New Food - help please???

My vet gave me 3 types of cat food to try on my kitty. She is 15 and at the very early stages of kidney disease. I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with these.... or if there is a favorite among the kitty population???

Waltham Renal Support
Hills / KD
Purina Feline NF

Not sure if I have all the names correct. I don't have the cans with me, so I'm reading it off the vet bill and everything is abbreviated ...LOL

Any feedback would be appreciated. Also, any tips on converting them to the new food????

Originally Posted by italysa

My vet gave me 3 types of cat food to try on my kitty. She is 15 and at the very early stages of kidney disease. I was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with these.... or if there is a favorite among the kitty population???

Waltham Renal Support
Hills / KD
Purina Feline NF

Not sure if I have all the names correct. I don't have the cans with me, so I'm reading it off the vet bill and everything is abbreviated ...LOL

Any feedback would be appreciated. Also, any tips on converting them to the new food????

Click to expand...

Each kitty is so different, what one kitty with chronic renal failure (crf) will eat, another won't! I tried Purina Feline NF with my first kitty with crf, since then, I am feeding non-prescription canned to one, and a lower phosphorus, lower protein dry food to two others.

If you haven't yet done so, please go read over this site, it's the best (IMO) on the 'net for information - extensive and accurate - on crf in kitties.
http://www.felinecrf.org

As for changing your kitty over, mix a small portion of the new food into her current, and gradually increase it until you are no longer feeding her old food.

One food I just bought to try with Tippy, is Hi-Tor Neo - their lower protein, lower phos food for kitties with kidney issues (non-prescription)..it's sold via petfooddirect.com

Best wishes to your kitty, my Patrick lived for almost 4 years after his diagnosis, and Tyler is now 2 years into his, Frankie - 1 year, Tippy is another matter, he's just been diagnosed with PKD which is causing him to be in crf.

Thanks for the info....

http://www.felinecrf.org is a great site, I've been to it many times.

My big concern is it seems as though the prescription diet is only one flavor.
She's used to all the different flavors of Fancy Feast. I'm afraid she'll get bored and not eat as much. Does your non-prescription food come in different flavors?

Yes the non Rx foods have different flavors... I tooo recommend alot of research and then a talk with your vet ... My Kandie is in about yr 4 of crf and on non rx foods BUT I have my vet to talk to

Originally Posted by italysa

Thanks for the info....

http://www.felinecrf.org is a great site, I've been to it many times.

My big concern is it seems as though the prescription diet is only one flavor.
She's used to all the different flavors of Fancy Feast. I'm afraid she'll get bored and not eat as much. Does your non-prescription food come in different flavors?

Click to expand...

Yes, but I agree with Sharky, helps to have your vet to bounce things off of. I know that Petguard rabbit and rice is a lower phos food - but then I pay more attention to the phosphorous content than the protein level, all my crf kitties are in the early stages of crf.

The katkarma food lists help, as do the food lists here:http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/canfood.html - though compiled for kitties with diabetes, this list is kept fairly up to date, and does include the per centage of phosphorous in many canned cat foods.

hth,

I actually have a call into my vet now. Tons of questions.

I've read a bunch of info online and I'm still confused about the phosphorous and the protein levels. Should the food be low in protein and high phosphorous... or should I only be concerned about one or the other?
I'm also using the phosphate binder, Epakitn in her food.

Originally Posted by italysa

I actually have a call into my vet now. Tons of questions.

I've read a bunch of info online and I'm still confused about the phosphorous and the protein levels. Should the food be low in protein and high phosphorous... or should I only be concerned about one or the other?
I'm also using the phosphate binder, Epakitn in her food.

Click to expand...

Whether you go with lower protein or not, you definitely want to feed foods with a lower phosphorous content...if you could not get your cat to eat, no matter what, then the support list I am on would say feed what she'll eat and just add a phos binder, but I sure would try to find foods she'll eat that are lower in phosphorous content.

I decided the quality of the protein was more important to me than the level of protein, but that is a decision you have to make after talking with your vet, looking at your kitties lab results, and what research you do.

It can feel confusing until you get a routine down

One key for me, imo, is that my vet has prescribed calcitriol for each of my kitties with crf, I think it is one reason Patrick lived as long as he did after diagnosis.