Adding More Wet Food to Diet - Possible Kidney Issue

I've had Jumbo for about 4 years. He was a stray, neutered, de-clawed and is around 8 years old now. I took him to the vet for his yearly checkup in May. When they weighed him, he had dropped from 12.44 last year to 10.88. The vet said the weight loss and him being an extremely vocal cat could suggest hyperthyroidism and that he could really use a dental cleaning.

I had noticed he wasn't eating much of the senior kibble (Hills Science Diet) I'd switched all 3 cats to earlier this year. So I got him a bag of the previous food they'd been eating (Nature's Recipe). He did seem to start eating more then. I took him back a week later for the thyroid test. That checked out okay. No hyperthyroidism. 

But it seems lately he's back to not eating much again. I put 1/2 cup of kibble in his bowl in the morning and often, half of that is still in his bowl the next morning. On the weekend they've each been getting half a 5 oz can of Friskies for breakfast, then their usual amount of kibble later in the day. Jumbo will usual eat all his wet food by lunchtime. He will also eat Greenies and vitamin or calming chews when I give them to him. 

I've been concerned about getting the dental cleaning due to his weight loss, plus I've had a very busy last few months and couldn't get to it. He did have one 2 years ago. I obviously don't want to risk putting him under anesthesia if he's sick. Additional blood work is required for cats over 7. Normally they do it the same day as the cleaning. But my vet's office has 2 locations and does the surgeries and dental cleanings at the one that is farther from my house. So I took him Saturday morning (2 days ago) to the get blood work done at the closer office were we go for yearly exams. It didn't take long at all. As we were leaving, the tech said they'd have the results today and if everything checks out, I shouldn't wait more than 6 weeks to schedule the cleaning. They'd need to retest if I waited longer no matter what the results were.

The tech called about half an hour later. She said everything looked good, but the vet said his kidney levels were a little off. She said it would still be okay to schedule a dental cleaning. She said Hills Science Diet and Royal Canin make a kidney diet food that they carry if I wanted to start him on that and to let them know any time if I wanted to pick some up or need a prescription. She did not actually say Jumbo has kidney disease. Would you have a dental cleaning on your cat if it had a kidney problem? Or a potential kidney problem?

So I'm a little confused now and still worried about Jumbo. I thought I could find a kidney diet food at Petco or 1-800-petdmeds, but I'm not seeing anything. Is kidney diet food only sold through a vet? I don't want to have to order food from the vet's office. I know he won't eat Hills Science Diet and I haven't tried Royal Canin for my cats. 

I think maybe he hasn't been eating as much because his teeth hurt and perhaps that is what has caused the weight loss and kidney level issue. He does always seem thirstier than the other 2 cats. Maybe he does need more wet food in his diet, not necessarily the RX kidney food. I did pick up a case of Iams 18 count 3 oz cans at the store on Friday thinking the smaller cans would less wasteful to dole out to him. They've all eaten Iams before and been okay with it. He ate one can that night. Not all at once though. I had to keep putting him in front of his bowl to nibble. He ate 2 cans plus a small amount of kibble throughout Saturday and again on Sunday. This morning I gave him half of a can in one food bowl and filled his other bowl with kibble. By the time I left for work he'd only eaten half of that half can. I imagine he will be starving when I get home and won't have touched the kibble. I would really like to get him back up to 12 lbs.

For those of you that feed a mostly or all wet food diet, how do you manage it working full time and not being home for over 10 hours a day? Also what brands (affordable) do you recommend? I know I will not buy Blue Buffalo. When I tried a bag a couple years ago, my girl cat developed a cough which went away when I went back to their old food. Also the Hills Science Diet is most likely out for Jumbo as he doesn't like the senior food. They also won't eat the Nature's Recipe wet food.

Sorry this is lengthy, but I wanted to include all the back info to get the best recommendations. Thank you for reading this far!

Well, I stay at home full time and feed the felines nearly all wet food, but if I were working outside the home, I would either invest in an automatic feeder or just simply feed them before I left, and then feed them when I returned. 

If i were you i would put him on as much wet food as possible and eliminately as much kibble as you can. I'm not a fan of science diet or any of the RX kibbles because I don't think they're very good quality. I think if you feed kibble you need to feed high quality kibble to help avoid all the fillers. It's also possible he's bored with that food. I have an older cat that wasn't eating much of his kibble (Orijen). Everything came back normal at the vet so i figured he was just bored. I switched him to partial raw with Orijen and Ziwipeak as a snack. He gained back the weight he lost as well as his appetite. But yes, it's also possible his teeth hurt too. 

