CKD food help

[RhubarbRocks]

Hello. My lovely little girl cat (14.5 years) has stage 3 kidney disease. She is refusing Royal Canin and Hills renal foods. We don’t know what to try next! I tried More Cat+ kidney support from the posh pet shop and she ate a little of that - but it’s £2.49 for a single can!

Of course I love her and will feed her what she needs but has anyone found anything else that cats with kidney disease can eat that isn’t quite so expensive?

She did have a little bit of my cod yesterday but I’m not sure if that’s allowed for a cat with CKD - is it too high protein or can they have plain fish?

Thank you - I so want her to be able to eat something and be happy.

A pic from a few months ago, before she got ill.

Oh she’s beautiful. I hope you find a food she likes.

www.vetsend.co.uk/kidney-diet-taster-pack-cats

Maybe try this?
Don't give them your food. Fish is high in protein of course. Does she drink plenty of water?

Zooplus has a good selection of things to try
www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/veterinary_food/cat_vet_food/renal_cat_food

I gave up trying renal food for Harry as he wouldn't touch it. He now has normal cat food with Ipakitine in it which he generally eats without a problem. When I give him the right flavour of course!

I know you said you'd tried Royal Canin, but did you sample their "loaf"? It a mousse/pate type which you can easily mix with a bit of water to make into a sort of thick soup too.

How is she with the dry from those companies? I know they say feed wet if you can, but both my 2 got nearly all their nutrition from the dry by choice and the wet was more a "treat" meal. They liked the Hills chicken, but weren't into the Hills Tuna surprisingly as they LOVE tuna normally. You just have to keep a careful eye on their water intake & have plenty of water bowls scattered around that you top up regularly. He was always a good drinker, but the shared water consumption of 2 cats went from 100-150ml per day to over 700ml.

I have been through this very recently, and had my beloved boy PTS yesterday. One thing I found was I was finding it hard to judge just how much weight he was losing & other changes, as I saw him every day. I would get my DSis to come round or send her pics so she could see the difference over a few weeks. You may want to consider this yourself, as I found it a) useful and b) stopped me misjudging due to my personal feelings/hope.

Seemed 100% in his MoT in April/May, lost a bit of weight over the summer so took him in at the beginning of November for him to be diagnosed stage 3, back in December for more tests & monitoring still Stage 3, beginning of Jan tested at Stage 4 with a bit more weight loss, then the last month he lost loads of weight. Apparently his progression was unusually quick though and given his previous lifestyle (indoor only, very careful with food etc) must have been entirely genetically caused (he was only 8).

Hopefully your girl is going to respond well to feeding (assuming you find something she likes!), they can live years more with Stage 3 if caught early. Try to do everything your vet suggests, keep monitoring her, and prepare to be guided by the vet. Remember the vet may try to sugar coat how they tell you things e.g. life expectancy, and be prepared to do as I did and PTS at the right time - bettwe a week too early than a day too late!

Have you tried Purina Pro Plan? I lost my boy last summer to CKD, he was only 8yo 😔. If you have insurance, a lot of policies will pay up to a certain amount for prescription food.

My blond!cat was diagnosed with kidney disease when he was 5. He’ll be 11 this year & while originally he was on renal foods, he now has renal dry (HappyCat is now so hard to get in the UK at a reasonable price he has Smilla) & then normal wet foods with ProNefra - his bloods are great & he’s enjoying all his meals.

My vet has lots of cats with renal issues on dry food only because the two big brands of renal wet food in the UK (Hills & Royal Canin) have sugar added to them.

Kattovit was always a winner here (from both human & cat perspectives); & both the chicken & salmon Purina Pro Plan were very popular. His brother would try to snaffle the Animonda (which is grain-free, if that’s important to you).

I can’t recommend Pronefra enough, honestly - it clearly has a nice taste & it allows cats to have minimal changes to their diet. If your vet okays it (I think it’s best to check) my two love the HiLife tuna food for senior cats; if your girl likes fish she’d almost certainly go for that as it’s basically tuna plus minerals in a balance designed for keeping older cats healthy.

Good luck finding new food[s] for her 💐

Hi OP.
Oh she is beautiful, it makes me sad to read about your lovely cat.
My little cat devoped stage 3 at 14 years old. We tried every renal food on the planet, but she wouldn't eat any of them. She struggled to eat half a pouch a day, so back to the vet. He suggested just feed her what she would eat. We had her for 2.5 years from diagnosis, and seemed ok from day to day.
Good luck finding a suitable food.

Sorry, forgot to say. I found this very helpful.
Tanya's feline CKD support group.
Don't know how to put a link on here. It's very reassuring and full of info about every aspect of CKD.

I was also going to recommend Tanya's feline CKD page

My CKD cat flat refused to eat any renal food. She also at times went off food. I found Tanya's pages really helpful to remind me that fed was better than not fed, pick non-renal foods that were the best of the bunch and the cat would actually eat, plus the tips on encouraging the cat to eat worked amazingly well.

For me, I found the support group pages a bit extreme - I was always going to PTS rather than give fluids for example. But the info on diet was brilliant.

www.felinecrf.org/

Thank you all for so much helpful information. @Allergictoironing I am so sorry for your loss.
@theycallmestacie The vet gave us some of the purina they had accidentally ordered but unfortunately she didn’t like that. Amazing tip on the insurance that will really help! I’ll look into it.
I will take a look at the sample pack @unvillage , thank you.
Thank you @AnnaMagnani and @Clarich007 - I will take a look at the support group.
And finally @TheBalletCats your boy is so beautiful!

She has perked up a little today (the vet gave her an appetite stimulant which I managed to get into her first) and has eaten much better. She is drinking gallons, which I’m not sure is good but she at least seems happy.

So reassuring to have all this help - thanks to all of you for finding the time to give it.

They need to drink loads and loads, and it's one of the main symptoms - it was costing me a fortune in litter as mine insist on wood pellets. I had 2 bowls downstairs and 1 upstairs, as he would get thirsty lying on the bed (their common daytime occupation) but didn't really want to go downstairs; I think the thirst would come on suddenly and I would find him lapping at the floor of the bath where there would be water left after my morning shower!

They do need loads of fluids. I got mine onto cat milk to keep the fluids up.

@RhubarbRocks
I’m a wee bit biased, but he is very handsome - same “eyeliner” markings as your lovely girl 😻

Am so pleased that she’s perked up a bit; & it’s good that she’s drinking plenty. I hope that between all our suggestions you can find her new foods to enjoy.

I second that suggestion of bowls of water all over the house. I also had 3 litter trays, only 1 cat, but she didn't have to move far for a drink or a wee. Good luck with her

I was also going to recommend Tanya's CRF. I had the book, it was huge. It really does tell you everything you need to know.

What is mentioned is not to give dry food, and high quality chicken breast is good, I remember. It also says that anything is better than nothing.

I remember the ups and downs of it, and read the online version of the book, referred to it often and eventually bought it.