Early kidney disease in cat

[Countrygirl18]

How worried should I be? Last week we took our 14 year old cat pepper to the vet for weight loss and house potty issues. She had a UTI that is now resolved but her blood work came back early stage kidney disease. The vet recommended change of diet and follow ups.

Also our other cat is on a different food for sensitive skin, which pepper has been eating too. How do we keep the other cat from eating what will flare her up again?

Picture of pepper being a weirdo drinking out of the dogs waterbowl haha

[erinmeri]

I’m sorry to hear about your kitty’s diagnosis. I have had several kidney cats, on my third and fourth. They were both diagnosed in 2020 and are stable with a kidney diet only.

Limiting phosphorus in the diet is most important, along with hydration. There are other things you can do with diet and supplements and meds to help.

If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to visit http://www.felinecrf.org/ (the literal bible for kidney kitty owners) and to join https://tanyackd.groups.io/g/support. They’ll want your labs and the group is pretty heavily moderated, but it’s a wealth of info.

Just one question, since you mentioned weight loss, was your cat tested for hyperT?

Jingles for a long life for your kitty!

[Countrygirl18]

I’m not sure about the testing for that specific thing, I know they ran a complete blood panel.
If you mean thyroid with that, the was the suspicion but came back normal

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

It’s good that you caught it early enough to be treated - I’ve had two that were only caught by Stage 4 and that was heartbreaking.

Putting them on a kidney diet and making sure they have plenty of water is key. Like @erinmeri said, keeping the phosphorous limited is key. To encourage water consumption, you might think about a Catit water fountain - I bought one for one of my kidney cats and all of the cats love it. https://www.chewy.com/catit-flower-plastic-cat-fountain/dp/178051

Can you feed them in crates or separate rooms?

[Countrygirl18]

They are usually fed free choice hard food and once a day soft food, if we have to feed in separate rooms we can just hard to do that free choice

[erinmeri]

I bought microchip feeders and they worked for dry, until my then non-kidney cat figured out that my other cat would let him nibble from the side. I eventually stopped feeding dry, and now both my cats have the same diet (wet Rx kidney food), so I feed them at the same time. When one or the other requires a phosphorus binder or similar, I will feed one in the bathroom and the other in the kitchen. Hope that helps.

[erinmeri]

@Countrygirl18

I’m not sure about the testing for that specific thing, I know they ran a complete blood panel.
If you mean thyroid with that, the was the suspicion but came back normal

Yes, I meant hyperthyroidism.