The diagnosis of Chronic Disease is a hard one to swallow. I cried for days that I was going to lose my sweet baby boy. The great news for our family is that with lots of love and patience, this horrid disease can be managed. While I know envitably I will lose my cat to this horrid disease I appreciate every extra day I get with him. Just like with humans the first and foremost part to staying healthy is diet. So let’s dive into the best cat food for Kidney Disease. If you are looking for treats vs. food for kidney disease we have a whole post covering treats as well.
What to Look for in Cat Food for Kidney Disease
There are two keys things that people are looking at when picking cat food for Kidney Disease. The first is moderately low high-quality protein content. Of course, cats are obligate carnivores so this makes things tricky. They need meat and protein to survive.
The next is keeping the phosphorus content as low as possible. This is because high phosphorus accelerates renal failure. So in order to counteract that we try to restricted phosphorus. A great rule of thumb is to avoid foods that contain ground bone and instead use ground egg shell.
When looking for food how do you know if you are in the guideline of where you need to be for phosphorus? First off you need to find the foods nutritional information on a dry mater basis. Then you are looking for food ideally below 0.5% phosphorus.
Unfortunately a prescription kidney diet is the only way you will achieve this since minimum cat food standard state that on a dry matter basis phosphorus must be at least 0.5%. This means you are going for as close to that 0.5% as you can. As a rule of thumb I avoid anything that has a phosphorus over 1%. Where your max lies may be different depending on your cat. I know we will need to seek out lower phosphorus percentages as his stage of kidney disease progresses.
Lastly, it’s best to stay away from fish. We unfortunately do not follow this rule. The best way to get our boy to chow down on a whole can of wet food is to have some tuna in it. It’s always a mix we don’t have him have full fish flavors but we do let him have the combo variations. So why no fish?
To quote Dr. Lisa A. Pierson, DVM
Fish can be high in mercury, high in PBDEs (fire retardant chemicals linked to hyperthyroidism), high in phosphorus (not good for older cats’ kidneys) and can be very addicting. It is best to feed poultry-based diets to cats.
Disclaimer: The food listed below DOES NOT mean we are recommend it for your cat. These foods are chosen mostly due to its phosphorus and protein content. Check the ingredients of any food, and consult with your veterinarian before feeding any food, especially if you have any doubts or questions.
The food numbers on these lists are based on food data from the manufacturers and are as up to date as we know. We are not responsible for errors or unexpected changes by the manufacturers, who can change recipes without notice.
Cat Food Options for Kidney Disease
Prescription Kidney Cat Food
This is the most commonly handed out recommendation by a vet for cats that have kidney disease. A vets go to is traditionally to place a cat one of the various commercially available prescription food.
When we got to pick up our boy from hospital, we were first given a whole sampler box from Royal Canin of Renal Diets for Cats. While this can be a good option as it checks the boxes for low protein low phosphorus food it’s not the highest quality of food we find out there.
Plus some pet parents just find their cats turn their nose up at the stuff. My food hog did the same he loved their dry food but wouldn’t touch the wet… which the more water the better with Kidney Disease. So we sought out alternatives for him.
Prescription Food Options
Here is a list of options that are going to require a prescription from your vet to obtain.
Wet Food
| Food Name | Phosphorus (DMB%) | Protein (DMB%) |
| Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Kidney Care Chicken & Vegetable Stew | 0.49% | 30% |
| Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Kidney Care Vegetable & Tuna Stew | 0.49% | 30% |
| Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Kidney Care Early Support Chicken, Vegetable & Rice Stew | 0.59% | 34.1% |
| Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d Feline with Chicken, Pate | 0.49% | 30% |
| Renal Support D Morsels in Gravy Canned Cat Food | 0.44% | 34.21% |
| Renal Support E Loaf in Sauce Canned Cat Food | 0.46% | 33.59% |
| Renal Support T Slices in Gravy Canned Cat Food | 0.51% | 31.64% |
| Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets NF Kidney Function Advanced Care Formula | 0.39% | 27.80% |
| Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets NF Kidney Function Early Care Formula | 0.43% | 39.49% |
Commercial Cat Food for Kidney Disease
There are dozens of option you can find out there but I am going to take some time to focus on some of my favorite. The ones I feed my boy with has Chronic Kidney Disease.
