Diet for elderly kitties

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By the time chronic kidney disease shows up in a cat, there's only about 25% of renal function left. Most elderly cats die of chronic renal failure (CRF) and you can find many informative articles and sites on the Net. Here's a home-made diet food I found, but run it by your vet first, see if he/she approves:

Feline Kidney Diet

1½ cups of ground or diced meat (raw or very lightly steamed fish, lamb, chicken, turkey, lean heart etc)

4 cups of cooked enriched white rice, baby cream corn or pureed barley flakes

4 organic raw egg yolks

2 tablespoons cold-pressed safflower, corn or sesame oil

1 cup of pureed raw vegetable such as carrot, zucchini, alfalfa

5,000 i. u. vitamin A (or 2 tsp. Cod Liver oil) from health shop

2 tsp. Animate Supplement powder [does anyone know what this is?]

50 mg. B-complex liquid or tablets crushed from health shop

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, including the ground or powdered supplements.

Freeze or refrigerate in portions and thaw as needed. Remember to warm gently before serving. [I think I shall use my quarter-cup measures to form suitable portions, place them on styrofoam plates inside a ziplock, and freeze them, When frozen, the plate can be discarded, the individual portions wrapped in foil, replaced in the ziplock and stored in the freezer.]

To each meal, add ½ tablet/capsule of mixed digestive enzymes and if required, flavour with a few drops of tamari soy sauce, preservative-free baby food, chicken broth, a teaspoon of tuna (or any other healthful food your cat finds delicious). [Careful with the sodium in canned goods--maybe look for canned tuna at the whole foods place, check the sodium, or find some fresh or frozen raw fish to use.]

Once a week, add a 500 i.u. of vitamin E. In addition to the diet, it is important to provide filtered or spring water at all times. You can also offer your feline friend warm chicken or fish broth once or twice a day. This is particularly useful as ‘crisis therapy’ when your cat friend is refusing to eat. [I've found the kitty water fountains are good for encouraging kitties to drink water. Even though the fountains contain a charcoal filter, I pour in water from a Pur pitcher. There are two on the market--the smaller one is best because it can be thoroughly cleaned--the larger one, although very convenient, is not at all easy to clean. Best to place a few feet away from food; some cats like to make kitty stew!]

Home Made Broth

To make a meat or fish broth, take ½ cup minced meat, chicken, turkey or fish. [Beilieve they mean raw, not canned.]

Add 2 cups of pure water and some flavouring (such as a few drops of tamari sauce) and blend well. Add pureed vegetable and a sprinkle of vitamin/mineral powder.

Warm before serving.

Home made broth can be stored in the freezer and thawed as needed. [For Sooty I froze the broth in ice-cube trays and then stored the cubes in ziplocks.]

If your feline friend is in an advanced stage of kidney disease and is not eating well, the following hints may prove useful:

Warm oatmeal or barley porridge with a little yoghurt can supply energy.

Green barley powder in the meal is excellent if your cat friend likes it (just a pinch is sufficient). It is nutritious, cleansing and will generally improve appetite.

Bee Pollen or pure honey with a little slippery elm powder supplies all the nutrients required to sustain life if your cat friend is weak and will not eat. [In Britain, slippery elm powder is made into a glutinous liuquid and given to invalids. It was the only nourishment my mother could take in the final stages of her cancer.]

Feed three or four small meals daily rather than several large ones.

-- Anonymous, August 29, 2002

Answers

Here's the latest research on a CRF diet. Link

K. dietary management

1. there is some recent evidence that diet supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids delay progression of renal disease; more research is needed in this area

2. there is no clear cut evidence in dogs or cats that dietary protein restriction delays progression independent of the effects of phosphorus restriction

3. most nephrologists still recommend protein restricted diets because metabolites from protein breakdown are probably uremic toxins as discussed above

a. It may be fine to wait until the BUN gets moderately high (~ 75 mg/dl) before instituting protein restriction, however phosphorus binders will likely have to be used sooner and diet acceptance may be more difficult when protein-restriction is instituted later, i.e. get them used to the therapeutic diet when the patient is still feeling good.

b. be wary of vitamin supplements containing vitamin D or A because they can accumulate and cause toxicity in renal failure patients

c. although CRF patients may have iron deficiency and require supplementation, iron may cause vomiting when given enterally in some patients (use small quantities in food)

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2002


Thanks. I need to face this for my oldest cat pretty soon. Her blood results are a bit marginal, so I assume he is still feeling OK.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2002

Our Miss Piggy gets what she gets.

