Cats with kidney disease need altered diets to support their needs. While you can’t reverse kidney disease in cats, you can help maintain their quality of life and slow down kidney deterioration by feeding your cat the right diet. In this article, we’ll examine the contents of kidney disease-specific diets and outline some of the best options.
What type of diet for cat with kidney disease?
Specialized diets for cats with kidney disease are designed to limit the amount of strain put on the kidneys. This is done to preserve kidney function as much as possible.
A cat with kidney disease should eat limited amounts of sodium and protein. To replace the protein, you should feed them foods high in omega 3 fatty acids. You should also make sure that your cat with kidney disease is always hydrated.
Best Prescription Food for Cats with Kidney Disease
The 3 best prescription food for cats with kidney disease are Hill’s Prescription Diet, Purina Veterinarian Diet, and Royal Canin Renal Support.
There are plenty of prescription foods to choose from, but veterinarians tend to favor these three in particular. These prescription foods are designed to ease the stress on the kidney as much as they can.
Hill’s Prescription Diet
This prescription diet comes in two delicious flavors: chicken and seafood. It has a lot of amino acids, which helps your cat build and maintain lean muscle without needing protein. It also has low levels of sodium, which helps preserve their kidney.
If your cat doesn’t like dry cat food, there is also a wet cat food version. You can buy it on amazon, but you must submit a prescription from your vet.
Purina Pro Veterinary Diets
This food was designed specifically for cats with kidney disease. It checks all of the boxes, with low levels of phosphorous and sodium, and is also low protein. It contains omega-3 fatty acids to help support your cat’s muscles.
This food also helps stimulate your cat’s appetite, which is very important since many cat’s with kidney disease lose their desire to eat. If you need more help, check out my guide on how to help a cat with kidney disease gain weight.
You can buy this cat without a prescription from amazon, but you must have a prescription to buy it from chewy.
Royal Canin Renal Support
Last on the list is Royal Canin, which is also a great option and specifically designed for cats with kidney failure. This food uses fatty acids from fish oil to replace high levels of protein. It is a dry cat food that comes in a seafood flavor that your cat should like. There is a wet food option if your cat prefers that.
This food requires a vet prescription.
Cat with kidney disease diet
Below I will go into more detail on the protein and phosphorous requirements for a cat with kidney disease. I will also discuss the importance of hydration.
Protein Requirements
Cats with kidney disease need to be careful about the amount of protein they consume, so specialized diets cater to that. The kidneys are responsible for a lot of protein breakdown, so cats with kidney disease are not able to consume as much protein as regular cats would.
The more protein that a cat with kidney disease consumes, the harder its kidneys have to work. To best slow the progression of the disease, you need to aim to give the kidneys as little work as possible.
Large amounts of protein can be very detrimental to the kidneys of a cat with kidney disease. So, protein should be given in smaller amounts to a cat with kidney disease than to a cat without.
Phosphorus Requirements
Specialized diets for cats with kidney disease will aim to have a low phosphorus content. While it is not yet entirely known how phosphorus affects kidney function, it is thought that smaller amounts of phosphorus preserve the kidneys. One explanation is that phosphorus is closely related to protein, so its effects on the kidney are similar.
Hydration Requirements
Cats with kidney disease also need more water than most cats. It is very easy for cats with kidney disease to become dehydrated. So, the more water you can get to them, the better. It is easy to get your cat hydration through its food. Specialized kidney disease foods will be high in water content.
All of this is to accommodate the kidneys and relieve as much strain as possible. It is important to note that you should allow your cat to eat foods that they enjoy that don’t necessarily fit in the specialized diet plan.
It can be hard to get cats with kidney disease to eat at all, so sometimes it is good to give them a treat. However, you should try your best to make their primary diet one that caters to their kidney disease.
Final Thoughts
Food can have a very significant impact on cats with kidney disease. Though it is important to maintain proper nutrition, it is also necessary to consider the impact of certain foods on the kidneys. Specialized and prescription foods for kidney disease take all of this into consideration to curate food that provides both nutritional and fortification against kidney disease.
They aim to slow the progression of the disease by limiting the amount of strain on the kidney. Several different prescription foods are more highly reviewed than others, but ultimately you should talk to your veterinarian about which is best for your cat.