Weruva OMG, STEW, and PLAY Food
I am so thankful these guys came out with such a wide variety of options that is actually okay for my cat to have. He went from eating anything to being fussy when it came to textures. For our snowshoe cat we have to stick to gravy and stews, a pate is out of the question. The more liquid, the more he loves. Just to be the high maintenance feline he is, he also makes us cut up the food bites if the chunks get too big.
Here are some non fish options from Weruva to check out. For full Weruva Nutritional Information they list on their website here. Or you can read our full list of Best Weruva Low Phosphorus Cat Food. Below we have a small sample of the low phosphorous options in their gravy line of food.
Weruva Low Phosphorous Cat Food Gravy Options
*Note: we are only adding the options that are 0.85% and under in phosphorus on a dry matter basis. There are more food options from Weruva.
| Name | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Live N’ Love | 0.71% | 42.9% |
| Stir it Up | 0.72% | 42.6% |
| Devour Me | 0.72% | 62.6% |
| Shine Bright | 0.72% | 42.1% |
| Charge Me Up | 0.73% | 43.8% |
| Text Me | 0.73% | 42.2% |
| Cloud 9 | 0.73% | 44.3% |
| Start Me Up | 0.75% | 61.4% |
| Chase Me | 0.75% | 61.5% |
| Tell Me | 0.75% | 61.1% |
| Dream Team | 0.77% | 42.6% |
| Be Happy | 0.77% | 42.3% |
| Baby Cakes | 0.78% | 62.9% |
| Lights Out | 0.78% | 60.70% |
| Charm Me | 0.79% | 67.8% |
| Tickles | 0.79% | 62.7% |
| Luv Ya | 0.83% | 62.8% |
| Crazy 4 U! | 0.84% | 59.7% |
Another bonus about this company is the food is easy to find in a pinch. We of course have our cat’s favorites on Chewy autoship to help save us some money every month but we can also find at our local pet stores. We can pick it up at Petco and a small family run shop here in Florida. They do have a store locator on the manufacture website if you are having trouble locating it.
Halo Cat Food
Unlike most pet foods, Halo uses real WHOLE meat, poultry, or fish, and no rendered “meat meal” of ANY kind. For more nutritional information you can go to Halo’s website and look up the whole breakdown.
| Food Name | Phosphorus (DMB%) | Protein (DMB%) |
|---|---|---|
| Halo Grain Free Turkey and Chickpea Recipe for Senior Cats | 0.70% | 39.30% |
| Halo Holistic Gluten Free Turkey and Quail Recipe for Indoor Cats | 0.70% | 41.20% |
Tiki Cat
There is a new line of Tiki Cat wet food that is made just for older cats, with high-quality proteins, essential fatty acids and antioxidant nutrients. Like the velvet line below the phosphorus is a little on the high end but the two whole food options do have under 1% of phosphorus. If you are looking to try this out they have a small sampler pack on Chewy here.
| Tiki Cat Silver | Phosphorus (DMB%) | Protein (DMB%) |
|---|---|---|
| Mousse With Salmon & Pumpkin in Broth | 1.3% | 54.8% |
| Mousse With Chicken & Pumpkin in Broth | 1.18% | 56.5% |
| Mousse & Shreds Chicken, Salmon & Chicken Liver Recipe in Broth | 1.08% | 57.69% |
| Mousse & Shreds Chicken, Duck & Duck Liver Recipe in Broth | 1.09% | 58.2% |
| Whole Foods Chicken Recipe in Chicken Broth | 0.9% | 64.58% |
| Whole Foods Tuna & Mackerel Recipe in Tuna Broth | 0.88% | 59.45% |
| Born Carnivore Silver Senior Health Chicken & Herring Meal Recipe | 1.25% | 47.7% |
This one is pretty high in phosphorus (1.01% DMB). They are a great brand since they focus on providing your cat a natural prey diet. In their line up in the a secret weapon called Velvet Mousse. When a cat is not feeling great and refusing to eat breaking out the Tiki Cat Chicken and Egg formula does wonders. Even though my cat isn’t a pate lover he can slurp down a pouch of this with little issue. Use this one sparingly as the phosphorus and protein percentages are pretty high.
| Velvet Mousse Name | Phos % Dry Matter Basis |
| Chicken | 1.27% |
| Chicken with Egg | 1.32% |
| Chicken & Wild Salmon | 1.38% |
| Tuna & Chicken | 1.41% |
| Tuna & Mackerel | 1.43% |
| Wild Salmon | 1.52% |
| Chicken Kitten | 1.20% |
| Chicken Senior | 1.19% |
| Salmon Kitten | 1.34% |
| Salmon Senior | 1.27% |
| Light Chicken, Turkey & Pumpkin | 0.98% |
| Fussy With Duck Liver & Egg | 0.98% |
| Skin & Coat Salmon Recipe | 1.20% |
If you’re curious on the phosphorus in other Tiki Cat flavors read our full list of their entire line of cat food – A Look at Tiki Cat Phosphorus Levels.
