Foods for kidney issues?

The vet recommended that my cat be put on Hill's prescription diet k/d as she was just diagnosed with kidney problems (we don't have a definite diagnosis yet). See positive thoughts for Mukluk thread for the details. The vet charges $1.39 per 5.5 oz can for this food. Is this a good food? Are there foods that would be better? Can these foods be purchased cheaper on line and if so where? Thanks in advance for your help. She is eating this food which is good as I guess a lot of cats won't eat it.

Also I have two other cats. Right now I am feeding the other cats separately but this may not always be convenient. Would it hurt the other cats if they eat the "kidney" food?

I read through your posts in the other thread. My sense is that (at least for me) it might be a bit too early to delve too deeply into the world of CRF nutrition. Having said that, if you don't mind some reading, here's what the "Bible" has to say.

Genral concensus has it that the "prescription foods" aren't the best, but they certainly serve a purpose and many kitties with kidney insufficiency do very well on them. The "secret" behind these products is a very low level of phosphorus...phosphorous being the a major problem for the kidneys. Many people do use other foods and often add in a substance which prevents absorption of the phosphorous, a phosphorous "binder".

These prescription "kidney diets" also have lower than average protein levels too. In the short term, they won't hurt your other cats. Longer term, I wouldn't want my healthy cats to have such a diet.

My own suggestion would to "play along" with the Vet's recommendation for now. Should it turn out that Mukluk will have long-term kidney insufficiency (CRF), you'll be able to discuss diet choices (and many other practical things) with people who have been caring for CRF kitties for years.

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated! The vet says that Mukluk only has 30% of her kidney function left so it would seem to me that she would benefit from the "kidney" food.

I would be experienced in CRF ... Kandie made it 4 plus yrs after dignosis WITHOUT kidney diets ... we ended up with raw and canned/... the conventional dr gave her a yr (she was stage 2 of 4 ... yours is Technically in insufficiancy and NOT crf but that = GOOD in your favor ... at the top of this forum there is a thread just about crf

Stripe had the K/D when she had Crf but she hated the food. There was another food that was for Crf stripe would eat but I do not remember the name of it.

I also have a fair amount of experience with caring for CRF kitties - my first one, Patrick lived for almost 4 years after diagnosis (and did not die due to his crf), and he would never eat any of the prescription dry or canned foods (we tried a couple).

I fed him using the katkarma lists (more up to date then) and jmpeerson's lists - the link to the jmpeerson lists (which *are* kept updated) is in the sticky on crf at the top of this forum.

I paid the most attention to the amount of phosphorous in the foods I chose - shooting for under 1% and if he'd eat it...the lowest he'd eat.