Cat ckd food and a rant

[GranolaLouise]

My cat peaches does not like fish that's in many prescription foods. Also rabbit. Takes a sniff then walks away. She loves ff.. do you have a small petstore? They will have single cans

FF does not come in varieties for ckd as far as I know.
I have been feeding her FF for some time now..her favorite is the senior 7+ chicken pate' and the Grilled chicken Petites.But it is time for a renal diet low in phos.
One good thing is she likes treats, but the usual treat brands make her puke..Blue wilderness, Churu,temptations, and Greenies. BUT she will eat Hill's prescription dry food as a treat. I hesitate making her main food a dry variety because it lacks water. I am trying as a last resort of the Weruva brand and if that fails, she will be transitioning to the dry mainly. But her phos has to be lowered.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

I have just about wasted hundreds of $$$ from renal Prescription foods!
WHAT IS WITH THESE BIG COMPANIES LIKE HILL'S AND ROYAL CANIN ? I feel I am being taken advantage of....BIG TIME.

Thanks for listening to my frustrations.

~ Welcome to the club.
We all learn the hard way ...

 

[maggie101]

FF does not come in varieties for ckd as far as I know.
I have been feeding her FF for some time now..her favorite is the senior 7+ chicken pate' and the Grilled chicken Petites.But it is time for a renal diet low in phos.
One good thing is she likes treats, but the usual treat brands make her puke..Blue wilderness, Churu,temptations, and Greenies. BUT she will eat Hill's prescription dry food as a treat. I hesitate making her main food a dry variety because it lacks water. I am trying as a last resort of the Weruva brand and if that fails, she will be transitioning to the dry mainly. But her phos has to be lowered.

Sorry,I ment weruva in small pet stores for low phosphorus,not ff.

 

[GranolaLouise]

Sorry,I ment weruva in small pet stores for low phosphorus,not ff.

maggie , how did you get your cat to eat Weruva Wx? it is chalk white and has no aroma at all.

 

[maggie101]

maggie , how did you get your cat to eat Weruva Wx? it is chalk white and has no aroma at all.

I have not tried it yet

 

[GranolaLouise]

Advice needed:
Louise would not eat anything today at all. Drank just a bit of water.
I tried every kind of food she likes, no go.
She puked up her digested food Sunday night.
I even went out and got some baby food meat...she had only a few licks.I don't call that eating.
We went to the vet last week....they are sick of seeing me..The visit was almost $440....$450 with the Hill's prescription kd that she will not go near.
What would YOU do?

 

[JamesCalifornia]

Advice needed:
Louise would not eat anything today at all. Drank just a bit of water.
I tried every kind of food she likes, no go.
She puked up her digested food Sunday night.
I even went out and got some baby food meat...she had only a few licks.I don't call that eating.
We went to the vet last week....they are sick of seeing me..The visit was almost $440....$450 with the Hill's prescription kd that she will not go near.
What would YOU do?

~ Try steamed chicken or canned salmon. If kitty does not eat make sure she gets lots of water ( eyedropper ) and try letting her fast for a day or two. Give Brewers yeast in water.
Find another veterinarian .

 

[maggie101]

What did her blood test show that made them think she has chronic kidney disease? What other symptons does she have besides not eating? Did the vet give her an appetite stimulant or a steroid shot? My cat has days where she is inflamed
I apologize if this has been mentioned before. I agree with JamesCalifornia . Your cat needs to eat so it may be time to get another opinion on what's wrong.

 

[maggie101]

Her first vet would do nothing. Second vet did a urinalysis,xray, and she had struitive Crystals and possible pancreatitis. 3rd vetmore testing,ultrasound, then suggested she see a specialist. Very pricy and is on meds
Ckd is beyond a vetenarians knowledge. Good luck!

 

[GranolaLouise]

What did her blood test show that made them think she has chronic kidney disease? What other symptons does she have besides not eating? Did the vet give her an appetite stimulant or a steroid shot? My cat has days where she is inflamed
I apologize if this has been mentioned before. I agree with JamesCalifornia . Your cat needs to eat so it may be time to get another opinion on what's wrong.

First, maggie and those who took time to provide your suggestions,THANK YOU.
You and Ja,es said get another vet. That would be my 4th(5th,actually..I got a different one when I went to the same practice last week and was fitted in before the end of day)
You mentioned a specialist, maggie..what would I search for? (don't laugh) feline nephrologist?

