Cat Health Symptoms

Our vet told us that diet treatment is the best and only method to treat feline kidney disease. Is this true?

She just told us to keep feeding our cat Hill's KD food, and that there was really no other option that would treat the condition just as well. Is this true?

Public Comments

1. see a naturopath or herbalist that deals with animals there are other solutions
2. I would listen to your vet, she did go to medical school and has specialized in treating animals...and if there were another way, I am sure they would tell you.
3. Today the treatment choices for feline kidney disease are broad in scope and include medical treatment (with or without dialysis), surgical treatment (transplantation of a kidney), or a combination of the two approaches. Just as the degree of renal disease can vary greatly, so can the degree and type of treatment. In cases where renal disease has been detected early, treatment may primarily be directed toward reducing the workload of the kidneys by, for example, starting the cat on a specially formulated prescription diet available through your veterinarian. These diets, which contain a lower amount of protein, reduce the amount of toxic by-products the kidneys must filter out of the blood. They also have more vitamins and a different balance of minerals. Additionally: Electrolyte levels need to be maintained in the normal range. The phosphorus intake may need to be decreased to help serum levels remain normal. Phosphate binders may be used when diet changes and fluid therapy do not keep the phosphorus level in the normal range. Calcium supplementation may be necessary as well as vitamin D therapy. Salt intake needs to be adequate to help maintain hydration and to give the food flavor but not too high that it worsens hypertension. Decrease the salt content of the food over several weeks to allow the kidneys to compensate for the change. Potassium levels should be monitored and a supplement given if necessary. Water soluble vitamins (B and C) should be supplemented, especially during times of poor eating. Supplementation of vitamin A and D beyond the minimum daily requirement is not recommended due to a build-up of vitamin A and the changes in their metabolism of vitamin D in renal patients. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation may be of benefit to some animals with chronic renal failure. Please check out the following sites that can give you more information: http://www.felinecrf.com/manag0.htm Best Wishes and Good Luck. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1634&articleid=351
4. No it is not and you should go to the group linked below this post. That food is just asking for more trouble. Treatment of Chronic Renal Failure If your cat is not in final stages, this is not want you want to do. You do not want to put your cat on the Vets low protein diet. There are simply so many better options out there than to hand the poor cat a low amount of poor quality protein - which often results in a poor appetite and muscle wasting since the body is now robbing its own muscle mass to feed itself a decent quality and amount of protein. . There are new thoughts on this and the thinking is it is not the amount of protein but the quality of protein that matters. The Merck veterinary manual [www.merckvetmanual.com] says that cats need "4 g of protein of high biologic value per kg body wt/day". That's about 7 calories from protein per pound body weight per day. If a cat isn't a good eater and consumes, say, 20 calories per pound per day, then 7/20 = 35% of calories can safely be from protein. It must be high quality protein, which means meat, fish, milk, and eggs, and not grain or soy. I am under the assumption that you have been feeding mostly dry foods. Many use a vegetable based protein instead of animal and that is part of the problem.. Your cat needs protein as it is a carnivore and cutting down on it will lead to other health issues and may cause faster degeneration. You want to cut down on phosphorous (no fish allowed now) The best way to do this is with a raw diet which you can make yourself or buy. (Making yourself is better) link provided at the bottom If you are unwilling to do that then something like the non fish flavors of Wellness or Merrick with NO grains are good alternatives. Wysong is also a good canned choice. This list gives a breakdown. Remember you want low phosphorous http://webpages.charter.net/katkarma/can... You should be giviung sub-q fluids as needed You also will want to look into phosphorous binders. Something like aluminum hydroxide Ask your vet or look into calcitrol You may want to talk to the vet about having injectable Pepcid AC on hand or you can buy it in pill form (ac not plain pepcid) and give 1/4 tab for stomach upset which happens a lot in crf cats due to acid in the stomach. I hope this stuff helps, here are many links for you Making cat food http://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htm other links. Read, read, read!!!! http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationD... http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_chr... http://www.felinecrf.org/ http://www.felinecrf.com/ http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Felin... About that vets diet. This report is for dogs but applies to cats http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/21...
5. my older cats went into the beginning of kidney failure and I had a great female vet (a cat person) who suggested I could give my cat a longer life and a comfortable one if I gave him a under the skin saline IV every day or two to help keep him hydrated and keep his kidneys working ...it took all of 5 minutes and the bag lasted 2 weeks and we had each others company for another wonderful year or more and he was very frisky and happy.....19yrs ... a good life
6. ~hisses~ sorry but vets are not the smartest people if its food well then go with it but be carefull if they give u meds because when i got meds once it made my cats kidney failure worse and she died but i think u should reserch it online at dot org and dot gov websites
7. Your vet is wrong. First, KD is crappy food - look at the ingredients. Unless your cat is end stage there is no need to reduce protein. Second, no dry food as it is dehydrating and your cat needs moisture. Third, subcutaneous fluids are very helpful. Forth, phosphorous binders can reduce any negative impacts from dietary phosphorous on the kidneys. See the links already given to you.