Max's bloodwork

labyrinth

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My 13 year old cat had some bloodwork done yesterday and everything turned up pretty good.. But they said (I don't remember what it was called), but the levels for the kidney were in the higher end of normal range, and want to put him on K/D food to make sure it doesn't get worse?

She said he needs to be on a lower protein food.. Which I don't know anything about kidney health to be honest, but it seems kind of odd to me since all the "good" foods have a lot of protein. The food he's on now currently has 32% protein and the one they want me to put him on has 24% protein. Max is a VERY finicky cat when it comes to food so any switch is going to be very difficult. I'd honestly rather not change his diet, but I guess I will if that's what is best for him.. But does he really need a prescription diet when his levels are still considered normal (even if they are on the high end of normal).

He's free fed right now, and he doesn't seem to eat all that much. Is there any sort of supplement or something I could give him that would improve his kidney levels without changing his food?

I'll do some more research, I'm just a bit thrown at the moment.
 
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labyrinth

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Originally Posted by mews2much

My Coco has crf andshe is on k/d.
They gave your cat that because they do not want him to get worse.
What are his numbers?
They just gave them to me verbally so I don't have the print out yet, but I want to say she said 37? But to be honest I was a bit distracted and didn't ask her to repeat the number. I just remember she said it was within the normal range but at the higher end of it.

If I need to switch I certainly will, but is there anything else I can do to promote kidney health aside from a diet switch? Or even in addition to if it comes to that.
 
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labyrinth

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Also if it makes any difference he's primarily on dry food. I give wet food as a treat every now and then, but it's very infrequent.
 

jack31

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I suggest reading elizabeth hodgkins books "your cat: simple secrets to a longer stronger life"

she talks alot about how low protein RX diets aren't the way to go and I am a firm believer in this method as well as many others are.

Leslie
 
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labyrinth

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I was thinking as well, he was having hairball issues so the past few days he's been getting more treats than usual (temptations hairball remedy) and those are at 30% protein.. He'd been getting 10-15 a day while he was still hacking and had a bunch that morning before the vets. I'm wondering if that may have messed with the results. I'll talk to my vet, but I'm thinking I should have him retested before I try to switch.

I know a lot of people recommend wet food because cats don't drink enough.. Would it be beneficial to his kidney functions to get wet food on a regular basis? There is always water available, but we keep it downstairs so I don't really see how often he's drinking.
 
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labyrinth

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Originally Posted by Jack31

I suggest reading elizabeth hodgkins books "your cat: simple secrets to a longer stronger life"

she talks alot about how low protein RX diets aren't the way to go and I am a firm believer in this method as well as many others are.

Leslie
I'll take a look at that book, thanks


Yeah it just really doesn't seem right to me. I'll do it if it's absolutely necessary, but Max has always been a picture of good health. He's a 13 year old cat that looks maybe 5 or 6. Everyone promotes high protein in an animals diet, but now they say high protein is causing a kidney issue? If that's the case why wouldn't we start low protein to begin with?
 

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I would definitely recommend giving more wet food. It can help the cat to get adequate water--since they evolved from desert animals, they don't have a naturally strong thirst drive and get most of their water from their food. There are a lot of different opinions about whether the renal diets are beneficial. My personal opinion is that they may help in later stages of renal failure, but in early renal insufficiency a canned diet is better, since cats are obligate carnivores and should get most of their calories from meat. Here are some links where you can read more about different studies and opinions:

http://www.felinecrf.com/managd.htm
http://www.felinecrf.org/nutritional_requirements.htm
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~jmcnair/netvet.html
 
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labyrinth

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Originally Posted by cloud_shade

I would definitely recommend giving more wet food. It can help the cat to get adequate water--since they evolved from desert animals, they don't have a naturally strong thirst drive and get most of their water from their food. There are a lot of different opinions about whether the renal diets are beneficial. My personal opinion is that they may help in later stages of renal failure, but in early renal insufficiency a canned diet is better, since cats are obligate carnivores and should get most of their calories from meat. Here are some links where you can read more about different studies and opinions:

http://www.felinecrf.com/managd.htm
http://www.felinecrf.org/nutritional_requirements.htm
http://mailer.fsu.edu/~jmcnair/netvet.html
Thanks for the links


I've been thinking of adding more wet food to their diets. But how much are you supposed to give them? I know some people feed nothing but wet food.

Max has been eating Nutro Max for years. We got a kitten about a month ago, and I have put the kitten on Evo. I tried to get Max to eat it but he refused. Evo is higher protein than the Nutro and according to the vet he needs less protein.

I think I'd definitely like to try canned foods for a while before trying out a prescription diet. But would it be better to get a low or a high protein canned food? Since I'm feeding the kitten Evo kibble, I was thinking of getting some canned Evo for both of them. I've never seen Max turn down wet food so I'm sure he'd eat that even though he wouldn't eat the kibble.
 

cloud_shade

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I have heard that the higher protein dry foods can be more dehydrating, so the vet's advice may be good if you are just considering dry foods. With canned, there isn't the same variance in protein levels. I would look for one with few to no grains, since the grains aren't really needed and can cause problems if the cat is allergic to them. My boys like variety, so I try to use a few different flavors and introduce different brands on occasion. Currently they get Wellness, which comes in big cans and has some fish-free varieties (one of my boys is sensitive to fish at times), but I've also used several others in the past, including EVO, Innova, Natural Balance, Evangers, and California Natural.

I try to give my boys at least 3 ounces or so of wet food per day (they also get 2/3 cup of dry Felidae Platinum split into two meals). Make sure that you adjust the amount of dry food so that Max doesn't eat too much. Since he's currently doing well on Nutro Max, you might consider switching to Nutro Max Senior if the wet food doesn't help enough.

Every cat is unique, and it takes some work to find the best possible balance. Good luck!
 
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