stage renal cats can seriously weaken their systems overall and do more harm than good. These people believe that the optimal diet for renal cats in all but end-stage renal disease provides high quality protein and low phosphorus (the low phos recommendation has never been in question).

Whichever side of the debate you come down on, there is an overriding "Golden Rule" of feeding renal cats, and that is to feed them what they will eat. The theoretically "best" diet is of no value if the cat won't eat it. In my experience, none of my renal cats have ever been willing to come within 10' of a prescription renal diet, so feeding a prescription diet has been an entirely moot point for me. It is always a struggle to keep my renal cats eating sufficient quantities of ANY foods to maintain their weights. As a result, I feed them whatever I can convince them to eat, whenever I can convince them to eat it.

Laurie

Thank you, Laurie! My vet had mentioned lower phos and sodium, but not less protein, so I'm thinking he's on top of this. I'll confirm. I'm switching to a raw diet now. Please tell me what you think of this statement:

When fed a raw diet you really donâÂÂt have to pay close attention to the phos or protein as much because it is the quality not the quantity that makes the difference.

Fortunately, I haven't noticed that he doesn't want to eat - yet - altho he has lost some weight. I'm hoping that the raw will be a real treat for him. Eventually, I'll take your advice and just get him to eat - whatever he wants.

My 9-10 year old girl has had stable, early kidney disease for at least 3 years. She is a little kitty - not quite 7 lbs., and not food motivated. She has eaten premium grain free wet food since I got her 5 years ago and the disease has not progressed. She is active, happy and has a gorgeous coat.

As the others here have said, I think the correct food is good food, even if the cat has kidney disease.

Raw food is great, but I can't feed it because she grazes and the food needs to sit in the bowl for a while. Raw food is susceptible to bacteria growth which may be a bigger issue with older, ill cats. If it is eaten right away it should be fine.

What a handsome boy your Tigger is! You keep mentioning borderline kidney failure. I'm not sure what you mean by that, but it's important that you understand that creatinine won't typically elevate above the reference range in bloodwork until at least 60% of renal function has already been lost. So even if Tigger's creat is still in the high normal range, he's likely lost at least 50% of his renal function. That's nothing to panic about, since cats can manage remarkably well with greatly diminished kidney function, but it is important for you to have the proper perspective (helps keep us CKD caretakers especially vigilant and observant).

As far as that quote is concerned, I've never read such a statement before, and it doesn't ring true to me. I feed raw to my cats, and I suspect it is high in phos (and certainly high protein). For whatever reason, my kidney cats have largely lost interest in eating raw. I still offer it to them, but they prefer to eat mostly canned food soup and EVO kibble. I'll keep them eating and in reasonable health for as long as I can, which includes using a phos binder in their food if their serum phos rises above 5.0.

There is another potential issue with raw that I suspect does hold some credibility, and that has to do with bacteria. Raw meat is, of course, more likely to contain significant amounts of bacteria. While healthy cats can typically handle this bacteria without issue, kidney cats have compromised immune systems, which may put them at greater risk from bacterial infection. So, feeding raw to kidney cats leaves me a bit ill at ease, BUT, if they'll eat it, and if it helps keeps their weights up, I'll do it, anyway.

Just some points to consider.

Laurie

Awww, Tigger says thank you.
The vet probably told me his level number, but I didn't write it down. The vet indicated that Tigger is down to about 27% kidney function.
I guess I'll just have to see if he takes to the raw and if not, I'll have to figure out something else. Sigh. Can you tell me the canned food you use? I've become increasingly frightened of commercial pet food, even before this kidney diagnosis, and have wanted to get my cats off of it.
Thank you for the mention of phos binder as well.
I'll have to be diligent about the bacteria issue, not leaving the food out for too long and, hopefully, he'll gobble it up. Thx for that reminder, tho, both you and Oreg. I've seen recs to leave out no longer than 45 minutes, but I think that's even generous. The cats all eat right away. Once they're done, I'll put it away, if nec.
Your quick responses are so appreciated.