Wellness
If the name didn’t give it away these are sold in tiny portioned packets. It’s great if your kitty isn’t eating big meals at any given time but they are only sold in pouches and the price does add up fast for these flavors.
Wellness® Core® Signature Selects
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Shredded White Meat Chicken with Chicken Liver Entrée in Sauce | 0.93% | 44.53% |
| Shredded White Meat Chicken & Beef Entrée in Sauce | 0.99% | 45.53% |
| Shredded White Meat Chicken & Turkey Entrée in Sauce | 0.96% | 43.94% |
| Chunky Beef & White Meat Chicken Entrée in Sauce | 1.01% | 40.63% |
| Chunky White Meat Chicken & Wild Salmon Entrée in Sauce | 1.05% | 34.53% |
| Chunky Turkey & White Meat Chicken Entrée in Sauce | 0.96% | 39.37% |
| Flaked Skipjack Tuna with Wild Salmon Entrée in Broth | 0.90% | 55.96% |
| Flaked Skipjack Tuna with Shrimp Entrée in Broth | 0.93% | 56.54% |
CORE® Tiny Tasters
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken & Beef | 0.92% | 43.64% |
| Chicken & Turkey | 0.97% | 44.85% |
| Chicken | 0.91% | 46.08% |
| Tuna | 0.88% | 48.75% |
| Tuna & Salmon | 0.97% | 66.21% |
Healthy Indulgence
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Morsels Chicken & Chicken Liver | 0.55% | 37.87% |
| Morsels Chicken & Salmon | 0.56% | 39.86% |
| Morsels Chicken & Turkey | 0.61% | 37.12% |
| Morsels Salmon & Tuna | 0.60% | 42.70% |
| Morsels Tuna | 0.61% | 39.87% |
| Morsels Turkey & Duck | 0.62% | 38.35% |
| Gravies Chicken & Turkey | 0.93% | 34.21% |
| Shreds Chicken & Turkey | 0.81% | 32.26% |
Dr. Elsey’s
Another good option that is low in phosphorus and moderate in protein is the Dr. Elsey’s food lineup. The downside to this food is it’s ONLY available online via Chewy, Amazon, Target or Walmart. If you want to avoid having to invest in a whole case of food just to try it I would reach out to the Dr. Elsey’s direct and inquire about getting a sample for your cat to taste test.
Dry Kibble
| Name | Protein | Phos. |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken Recipe | 63.45% | 0.90% |
| With Salmon Recipe | 58.35% | 1.20% |
Canned Wet Food
| Name | Protein | Phos. | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Protein Chicken | 49.167% | 1.121% | 4.958 |
| Clean Protein Whitefish | 60.633% | 1.179% | 4.908 |
| Clean Protein Rabbit & Turkey | 52.738% | 1.242% | 3.108 |
| Clean Protein Pork | 48.113% | 0.975% | 4.679 |
Fussie Cat
This is a new brand to me but they come at their food with an interesting angle that as owners of CKD I am sure we all can appreciate. They understand that cats are notoriously fussy when it comes to their food.
Each recipe always starts with meats rich in complete proteins as the main ingredient. Then they tailor the taste of our recipes based on actual feline feedback to ensure it’s equally delicious.
I would say this food is not ideal for end stage kidney failure. Be sure to look at the protein it gets extremely high in the canned food, especially in the tuna flavors.
