[CatsRU]

I am posting this information for Rachelle - it is a diet sheet given to me by one of my vets.

"The kidneys usually get rid of waste produced in the body everyday. When the kidneys are not working, toxins build up in the body and cause tiredness and loss of appetite. The damaging toxins come mainly from high protein foods including any animal flesh, eggs, and dairy products (except cream and butter).

The purpose of this diet is to give your cat just enough protein for maintaining muscles and immunity - too much and the kidneys will be over-worked. When protein is cut back, it is essential to feed plenty of energy rich foods, including cream, fats and oils and grains. If your cat does not get enough energy, then its muscle stores will break down and this in turn will over-work the kidneys. The diet helps to preserve kidney function and reduce toxins that cause tiredness and loss of appetite - it is a treatment not a cure for kidney disease.

The table below gives a guide to how much food to serve your cat every day:

Food

Animal flesh (protein) - 60gms total of any animal flesh or egg - do not serve any more than this.
meat - choose fatty cuts - cook in oil
chicken - serve with skin
fish
canned cat food (whiskas Senior)
egg


Milk (protein) - Whiskas plus milk or full cream milk - 100mls (about 1/2 small tea cup. If your cat does not drink milk, then offer an extra 20 gms of animal flesh or half a cheese slice - 10gms.


Cream for energy - 1 or more tablespoons

Fat for energy - 1/2 or more tablespoons cooking oil or butter

Carbohydrate for energy - 2 or more serves

rice - 1/3 cup
pasta - 1/3 cup
bread - 1 slice
breakfast cereal - 1/2 cup

Polycose powder for energy - 1 or more tablespoons


Rachelle

I can't find the other diet sheet given by another vet which mentioned cottage cheese but it was on the other list. It is a dairy product and also an energy product. Give normal not reduced fat.

Heaps of hugs for Norman

Rosanne

This post has been edited by CatsRU: 19 August 2009 - 09:24 AM

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[Heather Sharada]

I will pin it at the top of the forum...Rosanne...as a lot of the worries that we have are Kidney related....

[Lara]

When Reilly had CRF the vet gave me Ipakitine which is a phosphate binder and apparently also helps support the kidney functioning. Can this phosphate reduction be done via diet insted of medication? Worth asking about.

[CatsRU]

Thank you Heather.

If anyone else has a similar sheet which differs, can you please share it.

[Roland Deschain]

Is there any preventive steps one can take to avoid kidney problems in our furkids? Or is it merely genetic and cannot be avoided?

[burmeselover]

Is there any preventive steps one can take to avoid kidney problems in our furkids? Or is it merely genetic and cannot be avoided?

Cats are born with fewer nephrons (individual filters of the blood within the kidney) compared to dogs so they are possibly predisposed as a species to kidney failure compared to other species. E.g. normal wear and tear on the kidneys over time will wear them out sooner.
Feeding excess animal protein will not help preserve the kidneys. The reason for this is that animal protein is digested and one of the waste products from metabolism of animal protein is urea. Urea is excreted through the kidneys. Therefore excess protein intake (above the daily requirement) will put unnecessary strain on the kidneys.
As you can see in the diet sheet above, the animal protein is limited to 60grams per day. The grain and the cream/fat provide energy without needing to be metabolised through the kidneys.

[Roland Deschain]

Burmeselover,

Thanks for taking the time to explain this. So, no matter what - cats are predisposed to kidney problems. And, feeding protein above daily req is harmful for their kidneys.

So, usually older cats gets kidney diseases right? And, when they do get the kidney problems - can they still live a normal life? Or does it depend on what sort of kidney problem they get?

[charleycat]

Interesting diet info - thanks for that.

I wonder if that's why cats crave crazy things? I'll always remember Charley LOVING peanut butter and jam sandwiches - though I'm sure it's not recommended!

