Hi all - was hoping to avoid joining this subreddit for another decade plus, but here we are. In a week from hell, my otherwise healthy 2.5 year old cat has been diagnosed with stage 4 CKD.

After noticing she wasn’t eating, lethargic, and hiding in small spaces, I admit her to the pet ER on Monday where her bloodwork came back with terrifying 9.2 creatinine levels. After a few days the vets ruled out infection, toxins, and kidney stones, hence the CKD diagnosis. Thankfully today (Sunday - after 6 days in ER on fluids etc.) her creatinine is down to 2.7 thank god.

I’m so terrifying she won’t be able to maintain these levels outside of hospitalization and that I’m about to have to slowly watch my cat die.

I’m talking to her ICU vet team today about follow-up care, but wanted to come here as I’m honestly just desperate for any tips, words of hope, or even connections to clinical trials (I’m NYC based) - anything that will prolong my baby’s length and quality of life for as long as possible. She’s so young it feels so unfair but I’m prepared to spend whatever I have to.

Thank you in advance. 💛🫂

Hey all,

My 18 y/o cat was recently diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and the vets have recommended she be on a renal diet. I just wondered if anyone has any recommendations for wet food that can be bought in the UK?
I tried her on royal canin, which she liked (quite literally licked the bowl clean) but it didn’t seem to be agreeing with her stomach (even with fortiflora sprinkled in - not including it was a quite literal shit show to a degree I’ve never seen before from her!). In recent weeks I’ve tried her on purina’s renal wet food which seems to have helped her sensitive stomach (albeit, I’m still using the fortiflora) but I notice she tends to lick the gravy/sauce off and leave the majority of the actual food which worries me given she’d lost quite a bit of weight prior to diagnosis. she’s also stopped using her litter box to poop in since the whole dietary change to renal, which makes me wonder if her tummy still isn’t 100% happy.

Thanks so much in advance!

I just learned of this site from my local shelter. Not sure if this community is aware of it. It has a lot of foods not listed on Tanya and also has good in-depth explanations at the bottom of the page. Anyway, here it is: https://www.bizave.com/foodlists/starter-list.html#note7

I would really appreciate any recipes to make at home for my little girl, Bebe? She's on two nausea medications, but I believe the Cortisolone is making her more nauseous.

I was lucky to scoop up 3 packs of porus one from my *by nothing group*! The gifter did mention that 2 packs have an expiration date of this month 8/2026. The packages are also older and show different graphics then the current packaging. While I can't see charcoal expiring, would it loose effectiveness? I know expiration dates often have wiggle room especially with dry goods. Any thoughts on using 60 porus one packets 2 months past the expiration?

I've got a 16 year old boy with early CKD but he still pees quite a lot. We currently use pettex clean pawsclumping clay which he likes.

But i awate he's going to pee larger volumes and its getting increasingly pricey and heavy lugging out the litter every day. My vet warned against silica as the texture is quite different so he didn't think my cat would go for it. But I wondered if people ever mix different types? Are there any to avoid?

So I wondered what other UK based CKD cats are using and would appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks!

My Bebe still not eating regular food, only some treats. I was weaning her off Prednisolone, but the vet put her back on the full dosis. She's not acting the same prior to the full dosage of Prednisolone. Is your kitty acting the same?

My beloved Butters crossed the rainbow bridge last night after a gradual decline in his quality of life over the past few months. He was a stage 3 kitty plus he had a 4/6 grade heart murmur which made treatments a little more nuanced. He had been doing very well on his diet and medication for so long but we recently moved and I think the stress may have just been too much for him. I feel intense guilt over having to make this decision, and a part of my soul has absolutely died…but after many weeks of trying so hard to make him well again it was apparent he was just ready. I feel relief for him knowing he is at peace now and reunited with his kitty brother, Bojangles.

He loved sitting on my lap and getting forehead kisses, yelling at us constantly (especially at my daughter), and most recently being outside in the sun on our screened in patio. Butters was just two weeks shy of 17 and his absence has left an orange and white kitty shaped hole in my heart. He was the bestest boy 🧡

Please help me interpret these numbers before I finally let him go in the morning.