As for diagnosis: Vet visits Sept Oct and Dec
Sept Vet #1: 'Excellent condition' she said! No mention of ckd
BUN 27reference is 16-37 mg/dl
Creatinine 1.8 ref 0.9-2.3 reference
Potassium 5.3 ref 3.7-5.2
total Protein 9.0 6.3-8.8
____________
Oct Vet #2 ..slight mention of future ckd treatment and prescribed renal food
BUN creatinine ratio 15 ref 4-33
Creatinine 2.2 ref 0.6-2.4
Potassium 2.8 ref 3.4-5.6
____________________
Dec 7(last week) stage 2
Vomited, lethargic/not eating except for little bits of wet food gravy..hardly any meat. Began tricking her by hand feeding Hill's Dry renal as a hand fed treat(she thinks they are Temptations because I put them in the Temptations bag Drinking TONS of water.
Vet #3 last week
Creatinine 2.6 ref 0.92.3
BUN 46 ref 16-37
Bun/Breatinie 17.7

They gave a SubQ fluid , said give her Hill's renal and be on you way! They seem like they are sick of seeing and receiving calls from the CATOCHONDRIAC and I hate to return there.

I have no idea who to see next or what kind of place to visit ..an Animal Hospital? The one here needs a vet referral to be seen!
Where would I find a specialist?

 

[KittyFriday]

When my parents had a cat that was on prescription food, my vet gave them a can as a sample, but perhaps that's not commonly done. Their cat really did like the food, but they were able to buy it through Chewy so when he passed away and they had several cans left, Chewy refunded them their order cost and they donated the food to the vet practice, which was nice. I do wish Chewy would sell cans individually, though, which they don't often seem to do. Sometimes you can reach out to the company about a sample, though, it's not always successful but works sometimes.

Do you have a vet school anywhere near you? They would either have specialists on staff or be able to tell you where specialists are located. My local vet school doesn't require a vet referral, but I'd hope that if you asked your vet they would refer you, if not I'd try calling one of the other vets you've seen and see if they can get you a referral.

This does sound frustrating and I hope you are able to get your kitty feeling better.

 

[treeclimber]

it is costing me more for her food and vet bills than I pay for mine..really! I cannot afford to carry on like this on a monthly pension.

You can return the foods she won’t eat for a refund, even if they have already been opened. Royal Canin has a “palatability guarantee” and Hill’s has a “100% satisfaction guarantee” that cover this, usually by returning the food to the place you bought it (which is supposed to accept the return of an opened and rejected food if they are an authorized seller and you mention the guarantee).

If you happened to buy the food through Chewy (they sell prescription foods too), they are very easy to work with on refunds for opened food your cat won’t eat, whether it’s from a brand with a guarantee or not.

And if you want to try single cans of a non-prescription food in the future, look on the manufacturer’s website for the store locator tool to find places near you that sell their brand (most brick and mortar pet food stores sell individual cans). Not every store that has a brand will have their full product line, so if you’re looking for something specific like the Weruva WX it can be a good idea to call ahead and ask before driving somewhere. You can also try incredpets.com or shopbarksnrec.com , both of which sell individual cans online. Barks and Rec mostly sells via their in-person store and only have part of their inventory on their website, so if you’re looking for something specific and you don’t see it on the website you can call and ask if they have it.

After using a few manufacturers’ store locator tools I eventually discovered there’s a store near me that sells just about everything, so now I try to go buy individual cans in person from them because I love having a resource like this nearby and want to help make sure they stay in business.

I also have a picky cat who rejects a lot of foods - brand guarantees, Chewy’s generous refund policy, and places that sell individual cans have been a HUGE help.

 

[mysterylover]

I was able to get a few cans of the WX in a small private pet food store, but I have not opened it. My cats are not diagnosed with CKD, but they are 12 years old, so I am starting to pay attention to phosphorus in their foods much more carefully. I picked up a few cans of the chicken options to see what it was about (and figured I might open them and see what the response was like at some point).

If your can't won't eat the prescription diet (which I tend to agree that the renal diets are so very low in protein that I would worry my cat would lose muscle mass quickly), you could try a "compromise," say maybe trying foods that have phosphorus below or around 1 on a dry matter basis. As many have mentioned, many Weruva/BFF foods meet this (like their pates BFF Play line and Weruva Press Your Dinner, Press Your Lunch, and Steak Frites shredded etc,, as well as some of Lotus pate and shreds, some Tiki, some Fussie Cat. Tanya's site is a good place to start, but not all of the numbers are updated. Thankfully, a lot of companies do put that numbers on their websites.

