Urinary diet foods for kidney disease?

[njg55]

One of my cats was diagnosed with kidney disease about six months ago. Like many other cat owners, I've struggled to get her to eat. I have two brands of prescription food (dried and canned), Science Diet and Royal Canin, both with several flavors. At times she likes these, at times she doesn't. Right now we're in one of the "I won't eat anything" phases. I recently had a phone consultation with a certified cat behavior expert who also works as a tech at a cats-only vet clinic. We were discussing a cat with other medical/behavioral issues, but we also briefly discussed a kidney disease diet. She gave me a list of recommended foods (which includes the ones I've tried as well as Purina, which I haven't) and said that special diet URINARY foods could be used for these cats as well. Of course I'll ask my vet, but is this recommendation standard? Anything that will give my fussy feline more options would be welcome. While overall I trust the advice of the consultant, whom I've worked with several times over the years, I've noticed that sometimes her recommendations are not at all in line with what my regular vet or veterinary specialists have suggested, so I'm seeking other opinions.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I am not sure urinary care foods such as the ones Feeby previously ate (Hill's C/D & RC SO) to help balance her PH level and reduce the chance of forming crystals/stones is intended to be the same as those that are supposed to aide with kidney function. Although low protein in foods for those with kidney disease is no longer considered a necessarily good idea, the other goals of these foods is lower phosphorus & sodium levels and are still applicable. So, you could compare the levels between the kidney care food and the urinary care foods to see if they are comparable. In either case, water content/intake is crucial.

I presume you are aware of this web site - Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat (felinecrf.org). If not, maybe it can give you some additional insight regarding kidney care foods.

 

[catminionjess]

Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat Tanya's ckd webpage was recommend to me from people here years back when my rescue boy was diagnosed with ckd. He also would not eat any of the Rx foods. He tried all of them out there. I had to find low phosphorous regular cat food for him. He did okay for a while with Fancy Feast classics, Soulistic pouches (a Petco brand), Merrick limited ingredient pates and Halo Impulse Rabbit and Garden greens. Unfortunately he passed about a year and a half after being diagnosed.

 

[catminionjess]

The vet also put him on Pepcid (or generic famotidine) to help with stomach acid and appetite stimulate. The doses changed as his stage increased. Later on he was also on Mirtazapine to help with his vomiting. You could ask your vet if that would help your cat and what dosage to give.

 

[njg55]

I was on the phone with the vet's office a while ago. I'm getting some of the Purina brand kidney food as well as some of the smaller cans of Royal Canin, which I've before, with mixed results, but at this point I think it's worth trying anything. He didn't recommend the urinary diet food but did float the idea of an appetite stimulant and/or medication for nausea if she continues not to eat, or to eat very little. I'll monitor her for a few days and see if she improves. She had lab tests less than 6 months ago so won't need them again right away.