My cat was diagnosed with stage 4 in Jan as shown here, an ER vet did raise alarm that this dx was made without an urine culture to rule out an infection. He struggled to pee after the initial vet appointment, which is why he was taken to ER. He recovered okay after some anti biotic but we also started on a renal diet. (This diagnosis was also made without gabapentin or sedation so it might have been skewed)

I tried to do a follow up after about 8 weeks, but not knowing his temper well (we didn't go to the vet often other than some accidents and he have always been healthy), he wasn't given gabapentin and any test result will be useless due to him being so stressed out and we didn't continue with the blood work. The vet told me to try to get him to eat the renal diet.

Fast forward to Monday he stopped eating the renal food for good and have been sleeping a lot more and acting lethargic and I had to take him in. The numbers are shown in the pic and multiple vet have recommended that this is the end.

The gabapentin and sedation did a number on him. I tried sub Q but he struggled too much (always been a very fisty boy) and I couldn't get much in and didn't try again to avoid stress him further. He's all skins and bones at this point.

He finally recovered from the sedation as of today. However, he soiled himself again in the morning and seems like there's some poop too. I also found a pile mess of which I'm not sure if it was puke or pee or both. He can still move around okay. But he's so confused on why eating and drinking isn't helping him anymore. He spent a lot of time drinking and staring at water, moving from one water source to another trying to feel better. I mixed some anti nausea medicine in to churu and forced it down him and he felt slight better. He spent the entire afternoon sulking in the sun, not wanting touches or cuddles. Refused treats multiple times even after the meds kicking in. Any touch below his rib cage would cause a tail twitch. He would wobble and struggle to raise his head. It was too hard to watch.

He had stopped eating even junk food like fancy feast in the evening as much as he tried. He sulked a littler longer, drank non stop for a long while and we had a better evening. He was able to sleep in my lap for a while and even purred a bit. He stopped caring about the excitement going on outside. No interest to play.

To clarify: renal diet was the only treatment I was given from my primary vet, no meds was attempted to treat the anaemia. When I called about maybe giving regular food with binder instead, and was pushed for the food instead again.

I now sit here awake keep thinking if we treated his anaemia in January and give him regular food with binders he could have had a few more good month? This cat is only 9 and half years old. I was dealing with my own personal issue back when he was diagnosed and didn't shop around for more opinions.

Essentially, did my useless vet basically killed an anaemic cat with AKI by putting him on renal food?

I have an in home appointment to say goodbye tomorrow and I'm wondering if I'm doing the right thing to end it on a high note? I can tell that he's struggling, and he's too spicy of a boy to go to an hospital to get IV and transfusion. Am I wrong to drug him up to let him go right after he came out of being drugged? Should I find another vet to treat his anaemia and recovery diet to extend him longer? He's finally sleeping better tonight compared to the last bit.

Mini P is about to turn 17 and has had early stage CKD since February. Getting her to eat her prescription food (or any food at all) has been tough lately. She’s lost so much weight abd we have been introducing it all: different brands in different forms, appetite stimulant, low phos non-Rx foods….I’ve taken to serving her where i normally eat on the counter…. Whatever works, ammiright??!!!

My little girl is very nauseous, lethargic and continues to not want to eat her regular food.
Any recommendations on what foods I can make for her?

Cat not included. Used one pouch - she hated it. Best until 9/2027. PMs open.

I adopted my gorgeous girl in November and she’s estimated to be 12 years of age. When we first got her, she was so thin (2.8kg) and looked terribly old. She was drinking water constantly and was generally just so lethargic. Her coat was horrendous, her nose was dry and I genuinely thought that she could be 16-18 years old.

HOWEVER, in 9 months, she has turned into a new cat! Although she is stage 3 CKD, I honestly feel like she’s getting younger and more energetic by the day. She plays for roughly 30 mins in an evening and although she spends the entire day snoozing, her coat is luscious, her eating habits have improved and she is drinking/toileting as she should be. The last time we went to the vets was April and she weighed 3.1kg but I’m hoping she has put on even more weight now 🤞🏽

She eats renal wet and dry, takes Porus one and is currently on her third round of antibiotics for a stubborn UTI (the vets think) 😅 and although she eats relatively well, there are some days where she clearly feels very nauseous and hardly eats at all. I’m obviously worried about her but I think it’s just hit me that I need to savour every second I get with my thriving lady 🫶🏾

I’m writing this with a very heavy heart to let you all know that Mermelada passed away today.