There are a LOT of recommendations for wet food if you search through the threads. Opinions are mixed but some wet food, even low quality, is better than no wet food, especially when you're dealing with possible kidney issues. I feed Wellness Core Kitten (for my kittens), Wellness pouches, Tikicat, Wuruva, and Nature's Variety Pride. You could also try freeze dried like Primal. My cats don't seem to like it much, but a lot of cats do. I'm trying to move more into home cooked, though, which could be an option for you as its pretty cost effective, if you're up for making food.

Finding a wet food your cat likes is trail and error. Some cats are picky. I would try and buy some higher quality wet food if you can afford it, stuff thats sold at pet stores and not at Target or something like that. 

As for not being home, you could feed wet in the AM, leave a little kibble for snacking, and wet in the PM when you get home. If you have a grazer its perfectly okay to leave the wet food out during the day, lots of people do. But if you're worried about it you could invest in a Frosty Bowlz. I use them for raw. 

A good source for good quality wet food at a decent price is Tractor Supply. They have their own line of food called 4 Health. I like their grain free canned cat food. It's only 69 cents for a 5.5 oz can.

I don't know much about raw diets, but I don't think Jumbo (or Boogie Bear and Sgt. Pepper) would like it. They didn't like Nature's Recipe food trays that were shredded chicken with some veggies, wouldn't touch it at all. I was surprised because they had been eating that brand's kibble for a couple years. They all seem to prefer the pate type wet food. They didn't like Whiskas food pouches when I tried those before. I'm not much of a cook myself either so I don't see the raw diet route working very well for me. 

My plan is to feed Jumbo a 3 oz can (or 1/2 a 5.5 oz can) of wet food in the morning and leave some kibble and repeat with wet food in the evening. But he is a grazer, all 3 are actually. And I do notice that on the weekends, the wet food dries out if they don't eat it all within a couple hours. I find myself refrigerating it and feeding it again later. This is why I was asking how do other manage a wet food diet without being home to feed every few hours. I am the only one that notices it drying out? I mostly feed them Friskies or Iams wet food. I've tried a few others that either my cats didn't like or I didn't like or were too expensive long term. 

And I will probably need to start feeding Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper wet food at least a few times a week as well so they don't get jealous. Jumbo stays in his own room during the day so they don't fight while I'm not home. 

CatMinionJess said:

 
I don't know much about raw diets, but I don't think Jumbo (or Boogie Bear and Sgt. Pepper) would like it. They didn't like Nature's Recipe food trays that were shredded chicken with some veggies, wouldn't touch it at all. I was surprised because they had been eating that brand's kibble for a couple years. They all seem to prefer the pate type wet food. They didn't like Whiskas food pouches when I tried those before. I'm not much of a cook myself either so I don't see the raw diet route working very well for me. 

My plan is to feed Jumbo a 3 oz can (or 1/2 a 5.5 oz can) of wet food in the morning and leave some kibble and repeat with wet food in the evening. But he is a grazer, all 3 are actually. And I do notice that on the weekends, the wet food dries out if they don't eat it all within a couple hours. I find myself refrigerating it and feeding it again later. This is why I was asking how do other manage a wet food diet without being home to feed every few hours. I am the only one that notices it drying out? I mostly feed them Friskies or Iams wet food. I've tried a few others that either my cats didn't like or I didn't like or were too expensive long term. 

And I will probably need to start feeding Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper wet food at least a few times a week as well so they don't get jealous. Jumbo stays in his own room during the day so they don't fight while I'm not home. 

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Looking into the Frosty Bowlz it should help with the food drying out issue. 

Most cats are ok with eating dried out canned food but you can just add some water to it to make it moist again. You can also freeze canned food into serving size chunks and put the frozen chunks into a programmable timed feeder to slowly defrost and not dry out as fast. I like the PetSafe 5 compartment feeder. It worked really well to give my previous cat (a diabetic) small meals while I was away at work. Catmate is another popular brand.

Many cats used to eating commerical dry and canned foods won't eat commerical frozen raw or homemade raw but will eat commerical freeze dried raw food. Freeze dried raw food is dry and slighlty crunchy and can be fed dry like kibble though the package often recommends rehdyrating the food before serving. Two popular brands are Stella and Chewy's and Nature's Variety Instinct. Both are complete diets.

No, kidney diets are not sold at pet stores like Petco. You can buy them online from PetFoodDirect.com and other similar web sites, even on Amazon.com . Your vet also sells kidney diets but usually at a marked up price. The kidney diets I am aware of are Purina  NF Kidney Function, Hills K/D, Iams Renal Plus, Royal Canin Renal, and Eukanuba Renal (looks like it's not sold in the US).