Yesterday she got a bath.

She was real good about it, but it was obvious she wanted to be somewhere else. LOL

No scratches.

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2002


I've had pretty good luck with Science Diet. I love my kitty, but I'm not sure I would be able to cook for her on a daily basis -- I don't always cook for me on a daily basis! Sometimes we both just eat kibble, although it's not the same kind of kibble . . .

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2002

Good heavens, no,not every day! You mix up a large batch and freeze it in suitably-sized portions.

B, the vet told me that Ringers was not the best subq fluid to give Polly, I have it written down in my purse notebook, which isn't handy right now, and will let you know what it is later. Even though she's not dehydrated the vet wants me to give her subQs two or three times a week to dilute the wastes.

Remember that even though your cat is not showing symptoms, if she's older then she almost certainly has renal failure. Vet says she's lost at least 2/3 of her kidney function. I'm ontrigued y the omega-3 fatty acids info. The vet also has read of these studies and says it can't hurt andmay well do her good.

Blood pressure is a problem with CRF cats. There is--finally--a BP monitor that will handle small animals but its reliability is not that great and the price is high--from $900 on up. I asked the vet, since my doc has my on BP med even though I don't have BP probs (it's to use the benefical side effects re heart and kidneys), can we put Polly on the recommended BP med to avert any probs? See, there are places in town who have the machine but when you think about the expense and the logistics (for me, anyway), it becomes another huge stressor which I don't need. Neither does she, for that matter. Anyway, the vet said, sure, again, it couldn't hurt. CRF cats are prone to high BP and that can cause heart failure/seizures, as you might know. Also need to feed her some B complex--he said human stress-type complex is okay, must find out quantity.

am going to do research today as much as I can with this blasted monitor thing and find mail order sources for what I need. Will let you know what I find out.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2002



B, made up a large batch of Dr. Pitcairn's recipe today (it's not above, but at site hotlinked) and Polly ATE it! You might like to try the recipe, see if your kitty will eat it now. You could always make it with a bit more chicken and gradually cut back on the quantity. I made it with brown rice tonight (used white this morning) and I expect Pol will like that too. Pol had been throwing up a time or two each day--not after she ate the homemade stuff. Could be coincidence, but maybe not. Have only just now fixed up Jim's old, old computer to use so haven't done any research on sources. Must do that tomorrow.

-- Anonymous, September 04, 2002

INTERESTING...I have had lots of old cats and NONE died of renal failure. They all died of cancer. But the last one was 26 and until we moved to Florida lived out in the barn and ate nothing but cat kibble (Purina Cat Chow) and whatever she could catch. Since I had 15 neutered barn cats at one time, catching anything was a rare event. They did get lots and lots of fresh warm goats milk which they really appreciated on a cold frosty morning and then I made a lot of cottage cheese from the goats milk and they got a lot of that. By the time we left for Florida, only one was left and she had moved to the house. Walked in one day and never again went out!!She is buried under an oak tree in our front yard. Prior to that she wouldn't come near a house. But the last 4 cats were all in their 20s and all died of cancer. One had cancer in the abdomen and the rest were in the neck or face region. The current cats are 4 yrs and 3 months. The older one will eat absolutely nothing but cat kibble. The little guy will eat anything including raw onion, EXCEPT for scrambled egg. He eats whatever chubby hubby eats plus cat kibble. Taz

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2002

Taz, could well be either the commercial diet so many of us feed our pets and/or city water that hastens the CRF these days. Your cats with face or neck cancer--I wonder if it's connected to herbicides or pesticides? As for the young 'un, yep, we have one like that! However, reearch has shown that ingesting onions can cause anemia in dogs, don't know about cats, but might be best to err on the side of caution.

The CRF site has a wealth of great info, I found a source for the best prices on subQs at BRICO and have ordered a case already. (The vet called in a script.) Polly is still eating the home-made chicken 'n rice cat food so I guess she might keep it up. If not, I've got some made with lamb in the freezer!

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2002


Onion

Please do NOT feed anything containing onions to your cat, EVER: onions contain an alkaloid disulfide compound which causes a cat to form something called Heinz antibodies - these antibodies trigger a serious form of anaemia which can kill. Particularly susceptible cats may only need to eat a tiny amount of onion for this to happen. Some people believe the same caution applies to garlic, which is a member of the onion family.