[aboutTaya]

When Reilly had CRF the vet gave me Ipakitine which is a phosphate binder and apparently also helps support the kidney functioning. Can this phosphate reduction be done via diet insted of medication? Worth asking about.

I believe a low phosphorous diet is often recommended for assisting managing kidney failure. It is interesting that some high phosphorous foods like full cream milk are also on the low protein list whereas on a low phosphorous diet rice milk is recommended. Breads, pastas etc are recommended to be white, highly refined products rather than brown, high fibre products. However phosphate binders can still be used in conjunction with a low phosphorous diet as can some calcium and vitamin d supplements.

I think it depends if you're going low protein or low phosphorous or trying to strike a balance between the two.

[Rachelle]

Thank you so much Rosanne, I really appreciate you doing this for me. I've copied it and printed it off and I'll take it with me to the Cat Clinic.

I have a couple of questions, confusions.

The Darwin vet said that I had to give him egg whites, not yolk, can't remember why.

Any butter? I use olive oil or nut margarine, would this be ok?

I had someone (not a vet) mention that fish was high in salt and not to give this. Confusing. He loves tinned mackeral in tomato sauce (human version, not cat food), I was worried that I couldn't give this any more.

He loves cheese (especially when served on a cracker with pate! His breeding name is Prince Leopold, still expecting the royal treatment) what sort of cheese is better for him?

Just googled polycose powder, I'll have to find some in Brisbane when I go.

The Darwin vet told me I needed to give him raw beef strips (he already got them but needed more) for his teeth. Now I wonder if I'm giving him too much.

Thank you once again, all of you, for your support and for listening.

[aboutTaya]

Rachelle if you click on this link you can scroll down to see lots of other links people have posted for food lists and there are some recipes listed as well.

http://answers.yahoo...15104923AAtK5Es

And with regard to cheeses, if you scroll down on this link it suggests what you can replace some foods with, it's geared toward humans with kidney failure but for the comparison chart it might be helpful. They suggest cream cheese and sour cream are good alternatives to cheese.

http://www.davita.co...et-basics/a/478

[oriental cats]

I had a cat with kidney disease and was advised by my vet to give the Hills KD as the main part of the diet, I also gave fresh white fish steamed and no canned fish, this was several years ago now and diet advise has changed with advances in nutrition.
I will add Tara was 15 when diagnoised and lived until just over 18 when she was PTS due to an aggressive bony tumor, her renal function remained fairly stable for over 3 years.
It is nice to see BL back on here with her wonderful wise advise too!

This post has been edited by oriental cats: 19 August 2009 - 07:46 PM

[burmeselover]

Burmeselover,

Thanks for taking the time to explain this. So, no matter what - cats are predisposed to kidney problems. And, feeding protein above daily req is harmful for their kidneys.

So, usually older cats gets kidney diseases right? And, when they do get the kidney problems - can they still live a normal life? Or does it depend on what sort of kidney problem they get?

Older cats don't necessarily get kidney disease but it's high on the list of "old age diseases" for cats.
Chronic kidney disease (kidneys wearing out with old age) cannot be cured but the progression of the kidney disease can be slowed down through good management. The earlier that kidney dysfunction (loss of kidney function as the kidneys wear out) is detected, the better. By modifying the diet, adding medications as necessary and monitoring the thyroid function (hyperthyroidism and kidney disease can be linked), the remaining functioning nephrons in the kidneys can be preserved for as long as possible. I've seen cats live for quite a number of years after a diagnosis of chronic kidney disease. Others have succumbed quickly - whether that's because the kidneys have been failing for years before the diagnosis was made or that the disease progressed very quickly, who knows?

Acute kidney failure is very different to chronic kidney failure. Acute kidney failure is where the kidneys suddenly deteriorate, usually as a result of an insult of some sort e.g. toxin, reaction to a drug, secondary to trauma where the kidneys don't receive enough blood supply during shock, secondary to a blocked bladder etc. Acute kidney failure can be treated and halted if the cat receives the correct treatment immediately.