What to Feed a Cat With Kidney Disease

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When cats start to age,

quite often they are affected by kidney disease. If your cat has been clinically diagnosed with kidney disease, it's really important that you follow the recommended diet, because you have to make significant changes to the daily eating routine. A veterinarian will give you suggestions on what to feed a cat with kidney disease.

Even though some veterinarians might recommend drugs to help combat kidney disease, sometimes this will cause side effects. Your vet must be able to give you sufficient information about the changes to make with your cat's eating plan, but if you are having problems locating the packaged food or if they are too expensive, you can find other recipes online.

Some of the packaged foods available for cats with this disease include Hill's Science Prescription Diet k/d, Eukanuba Nutritional Kidney Formulas and IVD Modified Diets. Canned foods are frequently recommended because they include sufficient moisture to ensure that cats have more water in their diet.

During your research, you might have seen that it's best to limit the protein content in your cat's diet once they have been diagnosed with this disease. Even though this has been the traditional treatment for many years in human beings and dogs, this has been a controversial issue when it comes to cats.

However the real perpetrator is not protein itself, but phosphorus. This will combine with calcium and then transfer to the kidneys where it would cause further problems. Meat has a substantial amount of phosphorus, so the easiest way to limit phosphorus would be to minimize meat protein. Lowering the intake of phosphorus by limiting meat protein might help some pets, so it might be worth trying if you are concerned about the symptoms.

On the other hand, some research has indicated that too much restriction of protein might actually result in further problems for the cat's kidneys and additional organs, since there is an inadequate amount of meat-protein to sustain your cat's natural bodily functions.

For most cats, an eating regimen with sufficient high-quality protein is likely to be much better when compared to a low-protein diet. If the low-protein diets are not managed carefully, this could cause malnutrition. In the event that a diet with low-protein is recommended, you should know that the non-prescription canned foods tend to be much higher in protein compared to many dry foods. Usually prescribed foods will usually satisfy a balance diet with lowering phosphorus content.

Now, in case your cat has severe kidney disease you could have problems when it comes to feeding. A diet with low protein and phosphorus can be easy on the kidneys, but your pet cat might not like what is offered. In this case, you might have to continue with the regular food, which is much better than doing nothing at all. In the end, research the problem so you understand the issue and nutritional trade-offs. Also, consult your veterinarian before making changes to the cat's diet.

Being raised with 6 cats gave me an intense education on "what can go wrong" when living with such a mix of felines!

With a pet cat that is a true "fluff ball" I was on a first name basis with our vet.

I needed to find out more about WHY and HOW my overweight cat had gotten this way. Intense research led me to understand the problems, concerns and solutions!

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