Dry Food
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Salmon & Chicken | 0.8% | 40.7% |
| Chicken & Turkey | 0.9% | 40.4% |
Wet Canned Food
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Premium Chicken with Sweet Potato | 0.9% | 47.0% |
| Chicken & Vegetables | 0.9% | 57.5% |
| Chicken in Gravy | 0.9% | 59.5% |
| Chicken with Duck | 1.0% | 57.6% |
| Chicken with Egg | 1.0% | 60.7% |
| Chicken & Beef in Pumpkin Soup | 1.1% | 80.7% |
| Chicken with Liver in Pumpkin Soup | 1.1% | 47.0% |
| Tuna with Chicken Liver | 1.0% | 104.3% |
| Tuna with Clams | 0.9% | 93.7% |
| Tuna with Mussels | 0.9% | 93.7% |
| Tuna with Smoked Tuna | 0.7% | 86.6% |
| Tuna with Threadfin Bream | 0.8% | 87.9% |
| Tuna in Aspic | 0.8% | 87.2% |
| Tuna with Chicken | 0.9% | 106.7% |
| Tuna with Oceanfish | 1.0% | 93.7% |
| Tuna with Prawns | 0.9% | 96.4% |
| Tuna with Salmon | 0.9% | 98.1% |
| Tuna with Shrimp | 1.0% | 97.8% |
| Tuna with Anchovies | 0.9% | 106.7% |
Freely’s
This company focus’ on a selection of natural, limited ingredient diet cat foods that provide all the essential nutrients your cat needs with as few ingredients as possible. Build the perfect plate for your cat with dry recipes, wet recipes, and beneficial broths.
Dry Food
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey Dry | 1.0% | 30.5% |
| Salmon Dry | 0.9% | 32.5% |
| Rabbit Dry | 0.9% | 31.5% |
Canned Wet Food
Important note: There has just been a new production run with very minor changes to our formula (for example, we upgraded to a higher quality sunflower oil to optimize our omega fatty acid ratios) and we are waiting to get the final nutrient values back. I do have the values for our previous production run and we hope the new values are really similar.
I’ll list the previous values below to give you an idea of where they landed. If your cat has a health issue that requires really specific values (such as kidney failure), I’d encourage you to check back for the new values to make sure they line up before feeding the food since nutrition can make such an impact. I’m hoping to have those final values back fairly soon.
| Flavor | Phos. | Protein |
| Turkey Wet | 0.65% | 40.9% |
| Salmon Wet | 1.06% | 40.9% |
| Rabbit Wet | 0.86% | 40.9% |
Raw Cat Food for Kidney Disease
EZ Complete
Another success for us was raw food. This seems to be another one for the irresistible food column! My girl with kidney disease, after rotating through many of the options above ended up settling on the fact that all she would eat was raw food. In order to help us save money but yet not have to deal with grinding up organs we have resorted to using something called EZ Complete.
EZ Complete is a powder mix, that you mix with your own ground meat, preferably tendon meat (like chicken thighs). We started out with use using our kitchen aid mixer but over time have upgraded to a full blown meat grinder. If you want a look at our full step by step process you can read it here.
Darwin’s Pet Intelligent Design™ KS Kidney Support Formula for Felines
Intelligent Design™ Veterinary Formulas for cats are specialized meals designed to provide extra support to cats facing certain health issues. These highly palatable and nutritious meals use only hormone-free (no added hormones), antibiotic-free, and pesticide-free meats, with no grains, added fillers or chemical preservatives.
Note you will need to get a veterinary prescription to order this food. It technically breaks the rules of this listen but there are so few pre made raw options I felt like it was worth mentioning.
Dry Cat Food for Cats with Kidney Disease
Young Again Zero Mature Health
If your cat just can’t break their kitty kibble cravings there is always Young Again Zero Mature Health. It’s the lowest it can go for food at an exact 0.5% phosphorus on a dry matter basis. I gave this kibble a try because we needed a backup dry food.
I know you will hear me say go with wet or raw food. However, I appreciate that dry food can be left out if you are going to be out of the house for almost the whole day and it also provides a midnight snack so we can sleep through the night.
This brand has the right focus of providing a carnivore’s diet. Containing less than 1% starch and packing in the right maintenance levels of key nutrients. You can learn more and buy here.
Hill’s® Science Diet® Adult 11+ Chicken Recipe
Hills is a readily available brand, meaning you can drive to your local pet store and pick it up unlike the brand listed above. The phosphorus isn’t as low as the Young Again offerings but not too bad at 0.69% phosphorus on a Dry Matter Basis. If chicken isn’t your cats jam this same product comes in a standard recipe as well with basically the same phosphorus content.
More Great Resources for Dealing with Cats with Kidney Disease
CKD Facebook Group
If you are the owner of a cat with chronic Kidney Disease you are going to want to join this private Facebook group. They have been my guiding light and support as we fight kidney disease in our cat, Olaf.
