BUN levels, phosphorus, and binders for kidneys

Greetings everyone!

We are new to this forum and are trying to get our head around a few things, namely looking into lower phosphorus yet appealing food.

My girl Gazza will be 16 in March, and was diagnosed with kidney issues in May of last year.  We do sub-Q 3x a week, and she has been on Epakitin as a phosphorus binder twice a day since, and has no issues taking it as long as it is mixed with food she likes. She has blood work done every three months, and her BUN is up recently compared to her previous visit; in late September her BUN was 41, now it's 54. Meanwhile, her creatinine drops a tiny bit each time: 3.0 in September to 2.9 recently.  Any upward movement gives me concern

My question is, how important is a lower phos. food if she is taking a binder? In other words, would a lower phos. food help her more? Her phosphorus levels in her blood work are good, everything else is in range, and her appetite is excellent (to be honest, we are on Fancy Feast right now which I realize is not optimal, but she had lost a tiny bit of weight over the summer and I wanted to be sure she was eating enough).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments!

Eve & Gazza

You can find so much valuable information from the below website, including a list of foods with phosphorus levels.  It has been of great use to many members on here.

http://www.felinecrf.org/

Keeping the phosphorus level low will help greatly slow the progression of the disease.  When my Sandra's phosphorus levels went up, she started having trouble walking and just felt all around crummy.  When her levels decreased, she did better and ate better.  You should experiment with different lower phosphorus foods and also continue giving the binder.  Sandra was a very picky eater, but I was able to find her lower phosphorus foods that she did like from the website mentioned above.  One that was a big hit was the Wellness Core Beef, Venison and Lamb wet food.  

Sending hugs to Gazza.  

FF has really high phos levels. Def try and get her on a lower phos food. Even with a binder I don't think FF is appropriate for a CKD cat. 

Thank you both for your responses  I have been on Tanya's CRF site and forum in the past, and to be honest I was a bit intimidated. But I am determined to do what is best for my girl, and sometimes I am just looking to ask a simple question without the need to upload her entire history in minute detail   

Eve and Gazza said:

 
Thank you both for your responses

 I have been on Tanya's CRF site and forum in the past, and to be honest I was a bit intimidated. But I am determined to do what is best for my girl, and sometimes I am just looking to ask a simple question without the need to upload her entire history in minute detail 

 

Click to expand...

If you have a FB join this CKD group. You can ask quick questions there and they have files with info that's a little easier to use than Tanya's site. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/felinecrf/