Sorry I was unable to respond sooner
Quote:
Originally Posted by ydono
1 - The Hills and other renal support vet foods are all well under 1.00% phosphorous. I'm wondering why we're using 1.00% as the high for phosphorous in the foods we're looking at. Hills, for example, I believe is at .35%. 1% seems so much higher than that.
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The issue with looking as phos percentages on labels is ~ what are you looking at? Are you comparing "as fed" values to "dry matter" (all moisture removed) values?
In order to accurately compare protein/phos/sodium etc values in foods the value of moisture must be removed since not all foods contain the same amount of moisture. Basically you want to compare the dry weight of the ingredients across different foods before moisture is added. (Think of dry rice compared to cooked rice - you can't compare the weight/nutrient values because moisture is added to one of them)
When you are looking at the prescription diets in particular, with super low phos values have a look at the ingredients - where's the meat? Cats are carnivores they eat/need/love meat, if you remove most/all of the real meat content of a food what's left to tempt them to eat it?
Cat's will try something if it smells good, after that the food is assessed based on taste. If they don't recognize it as food they won't eat it.
If a food has dry matter phos of 0.35% but the cat refuses to eat it ~ what good will that food do the cat? If the only food the cat will eat has a dry matter phos content of .90% that food is the better choice because the cat is actually eating it.
A lot of CRF cats lose weight because they refuse to eat.
The 1% dry matter phos amount is more an upper limit - ie don't go above this, obviously you want lower phos amount without sacrificing nutritional value of the food. It's also based a bit on protein levels when you significantly reduce the protein level of the food the phos content will drop accordingly. Low protein diet theory is outdated for CRF cats they still need a moderate protein amount to sustain muscle mass. If you are feeding high
quality protein the phos content is not as high as cheaply sourced protein.
If your cat will eat the prescription food and you are comfortable with the ingredients in it then by all means. It would be advisable however to have a variety of foods that fall under the 1% range so your cat doesn't get stuck on one food and refuse to eat anything else, in case the vet/store is out of stock when you need food etc.
This page has a lot of info on phos:
http://www.felinecrf.org/phosphorus.htm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ydono
2 - When we went to the vet, she gave our cat (Dana) a vitamin B shot and there was a huge differencein her behavior. I've also read that Vitamin B should be in the food she eats. Do you know how much of it should be in the food?
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I don't have first hand experience treating with Vit B on it's own, as my cat never needed extra supplementation with it, she was however on a cat multi-vitamin. I would always consult with the vet before adding Vitamins as too much can be as harmful as not enough. There is a lot of info on this site here:
http://www.felinecrf.org/vitamin_b.htm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ydono
3 - Also regarding the supplement Renafood and Feline Renal Support that everyone talks about giving our cats with kidney issues - the phosphorous levels are really high. I do not understand why that isn't bad...
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Some agree and some disagree with giving Renafood or Feline Renal Support as there is phosphorus content, but as with phos content in the food the body still needs some amount of phos as it is an essential nutrient. The thinking behind these supplements is providing the kidney organ cells will promote/sustain the cats organ function. Much like feeding fresh hormone-free raw lamb kidney to the cats.
If you are not comfortable with the amount of phos in any supplement/food then by all means do not give it to your cat ~ the methods to treat your cat ultimately is your decision, not mine/the vet/anyone else
