What's a cheaper kidney diet for my senior cat with high BP?

Prescription kidney diets have proven to improve both quality and length of life in pets with poor kidney function. They are formulated to reduce the amount of work required for the kidneys by reducing the amount of waste products produced from food as well as containing tightly balanced mineral, vitamin, omega fatty acid and protein levels and work best in wet forms or where good water intake can be encouraged. The larger proportion of the diet the better, any additional food sources should be highly digestible and suitable for pets in kidney failure, blood tests would be recommended 3-4 weeks after any diet changes to ensure no negative impacts develop

We always say that it doesn't matter how good a food is if the pet won't eat it. This is especially true with cats. Your goal with a diet for a kidney patient is to avoid foods that are too high in protein, so you will want to avoid any kitten foods. Most non-prescription diets are very similar in their protein levels because they are made for the needs of an average adult cat. If Cricket was previously on a dry food, I found the best way to get my cat to eat canned food was to grind up dry food, then sprinkle it on the top of his canned food to get him eating. I am attaching a link to a handout below with tips to transition a cat onto canned food. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=3041 Since Cricket has been a fussy eater, the most important thing will be to find a food that she likes. I have found that cats tend to like Fancy Feast the best, so that might be an option if you can't find something else that she will eat. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Yes, if you give her normal food it will shorten her life span but I agree with you, her quality of life is more important and she needs to eat! When it comes to kidney disease a food that is as low in phosphorus as possible is recommended. Unfortunately, no over the counter foods are low enough in phosphorus to be beneficial. Hence, the prescription diets. Now, there are many different companies that make prescription diets - I would suggest you try another brand before just giving in to her. The new Hill's kidney diets have E.A.T. (Enhanced Appetite Trigger)™ Technology for cats that has been shown to enhance appetite & increase food intake. Royal Canin and Purina also make kidney diets. Please try these first and if all else fails, just give her what she will eat. Cats are sometimes their own worst enemy! Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I would not recommend leaving iodine salt out of a diet - while diets that are severely restricted in iodine can help lower T4 levels it is difficult to keep everything else balanced and it sounds like methimazole is working for Beau. While dark meat chicken has less phosphorus than ground beef, I would encourage you to use a board certified nutritionist when formulating a diet, especially for kidney disease. It can be difficult to get everything balanced appropriately. BalanceIT is a good resource: www.balanceit.com

Patients with glomerulonephritis should be fed a protein-restricted diet which you can only really get from a prescription veterinary diet like Hill's k/d. These renal diets have the following attributes that aid in managing this disease: * increased omega-3 and omega -6 fatty acids in the appropriate ratios * restricted sodium controls hypertension and fluid retention * restricted phosphorus * omega-3 fatty acids to decrease pressure in the kidneys, I suggest you speak to your vet about getting Pitsho on a prescription veterinary diet. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

The challenge with chronic kidney disease is that it's often necessary to limit protein intake, but they can be a bit nauseous if their kidney values (BUN and creatinine) are high. Some cats also require supplements of potassium to help keep their electrolytes under control. I don't know specifically what you have available in Brazil with respect to prescription diets, but I usually prescribe either Hill's Science Diet k/d, Purina NF, or Royal Canin renal support. I would start by asking your vet if you could try one of those diets for Sophia - possibly mixed with the A/D to help make it more palatable to her. Ultimately, when it comes to managing cats with kidney disease, it's more important to get them to eat something - anything - over nothing. If you try all of the renal diets and Sophia rejects them all, I would next try any other canned commercial cat food. If she also rejects those, you'll just have to give in and go with the higher protein fish option, such as cooked fresh tuna or salmon. It's not ideal, but what in life is? I hope that everything goes well for Sophia!

It should not have a significant impact on his blood pressure. Obviously eating the renal diet is best but with kidney disease studies have shown that it is actually the phosphorus restriction that is the most effective. Since he is on a phosphate binder you don't have to worry about that too much. At this stage it is best to just make sure he is eating so give him whatever he will eat. Sounds like you are doing a great job!