Our three cats are eating the Royal Canin kidney dry food because one has had urinary problems. He is much better now and they all like the food. It can take time for cats to adjust to something new.

Why don't you like the quality of the ingredients?

The first two ingredients of the Royal Canin LP pouch food are animal by-products - I forget which animals. This is very poor quality protein. Some people think it is better to feed these cats high quality meat protein that is more digestible and is not excreted so it is less of a burden on the kidneys. Poor quality protein is not digested as well and more is excreted.

The dry food we have available to our CRF cat is non-RX Royal Canin. She eats quite a bit of it, but the bulk of her diet is human grade meat (cooked). She has done better and better since we put her on a high quality protein diet last year.

Don't quote me on this because it's been a while since I did some research, but if I recall correctly, a lot of the kidney diets are based on organ meat as a means of reducing protein. One of the canned foods we had was heavily based on pork liver, which causes some alarm since the liver is the master filter... what exactly are we putting into our already sick cats?

Good luck with your kitty.

This exact thing happened to me...I adopted a male cat from a local shelter and within one week I knew something wasn't "right" as he was drinking a ton of water. Took him to the vet and he was in CRF. So first off, thank you for taking in this new kitty and taking on CRF. :o)

It took many different attempts at food as he was a finicky guy in the first place. I fed him Royal Canin for awhile, but like you wasn't thrilled with the ingredients. In the end, I settled on Geriatrix by Wysong. It didn't have the lower protien, but had a higher quality protien for him to process. And frankly, he ate it with much gusto. Wysong advertises it as a food for Senior cats and cats with certain failures including renal. I am not saying this was the best choice out there, but it was the food I went with.

He did rather well the entire time he was with me living for a very spoiled 18 months. (Vet only gave him 6 months)

CRF is not the only potential cause of dilute urine in cats, so before you go altering her diet to accommodate failing kidneys, have bloodwork done to determine whether or not she even has a renal problem. Have her tested for diabetes, hypertension, and hyperthyroidism. Don't let the vet guess at what's wrong with your cat. Have him do the diagnostic bloodwork!

Laurie

I apologize, I didn't see the section where you stated you didn't get bloodwork done. laurief is right, please have bloodwork done as that would provide the official confirmation of CRF. My cat was diagnosed with CRF by having a blood panel run. Urine would not be a reliable testing method for CRF.

Could be just a UTI. Most animals drink a lot with UTIs, which causes dilute urine. I'm in total agreement with Laurie- your cat needs additional diagnostics, especially bloodwork. A urine culture may be helpful too, just in case she has an infection. Many times you don't see bacteria in dilute urine on the UA, but the culture is positive.

Although there is no direct experimental evidence, it is reasonable to suggest that a low dietary phosphorus concentration contributes to the prevention of renal disease.

Various complete diets for senior cats claim to help prevent kidney disease. Out of 12 such diets for senior cats, five diets explicitly linked a low phosphorus content with the claim. Given an ideal dietary phosphorus concentration of 0.2-0.3 g/MJ, the label claim for three out of the five diets can be considered misleading.

The progression of CRF can be diminished and thus survival of the patient extended, but the condition cannot be healed. There now is strong evidence that appropriate dietary management, especially a low phosphorus intake, will enhance survival of cats with CRF. Consequently, some researchers theorize that restricting phosphorus intake will reduce the risk of the disease developing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Managing CRF (kidney disease) in cats

Well here I go again...lost the last post;(
I have a kitty 15.5 years old....a real shy sweety.
In the summer she was drinking alot, and so I thought hot house!!! Well fall rolled around and still the drinking alot, and now i noticed the peeing alot. I have no vet money, but a dear cat lover/rescuer helped me with the vet visit. Kitty had to have a full bladder for urine test, but no blood work was done. Vet said kitty had something like E.coli, and put her on Orbax 22.7 mg 1 a day for 15 days... I said thank god its not kidney failure...The vet said, "she is having kidney issues, which could lead to that." Well kitty is still having the same symptoms...I called to ask if it would be wise to put kitty on low protien-high fat food...and they said it would not hurt. I got from another vet, med i cal low protien wet food...and from the pet store Royal Cannin dry food that is low protien-high fat (called active mature 28)...(I see corn is at the top of the list in the vet dry food, and the one from the pet store)...I thought that was a no no....
I dont know what to do next...am I doing the right thing now. I heard it can cost $300-$600 to get puss puss really looked over....One vet said 150.00 for just blood work...Its almost impossible for me as a single parent to do that right now....Any suggestions????? I sure will miss our old friend.

ladydicats, you should post your own thread on this, instead of adding it to someone else's thread.

The only suggestions I have for a 15.5 year old cat with health problems is to get blood work to know what you are dealing with. How can you treat something if you are not sure what the actual problem is? I am sure you will miss your "old friend," but if you love her, you surely do not want her to be in pain and die a painful, miserable death.