If you want to hear more way we have been attempting to combat Kidney Disease in cats read all about the Homeopathic Treatments I Give My Cat with Kidney Failure. As always remember to check with your vet before making any sudden changes to your cat’s treatment.
The protein level in dry food for cats with CKD should not be higher than 35%. Your recommended dry food…Young Again Zero Mature Health…has a protein level of 54%. When picking a diet for cats with CKD, protein, sodium, Omega-3 levels should also be considered…especially protein and sodium. Phosphorus shouldn’t be the only focus.
Really enjoyed your website I have two with kidney disease and I was wondering about the weruva cat food that you mentioned because back in 2018-2019 they had a pretty big recall on it I believe they said it was mostly from the Australian company but a lot of cats had died .And Halo cat food has I believe Rosemary and I just wanted to know your thoughts on that I had heard that it wasn’t good for cats so I am trying to find a decent lower phosphorus food to feed my girl who don’t want the prescription food I do have the phosphorus powder to add to food but still I wanted to be sure it’s something good thank you
I think this is a big struggle for pet food is it’s not regulated to the standards human food is. I had no idea about the weruva recall and I have been feeding it for coming up on 3 years with no issues. In fact my CKD cat that is still with us this is all she will eat atm. I loved the company used human grade meat in their food that’s something I look for now when vetting companies. If you want more control over what is in your cats food I highly recommend homemade/raw food for your cat. You make it and you have control over meat quality and supplement quality. We have been big fans of EZ Complete which is currently sold out and has me in the middle of a big project on how to make cat food from scratch no premade mix
thank you for teh reply..well that recall has been awhile back and they claim it was just austailias company..so i was jsut curious..i dont mind using that..she likes it i given it to her before..but been awhile..im trying to get some weight back on her.shes in early stages of rebal disease..and i got this stuff to put in food to cut the phosourus..her fav.of course is pate tukey liver fancy feast.with this phos.bider in it of course..but is een you dont like fabcy feast..i can get her to eat alittle bit of her prescription food.but not much.but shes lost some body mass.so trying to get weight back on her has been tricky.so if you got any tips they are appreciated..i also use the purina forti flora probiotic powder that works pretty good to get them to eat the food.my girl is 19..and he is 15.ive trying the homeade raw diet and it was a no go with these guys.lol.but if you been using the weruva with no issues then i may give it another try again..all that my local petstore has of the weruva is chicken and tuna and i dont wnat to give them tuna or fish.but i gues si can order it..she like pate the best..she doesnt ahve teeth…im also looking for a relaly good food for my one cat who doesnt have renal disease.any tips of wet food for him..
Don’t beat yourself up an eating cat is the most important and trust me I get it some days that’s a huge battle. I fed a food with fish because unfortunately that’s what he loved but a blessing since even when he felt crummy he would still go for his favorite tuna food. I had to tell myself a happy cat is more important than a perfect kidney diet and our boy and our girl who is still with us 100% get what they want and are living their best left. He had 2 years of being waited on hand and foot and loving all the extra snuggles and love I think that’s better than fighting and fussing with him to get him to eat perfect food and maybe who know an extra few months? a year? Of course, we don’t really ever know that. — oh and if you are having an issue with phosphorous and high blood levels kidney restore from Amazon it’s linked in my supplement page has been amazing for our stage 4 CKD gal.
Thanks for posting this! We went on prescription ckd diet for a year which resulted in inflamed intestines, weight loss/muscle wasting, and an IBD diagnosis. We’ve been doing Tiki and Weruva now and he’s gained muscle and the vet is happy with his lab values. Thanks for adding these brands! I’ve been emailing random companies for their values.
which weruva did you use that put the weight backon?
Dr Lisa Pierson’s Food List states the Phosphorus should be 200 or less mg Kcals I believe that would be .5% As you stated ,the only food with that low Phos. is by prescription. I feel that’s just to let vets make more money !
So what do we do ? I add a bit of binder to the cat food but both my cats are so fussy they won’t eat food with anything added.
My Kitty has Diabetes & kidney disease. He does eat some Raw meat diet but lately he also wants some canned food. It drives me crazy that
the companies don’t state the carbs & phosphorus on their web sites.
Yes! It can be frustrating it’s so hard to track down, Weruva is a fantastic brand that does list all their nutritional facts on their site.