Let us know how things go. The experience of others on this site has been so helpful to me!

 

[GranolaLouise]

Well today I 'tried again" and spent over $40 in Weruva regular foods and a few BFF. I opened a chicken , she sniffed , stared and walked off. A few minutes later she came back and 'barked' for food. So, I opened up another variety..sniff,stare , walk away. I was so disgusted I was ready to let her eat ANYTHING she wanted, but first I tried about 4 cans of different varieties which ended up in the trash.
So, here she is, still hungry.
What do I do when I am frustrated? You got it..I EAT!
So I started to open a can of tuna to make myself a sandwich and thought I would smoosh up a wee bit between my fingers and let her taste it off my finger...she liked it! Now, before , she had tuna in a Lickable mixed with scallops and she puked it up . But today with the plain "people" tuna so far so good.
I blended tuna, juice from the can,water and Hill's Renal Kibble (which she loves, by the way..go figure)..and she couldn't get enough of it! So she gets the supplemental water (although she likes to drink) and she gets the nutrients from the fish and the renal.

question: how many days can I give her tuna...I'm thinking of the sodium like I do for myself. How bad is the mercury for cats?
Well today, at least ,I can rest in the fact that she ate SOMETHING!

 

[maggie101]

Does your vet have single packs of fortiflora? Or one can of hills prescription a/d? Ingredients are good and it's like kitty crack. One time I tried 3 different foods but my cat wouldn't eat. So I tried small portions of 3 different foods in one bowl not mixed and she ate! Where I live only a vet can suggest a specialist. Didn't know if it was the same for all contries. Now her eating is fine

 

[GranolaLouise]

I do have fortiflora from when she had diarrhea/vomiting a few months back.IThey gave her Hill's i/d(wouldn;t eat that either except for the appetite enhancer shot) and the flora. But she doesn't have that now.
As for Hill's A/D, I read it is not a food to be given on a regular basis...and that is what I am looking for. It seems she DOES like the Hill's renal Kibble and will eat that til the cows come home...but it is dry and she needs a wet renal or low phos food she can eat on a regular daily basis.
Am I making any sense?

 

[maggie101]

You're right. Only given temporary. I suggested it since you are having trouble feeding her. Until you find what she will eat

 

[Furballsmom]

question: how many days can I give her tuna...I'm thinking of the sodium like I do for myself. How bad is the mercury for cats?

Do you have access to Safe Catch Tuna? The manufacturers monitor for mercury content, a couple varieties are specifically labelled as having the lowest mercury on the market and they also have a no sodium variety.

 

[maggie101]

Well today I 'tried again" and spent over $40 in Weruva regular foods and a few BFF. I opened a chicken , she sniffed , stared and walked off. A few minutes later she came back and 'barked' for food. So, I opened up another variety..sniff,stare , walk away. I was so disgusted I was ready to let her eat ANYTHING she wanted, but first I tried about 4 cans of different varieties which ended up in the trash.
So, here she is, still hungry.
What do I do when I am frustrated? You got it..I EAT!
So I started to open a can of tuna to make myself a sandwich and thought I would smoosh up a wee bit between my fingers and let her taste it off my finger...she liked it! Now, before , she had tuna in a Lickable mixed with scallops and she puked it up . But today with the plain "people" tuna so far so good.
I blended tuna, juice from the can,water and Hill's Renal Kibble (which she loves, by the way..go figure)..and she couldn't get enough of it! So she gets the supplemental water (although she likes to drink) and she gets the nutrients from the fish and the renal.

question: how many days can I give her tuna...I'm thinking of the sodium like I do for myself. How bad is the mercury for cats?
Well today, at least ,I can rest in the fact that she ate SOMETHING!

Can you buy single cans of weruva Lambergini or glam n punk?
Both lamb and tuna

 

[GranolaLouise]

Do you have access to Safe Catch Tuna? The manufacturers monitor for mercury content, a couple varieties are specifically labelled as having the lowest mercury on the market and they also have a no sodium variety.

I did find some of that and am ordering it..not only the low sodium for me, but for the both of us! Thank You so much.I had no idea it existed.