You can find suitable non-prescription foods on this web site: http://www.felinecrf.org/ Add extra water to the canned food to keep your cats well hydrated. A few spoonfuls is plenty but some cats will eat soup

LTS3 said:

You can find suitable non-prescription foods on this web site: http://www.felinecrf.org/ Add extra water to the canned food to keep your cats well hydrated. A few spoonfuls is plenty but some cats will eat soup

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LTS3 beat me by 57 seconds to posting a link to Tanya's site! It's a tremendous resource for people whose cats have kidney disease. I used it a lot when our previous cat developed mild-to-moderate kidney disease. It's particularly great because it looks at varying ways of treating feline kidney disease. It can all be a little overwhelming at first but it sounds like your Jumbo's disease was caught early, which is a good thing. It's also a very good thing that he seems to like wet food!

The Tanya site's food listing is particularly helpful because it shows phosphorous contents, making it easy to find low-phosphorous foods. When our cat was diagnosed, I geeked out and researched lots of foods. There are many, many non-commercial foods with moderate phosphorous levels: just switching our cat to lower-phosphorous wet foods improved her kidney levels fairly quickly, though I'm sure every cat's chemistry is different. (The vet, who'd wanted to put Brooksie on prescription food--which I refused to do--was very surprised and even ended up approving.) Lots of Weruva foods have relatively low phosphorous levels--1% phosphorous, dry matter, was my upper limit with most foods considerably lower--and our cat liked them so we fed her lots of those. Unfortunately, kidney problems were not Brooksie's worst health issue so I don't know how her kidneys would have done on low-phosphorous foods long-term.

At any rate, that was obviously just our experience and I'm sure those things don't work for all cats: I'd definitely suggest talking with your vet about what "a little off" means in Jumbo's numbers, as well as asking about commercial foods and phosphorous levels to aim for in his foods. Our vet wasn't very helpful (largely, I suspect, because we didn't want to buy their kidney food and because she simply didn't know a lot about commercial cat foods) beyond going over our test numbers and saying "first get your cat to eat", but even if your vet can't be of much help, there are lots of people on TCS with kidney cats.

LTS3 said:

 
Most cats are ok with eating dried out canned food but you can just add some water to it to make it moist again.

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I also have to agree with this! Our cats often are better about eating their canned foods when they've been sitting around for a while.

Good luck with Jumbo's feeding and his dental cleaning. I hope it all goes well.

I think I stumbled upon Tanya's site today doing some more googling. I'll have to check it out more thoroughly. I don't want to buy cat food through the vet because it's inconvenient and I'm sure will cost more than it would if I could find the same product elsewhere. I will though if that's what he really needs and can't get it somewhere else.

It was the tech, not the vet, that called back with the blood work results. She didn't specifically say he had kidney disease, just that his kidney levels were a bit low. She didn't pressure me to come pick up RX food up. She basically just said there's these 2 popular ones that they make for kidney problems and they have those 2 if I wanted to try it. So yes @LisaHE, I'll have to clarify what "a little off" really whens I call back to schedule the dental cleaning.

@LTS3  I never thought to put water on the wet food when it dries out. I would've thought adding water would just ruin it even further. I'll have to try that and see if it works for him/them.

CatMinionJess said:

 
I think I stumbled upon Tanya's site today doing some more googling. I'll have to check it out more thoroughly. I don't want to buy cat food through the vet because it's inconvenient and I'm sure will cost more than it would if I could find the same product elsewhere. I will though if that's what he really needs and can't get it somewhere else.

It was the tech, not the vet, that called back with the blood work results. She didn't specifically say he had kidney disease, just that his kidney levels were a bit low. She didn't pressure me to come pick up RX food up. She basically just said there's these 2 popular ones that they make for kidney problems and they have those 2 if I wanted to try it. So yes @LisaHE, I'll have to clarify what "a little off" really whens I call back to schedule the dental cleaning.

@LTS3  I never thought to put water on the wet food when it dries out. I would've thought adding water would just ruin it even further. I'll have to try that and see if it works for him/them.

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I'd request a copy of the labs, then spend some time on Tanya's site she has a lab results section that could help you figure out where he is on he "normal" Kidney scale. 

OT - But i HATE it when staff call with lab results. I expect the vet to the call me personally, even if its normal. The last time i saw a vet and the staff called me i switched to another vet. 

Ugh, I just checked his online records portal and it shows his weight on Saturday was only 10.12 lbs. That's even more weight loss! I doesn't list the results, just that he had blood work done. I definitely need to call the vet tomorrow and get better info from them and see if they can email me his blood work results. 