Sorry to have upset by posting here, but thought you guys may have some answers, because its suppose to be similar to what my cat is going through.
Well you can love something tons, but be a single parent with no money, and at witts end to know what to do for this kitty. It seems here in my tiny town there is just one vet, and one Dear sweet old lady that trys to help. As you can see above I got to visit this vet, with the help of the Dear sweet old lady....BUT, he didnt do blood work....and the medicine he gave didnt work.
You have made me feel really bad (and I already do). I dont think you read what happened above either when I went to the vet. No other vets help for cheap in this town...and Im told the SPCA only helps with spay and neuturing. I have no close family here either, except an 89 year old mother.
Not everyone has money for these things, and you never expect it to happen. I have never had any health issues with my pets before.

ladydi, ask for a pre-op blood panel, the kind that are done prior to dental cleanings and minor procedures. They are usually cheaper (at least at our vet) and will give you an idea how her organs are functioning.

I'm sorry. I did not realize you were certain of the cat's condition, since blood work was not obtained. Of course, knowing the cat's condition, that is, that it for sure is in renal failure, you can proceed to treat it.

Best of luck with the suggestions here! Hope your cat responds.

Thanks everyone...Im working on it.

I know that this advice is a bit late, but pets are not cheap. If you are considering adopting any animal you have to ensure you are able to care for that animal regardless of cost. Start a savings account so that when (not IF) your pet falls ill you will have the means to pay veterinary bills. At some point in their lives most pets will have to go to the vet, and it doesn't get any cheaper. Make sure you are prepared financially when you take on a new pet.

Ladydicats, we just spent $6000 on our cat for renal failure. It can become very expensive and you definitely can't skimp on care. If you are financially unable to care for the cat, talk to your vet about options including payment schedules or perhaps volunteering for their office to help pay down the debt.

I wish you the best for you and your cat, everyone deserves the love of kitties, just don't put your own financial well-being in jeopardy.

Ladicats: I feel for you and your cat. I may get disagreement from some about this, but you should remember that your cat is elderly...and your finances are important. What I think has to be considered above all is QUALITY of life...both yours and his. My opinion would be to keep your cat as happy and comfortable as possible using as many conservative treatments as your budget permits. I don't know if a full blood panel is necessary: BUN and creatinin should be what is necessary to determine CRF. Subcutaneous fluids can be given at home and are not that expensive...and not that difficult once you get the hang of it.

I have dealt with two CRF cats. My first was diagnosed so late that he lived only 6 months. I gave him Sub-q fluids and after he refused to eat the KD that had been prescribed, decided to let him eat anything that would make him happy for as long as he had left.
My second Crf cat lived for 2 years following his diagnosis. I also gave him fluids and an increasing number of Rx's. He was OK with the KD for about a year, but after that, I gave him anything that he would eat. The biggest expense...and what made me decide finally to put him down were the painful enemas that became necessary to deal with his chronic constipation. I just could not stand to see my poor little guy straining and suffering.

Best of luck...and don't feel guilty. It sounds like you are a loving and responsible person.

LF

Arggggg another good post disappeared...
I will try to do a short version again...
Miss kitty does in fact have the beginning stages of kidney failure. I have been through about 4 vets, 3 cysto urinalysis, and 1 blood panel...I think Im up to about $600.00, but have alos had help from some great folks...
The second vet place had 2 vets that kind of condradicted each other, which made me feel like something was not right. I had to go to one other vet, then I was ok with everything...
One vet that viewed the blood panel told me that all her stuff was excellent for a kitty of 15...except some marginal stuff in the high which was creatinine, urea, and i thought she said cholesterol (kitty is not fat). Vet was surprised by the cholesterol ...Vet said just feed her that reduced protien stuff and these reading s will go back to normal...Their blood work machine didnt read things correctly at first so they did some manual, and stuff over again, I believe. The manual thing was a blood smear that revealed 15% white blood cells, which the vet again thought unusual...What do you guys all think of that? I heard that can be from virus, scared cat, and just cause of the kidney prob itself...
Vet 2 called me and said, your cat has kidney failure and has 1 year to live ...I told her she should have a talk with her colleg, getting their stories straight!
Anyways they want Miss kitty to go on Benazepril...What do you guys think of that stuff?
Thanks big time for your guys support, I really appreciate being able to discuss with you.
I havent always been poor, but i do love kitties. My cats have always been healthy and now are seniors.

What is CRF?

Carla

I am sorry, I realize now it's renal failure of some kind. I hate you have to go through this, and the cat.

Carla

Hi Carla,

It is a very sad thing...
I forgot to add to my message above...that one of the vets at the same place had told me that the cat could go on for many years with slight deviations in its blood tests(creatinine, urea, and the cholesterol.) That's why when her collegue said "Your cat is going to die in a year, you might want to think about this, she is going to pee all over your house", I thought, I should dump a bucket of pee all over the vet! How can they work in the same office but get things so wrong?
So I made sure to go talk to one other vet that knew nothing about the problem. They told me that a kitty could live from 6 months up to 5 years with CRF.