Grrr …
I’m trying to find some good prescription wet food for my senior cat. Every place I check is out of Royal Canin kidney-care wet food.
So I’ve been looking at regular senior cat food online, as well as cat nutrition sites. EVERY nutrition site says to carefully check the phosphorus content in the nutrition info. But NO nutrition info lists phosphorus at all.
How do they expect us to check the phosphorus amount in the food if the food does not list phosphorus at all?
I absolutely hate it when websites say to do something and it is impossible to do it and there is no live person to ask HOW.
Grrrrrrrrrrr!
Have you checked the food tables on this page?
https://felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm
Excellent resource.
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Thanks.
I have been struggling to find the RC renal support canned food as well. I placed an order on PetSmart.com a month or so ago and received it last week.
Just wanted to let you know if you can place an order you may get it quicker than waiting for it to show up.
https://catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm
https:// cat info.org/docs/ CatFood ProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
There’s another one, its " female name list"… But I can’t find it right now, will post when I do.
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Thanks.
Thanks. I may try that. PetSmart and Petco both would allow orders to be placed, saying delivery would be delayed. At the time, Chewy had the food in stock, but now they are out of stock too.
They are going to email me when they have more available; meanwhile I may try Hill’s or Purina kidney/care food.
I’ve encountered this exact same issue since my cat was recently diagnosed with early kidney disease. So frustrating! When my cat was diagnosed I started a thread about kidney diets and someone suggested looking at non-prescription commercial foods that were low in phosphorous. So off I go to the pet store to read labels and lo and behold, nobody lists that information! Tanya’s CRF site has phosphorous information for a lot of dry and canned foods, but not nearly all of them. And a lot of the brands are hard to find.
@Rackonteur, FWIW, my cat is on Purina NF prescription kidney diet. He seems to like the dry food ok. He’s not crazy about the canned version but will eat it if I doctor it with a little gravy. He’s never been a picky eater, so that helps.
And I’ll add my own little rant–where I live, I can only buy the prescription diet online and by the case. The local pet store doesn’t stock it and my vet didn’t have any. If my cat decides he doesn’t like what’s on the menu I’m stuck with $50 worth of unusable food. It would be nice to be able to try a variety of the prescription foods without having to get the vet to write a prescription for each one and then being forced to buy a case at a time.
@OzarksRider, I agree, it would be nice.
Chewy is good about returns. I spoke with them just the other day about the Royal Canin Kidney “E” food that my cat would not touch, and that made her throw up when she did sample it. Chewy said I could donate it and get a refund.
I know how you feel about the pet stores not stocking prescription foods. I guess they can’t, because people might want to buy it off the shelf and the cashiers couldn’t keep track of veterinary approval. There are no pet stores at all where I live. 
I wish I could order a sample pack of the different flavors of Royal Canin, Hill’s, and Purina. Apparently Blue Buffalo also has a prescription cat food but I will not buy that.
Thanks for the tip about Purina.
Check out non-prescrption Forza10 renal cat food. It’s pricey, but my kidney cat eats it in rotation with Royal Canin.
Currently out of stock on the Forza10 site, but Chewy appears to have it.
Maybe putting your order on autoship would help, I think those orders are prioritized at Chewy.
Good luck!
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Thanks.
I just read this on the VCA Hospitals website:
The recommended phosphorus range on a dry matter basis for cats with CKD is 0.3-0.6%.
“dry matter basis” led me to look up dry cat food, and lo and behold! Purina Cat Chow lists phosphorus content.
So does wet cat food not contain any phosphorus at all?
Waiting to hear back from Purina …
That’s the list I was trying to think of!
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I’m pretty sure it does, they just don’t list it.
Its maddening.
My diabetic did well on Fancy Feast (FF) pate. But towards the end we we’re a bit concerned with his Kidney numbers, and it was suggested to use Friskies which is still lower carb, but less phosphorus than the FF. I doubt that’s much help to a true CKD cat, but it can’t hurt to mention.
Did you find Tanyas list? The RX special diets are on there at the very end, last I looked.
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Yes, thanks. I found Tanya’s list.
I was just reading this morning that FF may be higher in phosphorus than some other foods. But my cat loves it!
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“Dry matter basis” means analysis after all water is removed from the food.
This applies to both wet and dry foods, which all have some level of moisture.
It (FF) was a godsend to getting Meow into diabetic remission.
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Chewy often lists phosphorus % in the questions section for each food (they’re good about answering too, if no one before you has asked). It definitely helps to ask for Dry Matter or As Fed specifically, if one is more crucial for you.
Hills does occasionally have samples of their Rx diets, usually for vet distribution. It might be worth emailing them to ask, or even calling local animal hospitals to see if anyone has any small bags handy.
(The chicken KD is picky cat crack, as far as my husband’s fussy-fluff is concerned).
You can also feed a phosphorus binder in a pinch. Several pet retailers have OTC options.
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Well, I Googled “what is a phosphorus binder” and not only did I come up with only “phospHATE binder,” I didn’t find an answer to my question anywhere.
So.
What is a phosphorus binder?
P.S.
I searched “phosphorus binder” at PetSmart and Chewy and all I found was a supplement for reptiles, and some calcium/phosphorus supplements(?) for dogs.
I’ll have to check back on calcium because something I saw when researching phosphorus in wet cat food said calcium is not good for cats with kidney disease (at least I think so, it’s been a long day with a lot of research!).
I still don’t know what a binder is or what to do with one.
I do have a friend who is researching homemade foods for one of her kitties; she mentioned having to find supplements to add to the food she makes for him.
I’ll give Chewy and my vet a call.