I feed EVO canned (chicken and turkey, and beef flavors), as well as Friskies, Sheba, and Fancy Feast. My cats aren't fond of EVO by itself, so I make it more palatable for them by mixing in some of the taste-enhanced cheap stuff. If my kidney cats have a particularly bad appetite day, I'll leave out the EVO and let them have the cheap stuff full strength. I feed only pate style foods. Anything with gravy is higher in carbs, which I want to avoid. Besides, all the cats do with those foods is lick off the gravy and leave the "meat" pieces behind. I also always mix plenty of warm water into the canned food to increase hydration.

Now for my MOST IMPORTANT recommendation - you should ALWAYS acquire hard copies of ALL of your cat's lab results so that you can become familiar with them and keep close track of any changes in blood values. I keep spreadsheets of each of my cats' lab results. That way, I can easily track any changes from test to test and over time so that I know what needs to be discussed with my vet. I also weigh each of my cats every 2 weeks and maintain a spreadsheet of their weights so that I know if anyone is losing or gaining weight and how I need to adjust food portions accordingly.

Vets rarely have time to go over previous health records and labs at every appointment. I often have to correct my own vet's memory of my animals' conditions and health trends. My medical spreadsheets allow me to keep a close handle on each animal's condition so that nothing is overlooked or inaccurately assessed during vet appointments. I can't stress the importance of this enough. Get those records and set up a spreadsheet of Tigger's lab results so you can fully understand what he needs and why.

Laurie

Dang, it bugs me to no end that I put "foot" instead of "food" in that title and can't fix it.
Anyway, Laurie, you rock!
I will def get on the spreadsheet suggestion.
My friends all thought I was nuts when I bought my house bc I kept a spreadsheet of comparable houses for sale in my desired city, relative to asking price, selling price, assessments, etc. But, when it came time for me to offer, I was prepared!!
My vet was telling me that to be a nutrition expert as a vet requires (I think) 5 add'l years of school! Wow. Explains a lot.
I feel so lucky that I have such a great vet and the internet to help me care for my animals. Now, if only I could win the lottery . . . :)

Hey, if you win the lottery, I'm going to start charging you BIG BUCKS for my oh-so-sage advice. LOL!

Funny, but that "foot" thing bugs me, too! My mom was always a stickler for any sort of typographical or grammatical mistake. When I started my personal website, she would even post messages in my guestbook telling me to correct the grammatical and spelling errors that OTHER PEOPLE made in their entries in my guestbook! LOL!

You're going to love the medical spreadsheet once you get that started. It's going to help you feel so much more empowered and confident in your management protocol for Tigger.

If you don't already have one, a digital baby scale is a very important investment, particularly when caring for a cat with a chronic, progressive illness like CKD.

My experience with feline nutrition is a lot like my experience with putting up hay for my horses. In college, I took an equine nutrition course that taught me what I believed at the time were all the basics I needed to know about putting up excellent hay for horses. I knew about forage types, the optimal stage of maturity for cutting forage, drying times, and baling techniques. I thought I knew it all, and I was ready to make one perfect bale after another happily ever after.

When I eventually bought my farm and was faced with my first actual haying season, it became tragically and frustratingly evident that one MAJOR element had been left out of my education. At no point during any of the lectures or in any of the texts in that equine nutrition course was mention made of the blackening effects that a week of rain would have on cut hay laying on the ground, or of how hay would rather rot than dry on cool, overcast days with high humidity, or any of a hundred other variables that were completely out of my control when trying to put up those "perfect" bales.

Feline nutrition isn't any different. I could spend the rest of my life studying the intricacies and aspects of feline nutrition. I could learn everything there is to know and become the world authority on the subject. I could bring all of that impressive, unmatched expertise home to my own cats and prepare "perfect" meals for them ... and then watch them snub the meals, turn tail, and unceremoniously strut from the room with dismissive arrogance and empty bellies. What?????

Laurie

I feel for everyone with kidney problems. It's almost impossible to find honest answers when you are trying to get better. Fortunately, I came across some natural remedies that reversed my kidney disease and saved my life. This is one of the places where I got some good information.
Best of luck to everyone!