My senior pet hates phosphorus binder. How little can I mix it?

Hello. Yes, there are studies done to indicate that phosphorous binders added to non-renal diets will be effective. Many cats will not touch the kidney diets, so adding the binders is the next best way to go. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Royal Canin carries a diet called Senior Consult which has restricted Phos but not as low as the renal diets so it is not appropriate to feed instead of the renal diets. I recommend to discuss this option with your vet before making any diet changes since they are the most familiar with Tony's history. You may ask your vet about an appetite stimulant such as mirtazapine. Many renal cats want variety. Many owners will keep several renal food options and will switch the kibble every week to keep it interesting. Most cats will go back to eating a diet that they had previously stopped eating so you may try circling back. You should also ask about the return policy when purchasing the food in case Tony won't eat the food. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Hello. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. To tell you the truth, at almost 18 years of age, I would feed Tony anything he wants. If he enjoys your other kitty's food, then let him have it. It is much more stressful for you & for Tony to insist he eat something he does not like. Prescription diets are great, but only if the pet will eat them, & it is far more important to keep good calories & nutrition going into Tony. The rabbit & pea diet is nutritionally complete & fine for Tony. Take care.

The key here is to go VERY slow. I saw a presentation by Hill’s that said over 90% of cars will eventually transition into a kidney diet- but it can take up to two months. I’d say go back to whatever Tony was eating well and try one of the following: 1) If he eats dry food, mix in a few kibbles of the kidney food at each meal. As he begins to finish all the food, very slowly creep up on the prescription food and back off on the regular food. 2) If he eats dry food but is interested in wet - or eats a mix of wet and dry: top dry food with a tiny dollop of canned kidney food. As he begins to eat this, replace more and more kibbles with wet kidney food. OR, if you want to keep him on a mix of both, start slowly replacing the kibbles as described in option 1. 3) If he eats only canned, mix a tiny bit of canned kidney diet in with it. Same as for the dry food, slowly increase the kidney diet and decrease the regular stuff. Again, this could take a month or two so be slow and patient. Best wishes to you and Tony.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! A phosphorus binder is used when the phosphorus is high not when just the creatinine is elevated. I would have your Vet get a urine sample and a blood pressure. This will help stage Ike's renal disease. Prescription renal diets are highly recommend to slow progression of disease. Blood pressure medications should be used if high. I wish you the best!

Yes, HYPOphosphatemia can be dangerous but I have never seen that happen in case where a cat has renal failure and is being treated with a phosphate binder. HYPERphosphatemia is much worse to have. You are not likely to cause hypophosphatemia so I would not worry about that. Labwork every 2-3 months is fine to do for monitoring. If you are worried you should ask your vet since they are most familiar with his case.

The phosphate binder needs to be given with every meal as this is where dogs get their source of phosphorus. The cerenia helps with appetite so I would recommend giving it at least an hour prior to feeding this way it can have the greatest effect. I hope this helps. If you have any other questions let us know!