HI- I recently emailed wellness about the phospuris content of little tasters. They sent me a listing from their tiny tastes , but they say “as Fed” and “dry matter.” when I read your listing, the numbers they gave do not macth what your list says. I am a bit confused . It the difference due to the dry matter stuff ? I have a cat with kidney disease and want to feed him better ingredients than the RX kidney diets contain.( cellulose, potato startch, artifical flavors….)
Thanks, Joanie elbourn
You want to look at Dry Matter basis. I will reach out and get updated information on tiny tasters. I would go off of what the company just sent you as it will be up to date with any new formula changes they may have made.
My 17 year old cat was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in April. She has been a nightmare regarding food. I recently requested a sample off Forzai renal acti wet renal cat food. It claims low phosphorus and sodium but I did not see it mentioned in your list of acceptable foods. She has not eaten the prescription wet foods but will eat some Weruva slide and serve wild salmon dinner pate or cats in the kitchen kitty gone wild. She seems to not want the chicken combinations.
Any information would be helpful.
I will see if I can get some information on the Forzai brand it’s new to me. There are what I feel is 100s of cat food options out there so I am sure there are other acceptable things that aren’t on my list I love when we someone suggests something new.
PS – Weruva OMG BFF QT Patatooee (sp is off but it should get you close) Turkey and Tuna both not a cat in my house turns their nose up to this. Not as good as the all chicken but way more tempting.
just got a reply from weruva today ( fast, courteous, detailed ). Nice company
they sent a sheet with phos. levels , th elowest ones in their line of food. Said to go by the fed listing as it is from lab analysis. They say they leave out bones in hteir food .. less phos that way as well.
Hello once more,
I have spent alot of time these days rading cat food ingreient listings, contacting companies etc.. It gets so soncfusing comparing things when some list stuff as “dry Matter” and some as ” As Fed.” the Dr. Elseys, above, is “as Fed” I think ? On their site the nutrient listing on those flavors is considerably higher, but it is dry matter listed.
Thanks,
Joanie elbourn
Thank you, looks like they updated their recipe and the phosphorous just isn’t as good as it used to be. Also thank you for doing all your due diligence and research for you cat!
My largest and oldest cat, Minka was diagnosed wiith ckd a year ago. I started by feeding proplan nf both dry and wet. Then I found Dave’s kidney food-no rx needed. He did really well on that but haven’t been able to find it lately. I read that the low protein diet causes muscle loss so I began to mix his food with fancy feast and honest kitchen, Since I have five darlings, 4 of them over 10, I figure I feed them all the same with a little added protein for my 5 year old turkish van. Currently i mix about 3 tbsp honest kitchen, a handful of stella and chewy freeze dried…(only buy the small bags because the larger ones dry out too fast) crumbled with the honest kitchen…water and then add a can of pro plan and small can of fancy feats. They have dry kibble to nibble on so they get this mixture at nights. Minka’s numbers decreased by half praise god! But he was supposed to lose weight-may get down to about 12 pounds…he weighs somewhere about 17…so far so good…any suggetions are welcome.
If the numbers are improving and your cat is tolerating the diet well I would be hard pressed to suggest a change!
Hi Robin!
I have a 6 yo male cat who suffered AKI.
He’s now only on wellness healthy indulgence chicken, salmon and turkey. He is a VERY finicky eater and is now sick of his food. I had to incorporate with some toppings which are high in protein and phos and I don’t want to continue giving it to him to make him eat his food. I am thinking of spicing things up for him by incorporating healthy low phos low protein food into his main wellness healthy indulgence meal. I read about the weruva recalled back in 2017 but since you said you’ve been feeding your furbabies for 3 years. I may want to try giving it to my fussy boy.
I am also giving him NHV suplement tripsy and milk thistle to help with kicking out the toxins from his body, charm post biotics to reduce stress on the kidneys and also Petomega 3. This has helped him tremendously in maintaining his CREA level at normal level.
I wouldn’t stress too much over the high protein (depending how high) but definitely avoid high phos foods anything over 1% on a dry matter basis. We loved the NHV supplements as well I really think it helped keep our boy stable for over a year.
Hi Robin! I wanted to point out that under Dr. Elsey’s, you list protein first then phosphorus where in all the other listings phosphorus was first. I thought I’d mention it as it might cause someone confusion. Thank you for your information! I thought it was concise and informative and I appreciate it very much!
What about Hartz Deleçtables Bisque or Stew cat treats?
This is not recommend to be fed as main food it’s not balanced as a cats main meal, only intended for treats.
