Early stage CKD non-prescription wet food recommendations?

[Twylasmom]

Twyla was just diagnosed with stage 1 kidney disease and the vet recommended low phosphorus, moderate protein foods as she does not want to put her on a prescription diet at this time. I am aware of the list on Tanya’s CRF page and on cat info.org and plan to dig through them to come up with some options when I have a little more time (very heavy work schedule and long hours for the next two weeks).

However, right now I have a pantry full of food that is not the best option for her (low carb/high protein for weight control, Fancy Feast pates) and I need to find some good options that I can get from Petco or Petsmart so that I can begin experimenting, find something that she likes and begin to transition her diet. She is not overly picky and has no food sensitivities. Right now the best (really only) option I have in house is the FF Savory Salmon pate, but don’t want to feed an exclusively fish diet.

Any suggestions on some good options to start with? I’m slightly overwhelmed by the tables and information. The most important aspect right now is reducing the phosphorus. Thanks!

 

[maggie101]

Do you have any small petstores? I feed my cat weruva steak frites, not at pet smart or petco. My cat had everything slightly elevated. Her last test was normal. I add Advita probiotic,cheer than fortiflora and better ingredients. That has stopped her from throwing up before eating every day

 

[maggie101]

I just got delivered rawz rabbit to try. It may simply be she is allergic to poultry

 

[Twylasmom]

Do you have any small petstores? I feed my cat weruva steak frites, not at pet smart or petco. My cat had everything slightly elevated. Her last test was normal. I add Advita probiotic,cheer than fortiflora and better ingredients. That has stopped her from throwing up before eating every day

No small pet store that I can get to easily. I am looking for things I can buy locally so I can get a few things to try before ordering in bulk online.

 

[maggie101]

Chewy will give you your money back if she doesn't like it though I don't know if you have a rescue you can give it to

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
I know you said you were looking for locally available, but in any case I went through the exercise you talked about in your first post of determining which commercial foods are low-ish on Phosphorus, moderate protein and sodium, including looking at catfooddb and cornucopia . org / pet food guide and also specific brand sites. At that time about a year ago, there weren't a lot of options available.

Things may have changed in the ingredients and/or recipes, but take a look at these;

Young Again canned
Koha LID Chicken Pouch
Dr Elsey's clean protein pork
Tiki Cat After Dark Grain Free Chicken
Forza 10 Neutraceutic actiwet renal support
Fancy Feast Wild Salmon Primavera (this can be difficult to find lately)
and as mentioned already (if you don't have an issue with yet another brand that has synthetic vitamin K) Weruva Truluxe steak Frites

 

[Twylasmom]

Hi
I know you said you were looking for locally available, but in any case I went through the exercise you talked about in your first post of determining which commercial foods are low-ish on Phosphorus, moderate protein and sodium, including looking at catfooddb and cornucopia . org / pet food guide and also specific brand sites. At that time about a year ago, there weren't a lot of options available.

Things may have changed in the ingredients and/or recipes, but take a look at these;

Young Again canned
Koha LID Chicken Pouch
Dr Elsey's clean protein pork
Tiki Cat After Dark Grain Free Chicken
Forza 10 Neutraceutic actiwet renal support
Fancy Feast Wild Salmon Primavera (this can be difficult to find lately)
and as mentioned already (if you don't have an issue with yet another brand that has synthetic vitamin K) Weruva Truluxe steak Frites

Finding things to sample with the cat food supply chain being what it is has been a struggle. She prefers pate, will maybe eat something in gravy and will only lick up broth if it’s a meat in broth scenario. Or she will devour something the first try and not so much the next. I thought Wellness Core Pate would be a good transitional choice but she didn’t like it much. Do you know the composition of the Steak Frites? It seems to be pretty popular.

 

[maggie101]

Weruva Steak Frites Cat Food Review

you will find more info on their site. Most cats love it. It does not have the best ingredients but it is low phosphorus. As you know, It's more important that she eats than what's in the food

 

[FeebysOwner]

I kind of feel like I have conversed with you about this on another thread? But, probably I am mixing it up with similar threads - sorry.

There does seem to be an issue with pate foods being higher in phosphorus levels than other forms - I don't know why. And, that is also a problem with me because Feeby doesn't like much else besides pates - and she loves FF pates the best. However, I am going through a not yet successful experiment with her, by taking some of the non-pate foods that are lower in phosphorus, blending them in a blender and adding some unflavored gelatin to see how close I can get them to pate form. I will admit this has been a struggle, but there are a couple of other members on this site who have had success with this approach.

All said and done, you have to feed your cat what they will eat - most important of all. And, lower protein is no longer believed to be that big of a benefit to older cats, even those with CKD, as they are losing muscle mass if for no other reason than just aging factors. If in the long run that means adding a phosphorus binder to help with the phosphorus, then so be it. Your cat is probably quite a ways from this. And, while I commend you for being proactive, sometimes one can be too proactive.

What is her current phosphorus level? For that matter, what are all the other test results regarding her kidney status?

 

[Twylasmom]

I kind of feel like I have conversed with you about this on another thread? But, probably I am mixing it up with similar threads - sorry.