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2002


J Am Vet Med Assoc 1993 Mar 1;202(5):744-51

Development of chronic renal disease in cats fed a commercial diet.

DiBartola SP, Buffington CA, Chew DJ, McLoughlin MA, Sparks RA Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.

Chronic renal failure was observed in 10 young adult client-owned cats that had been fed 1 commercial cat food exclusively since weaning. The diet contained 40% protein and 0.32% potassium on a dry matter basis, and phosphoric acid was added during production. We attempted to determine whether exclusive feeding of this diet would induce clinical and laboratory evidence of renal dysfunction in clinically normal adult cats. Over a 2-year study, 3 of 9 of these cats developed clinical and laboratory evidence of renal dysfunction and renal lesions. Two additional cats developed renal lesions, but had normal laboratory values. The renal lesions consisted of lymphoplasmacytic interstitial nephritis and interstitial fibrosis. We concluded that chronic renal disease may develop in clinically normal adult cats fed diets high in protein and acid content, but marginally replete in potassium.

PMID: 8454506, UI: 93203000

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2002



I did once have an ancient cat die of renal failure (she was a barn cat). I also had one die of congestive heart failure (I spent a fortune on Feline WD for him...). The eldest now living had two teets removed about 18 months ago to cancer, but she's still kicking, and she eats Iams Senior. Years ago I had a recipe for cat food that my vet had approved. Seems to me it was made of liver, brown rice, bacon, egg (shell and all)... I don't remember what else. I can look it up if anyone's interested.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2002

If it's not buried too deeply, would love to see your recipe.

Polly has been on my home-made food and sometimes Waltham's Sr and Waltham's low-protein since we got the bad numbers nine days ago. She had been throwing up a c ouple of times a day and wasn't eating as much as she usually did. Oddly enough, I haven't seen her drinking any more than she usually does, which is a major early symptom. As of this afternoon, Polly hasn't thrown up for several days and her appetite is gradually improving--she's about at normal intake today and demanded food for the first time in a while.

I gave her the first load of fluid yesterday morning; she's been given Pepcid AC, omega-3, B-complex and a liquid vitamin and some or all of that has helped, I'm sure. She will have to go back on antibiotics soon, when the urine bacteria culture comes in--probably tomorrow.

To help solve the problem of chucking assorted bits of pills down her throat, I've ordered some #3 gelcaps which I shall fill with a mixture of all her non-liquid meds. I'll be adding 1 gm of Lotensin (for blood pressure) as soon as I get delivery of a tiny scale that measures in fractions of grams. (I have a good stash of 10 mg Lotensin and she needs 1gm/day). There's another drug i just found out about which actually does slow down the rate of deterioration. I've sent an e-mail to my vet to see what he thinks and if he can get it for me.

Yerfdog, there's been an enormous amount of new CRF info out over the last two years, 'way more than when I went through this with Sooty. The length of time by which you can extend their life has also increased enormously.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2002


This is the cat food I made when I was in grad school and too broke to buy cat food! Kitties loved it--

2 lbs. liver with juice(whatever kind-- I used beef or turkey) 1 c. water 3 slices bacon 1 egg 1/2 c. brown rice 1 1/4 c. water

Bake the liver and 1 c. water at 350 for 1 1/4 hours.

Fry the bacon until very crisp, reserving grease. Scramble the egg, shell and all, in the reserved grease.

Mix brown rice and 1 1/4 c. water in a medium saucepan. Simmer 30 minutes.

Now, grind or process together the liver (juice included), bacon, egg, and rice. Grind or process until smooth and well mixed. Store fridged.

Since I was too broke to buy cat food, I also did not have a food processor, so I used my great-grandmother's hand crank food mill. The cats used to go crazy when they started to smell the liver baking.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2002


It's a bit high in protein. I think I'd double the rice (or halve the protein) and leave out the bacon, otherwise, sounds delicious!

I cooked chicken necks and backs (organic, cost $1.25) for two days in my crockpot, until the bones went soft. The cats love that too but I only give them a spoonful mixed with their regular food. The resulting broth will be frozen in ice cube trays, then I'll store the chunks.

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2002


I forgot to mention that this delightful kibble was garnished with a little brewer's yeast, and served with unflavored, fat free yogurt on the side (for dipping, of course...).

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2002


LOL! No parsley?

-- Anonymous, September 11, 2002

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