@Robin Griffin, I feed with Blue Prescription Kidney dry food and feed only 1.4oz pouch daily with added water. Numbers in phosphorus , sodium, are to high for ckd cats
Bisque
Phosphorus: 0.129% or Phosphorus: 0.0516 g
Sodium: 0.090% or Sodium: 0.036 g
So quickly looking at those numbers it looks like it’s formatted in as fed values versus dry matter basis. But I would not feed any of the Delectables treats to a cat with Kidney Disease unless I had no other choice and they ate nothing else. And if that was the case I recommend following with vet as cats are not meant to eat this their sole nutrition and with such high phosphorus content that will likely put extra strain on the kidneys and you will need to manage their Phosphorus with a binder or a supplement. AKA you will need lots of lab checks to monitor blood values.
@Robin Griffin, these are the dry matter basis for Hartz Delectables over 15 with digestion and kidney support. Bisque (dry matter analysis)
Bisque (dry matter analysis)
Sodium : .90%
Potassium : 1%
Phosphorous : 1.2%
Stew (dry matter analysis)
Sodium : 1%
Potassium : 1.43%
Phosphorous : 1.57%
I found your website this morning and I am grateful that you have taken the time to put together such varied and valuable information. I just found out a month ago that my cat (13 years of age) has CKD. For years I have been researching the loss of function of both liver and kidney in cats and dogs and it has become a personal quest of mine to try and pin down the source of this since we all know neither canines or felines are just “naturally predisposed” to these diseases. Hence, if one were to go a step further, then one would have to acknowledge that it is something that “we” as humans are contributing to these onsets. Is it the foods? Is it the vaccinations? No one really wants to look (in much the same way that people tend to turn a blind eye to Global Warming or the destruction of our planet..by humans).
my heart and soul goes out to each and every one of you who are experiencing CKD with your beloved companions; and going through treatments and medication that cause other symptoms that require more treatments and other medications.
I ended up finding Kidney Support Gold and am trying this in lieu of pharmaceuticals because what I initially received from my veterinarian to induce appetite had such disturbing results. Yes, it did encourage her to eat more, BUT, alongside that came an abrupt unsettling change of personality, as though she was unsettled and restless and constantly being vocal as though she was trying to tell me something..
Here in Quebec I have only seen some of the foods recommended, but as my vet told me, whatever she wants to eat at this point, is enough because the importance of eating at all is of the essence. My apartment looks like a truck-stop diner with bowls of food lining the floors as though we are doing a taste-testing of sorts.
My heart is heavy of course (hers I am sure is worse…:-( ) but to all of you, and of course especially to Thecrazycatlady, I wish you strength and love…and minimal suffering (though I know the latter is not possible).
Best, Leslie
Ah you must have had her on Mirtazapine (spelling?) we did the same thing our cat (an already vocal boy) went nuts of course in the middle of the night. Called the vet the next morning and after chatting with her we got him switched off the pill form to the transdermal ear form. You are able to give much smaller doses via transdermal. Your cat had that reaction because she was given too much medication. If it really worked and boosted her appetite I would give it another shot.
I too have the secret cat food cabinet, with a host of flavors for the day someone decides they no longer eat whatever flavor they used to only eat. But your vet is 10000% right an eating cat is most important!
Raw food (specially made for CKD) seems to be the #1 favorite food for my two CKD cats and well lets face it all six of my cats. Second to that its the Weruva lineup if you are able to purchase that. Also the kidney restore powder mix from amazon is a bacon flavor and the topper made food more enticing for our CKD girl. We have even seen her try to lick it out of the jar when we weren’t paying attention prepping her plate.
I have a senior tabby aged 17 years who is quite fussy. Just recently in the last month Weruva has introduced a low phosphorus food called Wx Phos Focused. Information on Dry Matter Basis on their website. Ranges between 0.38 to 0.42. The protein level may be above what is recommend by vets but for a fussy cat who refuses any vet food, I am happy to have her just eat. I do try to offer other brands but for now this is her favourite.
Please check with the food manufacturer yourself to double check the phosphorus and protein content in the food you’re interested in. The phosphorus and protein for one I was interested in is actually much higher than noted in this article.
This is the info I received from Wellness manufacturer:
Wellness® Healthy Indulgence Gravies with Chicken & Turkey
Protein:
34.21% Dry Matter Basis
Phosphorus:
0.93% Dry Matter Basis
If you’ll look above in the article it’s listed as having much less and that is incorrect!!