dave_the_nerd
Lifer
- Feb 25, 2011
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Bad news. The girl's got bad kidneys. I got some pills and vitamins for her(at $80). Hopefully that'll be enough to keep her going awhile. The vet suggested prescription food. Aside from being pricey, the girl's a picky eater, and "prescription" foods kinda bs anyway. I'll have to look into tweaking her diet a bit :^/
Here's a summary: https://consciouscat.net/2016/02/15/the-right-diet-for-cats-with-kidney-disease/
Basically, the kidney support food is easier to digest and easier on the kidneys. You could probably science up something (chicken, rice, fish oil, etc.) in your kitchen, but the prescription stuff is cheaper. Off the shelf kibble is actually hurting their kidneys worse.
We have a cat who's been diagnosed with kidney failure - four months after switching to the prescription food, her blood protein levels were back within the "normal" range. Vet said her kidneys are still probably going to peter out eventually, but it will take a lot longer because we're not straining them. Cat's lost a little weight from the low-fat diet, but is otherwise fine. A $40 bag of prescription kibble lasts about 6 weeks. Not quite triple the cost per pound of food, but not bank-breaking for us. Also, cheaper than any of the pills we could have put her on.
We did end up trying every possible variety of two different brands of prescription food, though. That sucked.
We have another cat who's going on glucosamine supplements. Cat pain killers are friggin expensive though.