There does seem to be an issue with pate foods being higher in phosphorus levels than other forms - I don't know why. And, that is also a problem with me because Feeby doesn't like much else besides pates - and she loves FF pates the best. However, I am going through a not yet successful experiment with her, by taking some of the non-pate foods that are lower in phosphorus, blending them in a blender and adding some unflavored gelatin to see how close I can get them to pate form. I will admit this has been a struggle, but there are a couple of other members on this site who have had success with this approach.

All said and done, you have to feed your cat what they will eat - most important of all. And, lower protein is no longer believed to be that big of a benefit to older cats, even those with CKD, as they are losing muscle mass if for no other reason than just aging factors. If in the long run that means adding a phosphorus binder to help with the phosphorus, then so be it. Your cat is probably quite a ways from this. And, while I commend you for being proactive, sometimes one can be too proactive.

What is her current phosphorus level? For that matter, what are all the other test results regarding her kidney status?

Yes, I decided to move the food discussion here. I am listing her numbers below. Most are still within normal range though the SDMA is high and went up from 22 just a month ago.

SDMA 26, CREA 1.8, BUN 37, BUN/CREA 21, PHOS 4.7
ALT 141

The vet suggested lowering her phosphorus to keep her values stable, especially since one kidney is having to work harder than the other, and see where we are in 3 months.

 

[mysterylover]

I believe the higher phosphorus in many pates comes from the bone content being high. I have been researching this issue, as my 3 cats (siblings) are turning 11 years old this summer, and I really have not thought about phosphorus in foods they eat. Lotus Just Juicy Chicken has lower phosphorus, and also, Weruva does have several of their shredded chicken foods with lower phosphorus, presumably because they have no bone.

Weruva also has a new line of pate and the Slide and Serve. They only have a few that are chicken only with no fish, and those chicken ones are lower in phosphorus. In addition, I found the BFF (made by Weruva) "Play" line - has some pate as well that is lower in phosphorus (Take a Chance, Topsy Turvey, Checkmate), all fish free. Fish also tends to increase phosphorus, especially if the name is "Tuna and Chicken" versus "Chicken and Tuna." Of course, the Weruve and BFF have different gums (and I found that one of my cats got constipated on the BFF Play foods, while my other two had softer stools on that same food, when fed exclusively - plus, my female got pretty addicted to them) yet, because of the low phosphorus, relative digestive tolerance, and the fact that they liked the taste, I am still considering trying them again. They used to LOVE Just Juicy Chicken, but since the pandemic started, it seems like my female is less enthusiastic (and suddenly, she also loves pate more than shreds in general). Just to share, I have found that I have to watch some of the foods because at least two of my cats are really sensitive to the sunflower seed oil. I think every Weruva has it, and it gives them diarrhea. The BFF Play line also does not have sunflower seed oil.

Anyway, if you are doing the whole gelatin thing, depending on how your cat tolerates the gums and sunflower seed oil, you might want to try the Weruva "Press Your Lunch" or Press Your Dinner" canned or their pouch "Jeopurrdy Licious" and also the BFF canned Play line Pate. The Weruva ones absolutely look like you took baby food chicken and added gelatin! My cats did love the taste, even though they look odd. Chewy does sell them all. I do think Petco carries basically the same formulas with different names under the Solistic name (Weruva makes exclusively for Petco).

 

[maggie101]

I believe the higher phosphorus in many pates comes from the bone content being high. I have been researching this issue, as my 3 cats (siblings) are turning 11 years old this summer, and I really have not thought about phosphorus in foods they eat. Lotus Just Juicy Chicken has lower phosphorus, and also, Weruva does have several of their shredded chicken foods with lower phosphorus, presumably because they have no bone.

Weruva also has a new line of pate and the Slide and Serve. They only have a few that are chicken only with no fish, and those chicken ones are lower in phosphorus. In addition, I found the BFF (made by Weruva) "Play" line - has some pate as well that is lower in phosphorus (Take a Chance, Topsy Turvey, Checkmate), all fish free. Fish also tends to increase phosphorus, especially if the name is "Tuna and Chicken" versus "Chicken and Tuna." Of course, the Weruve and BFF have different gums (and I found that one of my cats got constipated on the BFF Play foods, while my other two had softer stools on that same food, when fed exclusively - plus, my female got pretty addicted to them) yet, because of the low phosphorus, relative digestive tolerance, and the fact that they liked the taste, I am still considering trying them again. They used to LOVE Just Juicy Chicken, but since the pandemic started, it seems like my female is less enthusiastic (and suddenly, she also loves pate more than shreds in general). Just to share, I have found that I have to watch some of the foods because at least two of my cats are really sensitive to the sunflower seed oil. I think every Weruva has it, and it gives them diarrhea. The BFF Play line also does not have sunflower seed oil.

Anyway, if you are doing the whole gelatin thing, depending on how your cat tolerates the gums and sunflower seed oil, you might want to try the Weruva "Press Your Lunch" or Press Your Dinner" canned or their pouch "Jeopurrdy Licious" and also the BFF canned Play line Pate. The Weruva ones absolutely look like you took baby food chicken and added gelatin! My cats did love the taste, even though they look odd. Chewy does sell them all. I do think Petco carries basically the same formulas with different names under the Solistic name (Weruva makes exclusively for Petco).

Lowest in phos of all commercial food is weruva steak frites. Check out thier site. They give you all the info.