This poor cat was 13.25 lbs when I first took him to the vet in May 2011. He went up to 13.5 lbs in the first few months indoors, then down to 12.5 lbs after 2 years indoors, which I wanted him to maintain. My other cats have no problem gaining weight when I don't mean for them to. Jumbo is clearly the opposite and won't gain weight when I want him to. He is so not living up to his name any longer.  

If you add water when you serve the wet food, it will take longer to dry out. I basically free feed my kidney cat with wet food, and when I leave food for her to eat overnight I add water to it so it will stay moist until morning.

IMHO the best thing you can do for Jumbo right now is feed him wet food every day. If it's his kidneys causing the weight loss, wet food with extra water added will help him stay hydrated and make him feel better and eat better. When my kidney cat first had numbers that were "a little off", all I did was switch her to a wet food diet and that was enough for nearly a year before she needed any other treatment. If it's his teeth, soft or even soupy food will no doubt be easier to eat than dry kibble.

I got the vet's office to email me the lab results. His CREA levels are just slightly above the normal range into the high range. Reference range shows "Normal" is 0.08 - 2.4 and Jumbo's is at 2.6. His BUN/UREA is 33 with reference range at 16 - 36. Everything else is in the normal reference ranges. 

I think I'm going stop at the pet store and get a few cans of different brands and proteins and see if he takes a liking to one better than what I've got at home right. I just want him to eat and fatten back up!  

CatMinionJess said:

 
I got the vet's office to email me the lab results. His CREA levels are just slightly above the normal range into the high range. Reference range shows "Normal" is 0.08 - 2.4 and Jumbo's is at 2.6. His BUN/UREA is 33 with reference range at 16 - 36. Everything else is in the normal reference ranges. 

I think I'm going stop at the pet store and get a few cans of different brands and proteins and see if he takes a liking to one better than what I've got at home right. I just want him to eat and fatten back up!  

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That's good news that the numbers are so close to normal.

momto3cats said:

IMHO the best thing you can do for Jumbo right now is feed him wet food every day. If it's his kidneys causing the weight loss, wet food with extra water added will help him stay hydrated and make him feel better and eat better. When my kidney cat first had numbers that were "a little off", all I did was switch her to a wet food diet and that was enough for nearly a year before she needed any other treatment. If it's his teeth, soft or even soupy food will no doubt be easier to eat than dry kibble.

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And I think this is great advice, so I'm really glad to hear you're going to look for all kinds of wet foods for Jumbo! Let's hope he likes something quickly!

I gave him a 3 oz can of Iams purrfect chicken this morning and the time I got home, he had eaten all but one small chunk. That was good to see. I just added it to the half can of salmon he didn't finish last night. He's eaten about half of that now and I think he'll finish it before bedtime. He's currently hunting for Boogie Bear and Sgt. Pepper who are hiding from him on top of the kitchen cabinets. So he's still acting like his normal self even if that normal self isn't eating much these days. (I had to stop several times while typing this to break up the growling and hissing.)

I bought 2 3 oz cans of 12 different types of wet food (24 total), a variety of chicken, duck, salmon and a little beef, venison and rabbit. I got some Pro Plan, Max Cat, Natural Choice, Under the Sun,and  Pride. Hopefully he goes crazy for at least one of them. I still have a case of the Iams purrfect delights chicken/turkey/salmon left too. My other cats will happily eat whatever he won't. They haven't been very picky eaters for the most part. 

I've had Jumbo sampling the new canned foods for the last 5 or 6 days. I've given him a 3 oz can in the morning and another when I get home in the evening. Adding water to the wet food has helped keeping it from drying out and going to waste. I appreciate that tip! The 2 that he didn't leave any bits behind were Max Cat Lamb and Turkey Cutlets Entree Chunks in Sauce and Max Cat Savory Venison Chunks in Sauce. I'm probably going to start ordering cases of those on a regular basis plus a salmon pate for Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper since salmon is Boogie Bear's favorite of all wet food.

Jumbo did eat the Natures Variety Pride Instinct Rockstar Rabbit, but it seemed hard for him to eat the large chunks of meat. I kept cutting them up and re-wetting it for him. I read that rabbit is supposed to be good a good protein for kidney cats, but this one may not be for him. At least not on a regular basis. I ordered a case of Halo Impulse Rabbit and Garden-Greens grain-free instead since it was less expensive. And I've bought a Halo pate before that Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper liked. I just remember the cans being very smelly.

