K/D diet

Hi Y'all

Brand new member here! My name is Bob and I have 6 fuzzy buddies that I love more than life itself. I have a cat health concern that I need help with; I recently took my cat to a vet. They did blood work. Based on three out of range findings they want to put one of my kitties on a k/d diet. I cannot afford this diet as it is really expensive. She has not been diagnosed with a kidney disorder. They suggested the diet as a precautionary measure.  I'm looking for a second opinion and an alternative. The out of range findings are:

Creatinine...... 3.3
Glucose....... 186
BUN......48

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob
 

OK, her creatinine is fairly high, so I see why they are suggesting that food.  Lots of cats don't like the K/D anyway, and there ARE alternatives .   I am working on my third kidney cat, so believe me, I have investigated kidney foods for years .  First off, check out this website...it's my "go to" for anything kidney related:  http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Next, I don't know what you are currently feeding your little one(s), but kibble is already drying, so if you can, get them on wet food.  If nothing else, try to get this particular one on wet food.  That's the thinking with kidney cats, they need extra moisture, and most of us actually give them fluids under the skin (called sub-q fluids) at home to help them.  It works wonders!  All of that is discussed at that website. 

Now, assuming you feed wet, here is a section of that website that is in order of phosphorus levels, which is what you want to look for in an OTC food...the lower the phosphorus the better.:  http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm#canned_usa

In case your little one is a kibble addict:  here is the chart for low phosphorus % in dry food:  http://www.felinecrf.org/dry_food_usa.htm

This should get you started. 

Thank you so much for your reply!!! That's excellent info. Studying these charts right now!!!
:lol3:
B

A glucose level of 186 isn't bad. Most cats get so stressed out at the vet's office that their blood gluocse levels just skyrocket. Normal range is about 60 to 150.

Mrsgreenjeens posted the link to the Feline CRF web site which has helpful info

I think I've pretty much decided to put all cats on wet food, with my kidney cat on Hills Science Diet Mature Adult. That stuff is readily available and close to the top of the list of low phosphorus foods. In a few months I'll have Trixie's blood work checked again and go from there. Fingers crossed!!!

Thanks you all for your help! :bigthumb:
B

Do you feed any of them wet food yet?  If not, you may need some help transitioning them.  Some cats don't take to wet food easily   If yours don't like it, then you may need to experiment with different types of wet food, like shredded versus chunks versus pates, in addition to different flavors.  Even the same protein between different manufacturers can taste completely different to cats.  For instance, one of my cats loves Nutro Natural Choice Chunky chicken And Pride Chicken Champ, but HATES almost any other brand of chicken.  Go figure.  AND, they may not all like the same thing.  I have three cats, and they all three eat something different.  So I always have a lot of open cans of cat food in my fridge.  Believe me, I'd rather not, but THEY know what they like and what they don't like.  Even my cat who likes almost anything out there won't eat certain foods.  He'll be meowing up a storm as I'm fixing his dinner, then I'll set it down for him and he'll sniff it and just sit there and look forlorn .    Obviously this only happens once in a blue moon because he loves to eat and will usually eat whatever I put in front of him, but just the other day I mixed a little bit of what I had left from a bigger can in with some of his favorite food, and you'd have thought I'd tried to poison him .   And he's usually ok with me mixing foods, so this I could not figure out, except he just didn't like that particular flavor or brand, which was actually one that his sister LOVES, but I wanted to finish off that can .  THAT backfied, as it all went down the garbage disposal and I had to start over from scratch for him

Just in case, here are some articles that might help.  I have no idea whether or not you are free feeding right now or just what, but FINALLY I decided I had to do something and switched from free feeding kibble to feeding all wet food, and these articles really helped.  Here you go:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transitioning-free-fed-kibble-kitties-to-timed-meals

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/transit...-to-a-new-type-of-food-canned-raw-or-homemade

And for your NON kidney cats:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/what-makes-the-best-canned-cat-food

BTW, for your kidney cat, the newest way of thinking is to go ahead and feed a good high quality protein, but still look for the lowest  phosphorus food you can get.  IF your cat doesn't like any of those foods, you can always add what's called "phosphorus binders" to the food.  I'm actually considering doing that at this point, because my girl just decided she LOVES a new food, and it's one of the highest phosphorus foods out there  .  'Course, I try to feed her a variety of foods, and all the others are under 1% phos, so I'll discuss with her Vet at her appointment tomorrow. 

Keep us posted on Trixie's progress