Renal Failure In Cats Diet

Cats in renal failure are prone to dehydration and feeding them a water-depleted diet does nothing to help.

Renal failure in cats diet. Nutritional modification is one of the mainstays of long-term management of CKD. Kidney issues tend to show up in older cats or cats who have other health issues like high blood pressure a hereditary disease or cancer. Concentrating urine predisposes a cat to renal injury.

The Feline Nutrition Foundation explains that this is because cats with kidney disease are at a higher risk of becoming dehydrated due to the reduced ability of the kidneys to adequately filter water. Phosphorus and Renal Diets Renal diets are formulated to be low in phosphorus content in part because excessive dietary intake of phosphorus has been linked to progression of CKD in cats and other species. Effect of dietary management 2000 Elliott J Rawlings JM Markwell PJ Barber PJ Journal of Small Animal Practice 41 pp235-42 29 cats were fed a reduced protein low phosphorus therapeutic kidney diet while a further 21 cats did not eat this diet.

Hills Prescription was made with your pets wellbeing in mind and that is why it has less protein than the average cat food and low phosphorus to relieve pressure on the kidneys. This will best avoid imbalances or gastrointestinal problems. If needed adding water tuna juice or low sodium chicken broth may increase the flavor and acceptance.

Cats with kidney disease require a strict diet to keep their kidneys from working too hard so adding a potassium supplement could put extra work on. The intake of protein phosphorus and sodium content should be restricted while diets high in water-soluble vitamins fibre and antioxidant concentrations may prolong life and improve quality of life in cats with chronic kidney disease. The type of diet you feed your cat can directly affect your cats kidneys.

Commercial diets for cats with CKD are developed support kidney function while maintaining body condition. Before you start preparing homemade renal failure diets for cats. Two big factors in a kidney diet for cats are making sure your cat is getting enough water and reduced phosphorous intake.

Correcting dehydration is an essential objective in the management of patients with renal failure. Prescription kidney diets tend to provide a moderate level of protein but are quite low in phosphorous which helps keep the production of waste products as low as possible. Many of the toxic products that accumulate in the blood in CKD are a result of protein breakdown and feeding a reduced protein diet will help to minimise this and improve quality of life.