I've still been leaving a bowl with their dry kibble (Nature's Recipe Salmon and Potato) out for Jumbo like always. I did notice he ate a little bit of it when I slept in late over the weekend and wasn't up at 7 am to feed him wet food. So that was good to see at least. I'm also going to try a different dry kibble just to see if his lack of eating is partly from boredom or dislike. He was previously getting the chicken flavor and the formula also changed in the last year, it was rice instead of potato (with the protein as the #1 ingredient).

So I'm still working out the diet change part. But I was wondering if there are supplements or something that I could add that would support kidney function. Does anyone know of anything like that that has helped?

CatMinionJess said:

 
I've had Jumbo sampling the new canned foods for the last 5 or 6 days. I've given him a 3 oz can in the morning and another when I get home in the evening. Adding water to the wet food has helped keeping it from drying out and going to waste. I appreciate that tip! The 2 that he didn't leave any bits behind were Max Cat Lamb and Turkey Cutlets Entree Chunks in Sauce and Max Cat Savory Venison Chunks in Sauce. I'm probably going to start ordering cases of those on a regular basis plus a salmon pate for Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper since salmon is Boogie Bear's favorite of all wet food.

Jumbo did eat the Natures Variety Pride Instinct Rockstar Rabbit, but it seemed hard for him to eat the large chunks of meat. I kept cutting them up and re-wetting it for him. I read that rabbit is supposed to be good a good protein for kidney cats, but this one may not be for him. At least not on a regular basis. I ordered a case of Halo Impulse Rabbit and Garden-Greens grain-free instead since it was less expensive. And I've bought a Halo pate before that Boogie Bear and Sgt Pepper liked. I just remember the cans being very smelly.

I've still been leaving a bowl with their dry kibble (Nature's Recipe Salmon and Potato) out for Jumbo like always. I did notice he ate a little bit of it when I slept in late over the weekend and wasn't up at 7 am to feed him wet food. So that was good to see at least. I'm also going to try a different dry kibble just to see if his lack of eating is partly from boredom or dislike. He was previously getting the chicken flavor and the formula also changed in the last year, it was rice instead of potato (with the protein as the #1 ingredient).

So I'm still working out the diet change part. But I was wondering if there are supplements or something that I could add that would support kidney function. Does anyone know of anything like that that has helped?

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Did you read through http://www.felinecrf.org yet? She has tons and tons of great suggestions on medication, including supplements. I'd suggesting taking the time to read her site. 

I've read through some of it, mostly the stages/diagnosis/treatment parts. And the food list too, which I actually printed out for easier reference. It all gets overwhelming and confusing after a bit.

I wholeheartedly agree with others about reading Tanya's website! It contains an incredible amount of valuable information if your furor baby has renal disease. My Smokey was diagnosed 3 years ago after I noticed a significant weight loss. He was diagnosed with chronic renal failure and only had about 10-15% kidney functioning left. One vet didn't offer any diagnosis, information or treatment, which is when I did my own research and found Tanya's site. It is also when I switched vets and found one more proactive and aggressive.

I would follow the vet's recommendation about dental. If your baby is in pain from dental issues, that may be the primary reason for the weight loss and maybe the kidney issue hasn't progressed too far. More info is better than less. I would treat possible dental to alleviate pain as well as being the less invasive/expensive route. Treating for kidney failure can become pretty expensive and uncomfortable. I managed to get Smokey's weight back up to 15lbs (he was a BIG boy - taller than my tub and huge paws) for an extra 2 1/2 years before we had to let him go (due to respiratory distress - My vet said she thinks he had cancer and hid it right up until the 2 days when he collapsed panting).

If he has chronic renal failure:

Most important ... Keep fresh water everywhere! I got several water fountains, put cups in sinks to fill whenever he came meowing and he even started jumping up on edge of tub to drink shower spray. Ultimately we still ended up giving him subcutaneous saline IV several times per month, which he was NOT happy about.

Be careful of different food. Build up of phosphorous in his system causes calcification in muscle tissue. Very painful. However, the vet provided me with a phosphorous binder powder that I put in his wet food to help with that. Also, my Smokey was Very Finicky. He ate what he liked and then would stop eating when he got bored with it. Thankfully, he always loved Temptations kitty treats and if he wouldn't eat anything else, then Temptations was better than him starving to death.

My Smokey rarely ate the wet cat food, but he loved the juice, so I bought variety of the "gravy lover's" wet. He would lick drink what he wanted and then the solid remnants I would give as treats to my other 2 who weren't finicky at all. In addition, he loved the water from tuna in water. I would mix the binder in that most often.