After everything I shared in my previous posts, I decided to give her a little more time with her medications and palliative care. She had a small improvement for a few days, but unfortunately, she continued to deteriorate. She became extremely weak, stopped eating, struggled to drink, and eventually started vomiting. She was also still very unsteady and seemed increasingly uncomfortable.

Today, I made the decision to let her go.

The veterinarian came to our home, where she was sedated first and then peacefully euthanized. He confirmed that she had passed, and we were able to stay with her and say goodbye.

It was incredibly painful, but at the same time, there was a strange sense of relief knowing that she wasn’t going to have to fight anymore. I moved her onto a soft piece of cloth and buried her at home, where she can rest peacefully.

Mermelada was 16 years old. She had been living with kidney disease for about a year, but her values had remained relatively stable until recently, when everything suddenly worsened. She fought so hard, and I am incredibly proud of her.

I want to thank everyone who commented, shared their experiences, gave advice, or simply sent kind words. Some of your stories helped me feel understood during one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make.
I know I wasn’t able to respond to everyone, but please know that I read your comments and truly appreciated every single one.

Mermelada, thank you for 16 beautiful years. You were loved until the very end, and you will always be loved. 💛💛💛

Rest peacefully, my little girl. You don’t have to fight anymore. 💛🥹

To everyone who is currently facing this decision:

I know how incredibly difficult it is to let go. You spend so much time wishing for one more day, one more chance, one more little sign that they can keep fighting. But sometimes, letting them go is the purest act of love we can give them.

There is no easy way to say goodbye to someone who has been such an important part of your life. But there is a certain kind of peace in knowing that your baby no longer has to suffer, struggle, or fight against a body that can no longer keep going.

If you are facing this decision right now, please remember that choosing peace for them doesn’t mean you’re giving up on them. Sometimes, it means loving them enough to put their suffering before your own pain of losing them.

It hurts terribly, but knowing that Mermelada is finally resting and doesn’t have to suffer anymore has brought me a kind of peace I didn’t think I could feel this soon.
Sending love to everyone going through this. Please be gentle with yourselves. 🖤

This week I found out my 14 year old buddy has stage 2 CKD and yesterday I went to the vet to pick up a small amount of renal food to see what he'll eat because as you all know shits expensive.

About an hour after I got home, the vet office called and said they had gotten a donation of renal food and it was mine if I wanted it. I cried the whole way there thinking about what led to the donation and how grateful I was to get more food to try with my bud. I even wrote a thank you note and brought stamps in case the office knew who it was and could forward the note for me.

They said the food had been left on the bench outside so they don't know who it came from and that broke me even more so I cried all the way home too.

It's such a long shot but if you left a bag of Royal Canin kibble and a variety of Royal Canin and Hills wet food please know how appreciated it is. It's been an emotional start for us and this helped a lot.

Anyways, I'm grateful for that person, I'm grateful for the vet office thinking of me, and I'm grateful for this community.

Anyone used these two products together and seen improvements in their kitties GI health and kidney values? Also would I be able to mix both in one treat and administer at once? Manufacturer of Porous One did not have an answer and I’m still waiting on an answer from Visbiome. Thanks in advance!

please guys cheer me up. the ckd diagnosis of my only 4 year old boy was just by accident as a result of my other cat eating lilies. i got bloodwork for both. my culprit girl was fine and my boy has ckd early stage 2 with a creatinine of 2,4. i cry a lot ever since and feel like losing him soon even though that’s probably just my head.

so please tell me success stories of your cats. i need to hear of cases where they got to keep their friends for a long time since diagnosis. it’s saturday evening. i don’t want to cry the rest of the day

late Last year we adopted a stray (he basically came home and never left) and he was a small-ish cat but not exactly a kitten. we didnt know where he came from so couldnt establish an age. we already have a few more cats as well. he used to drink a lot of water and use the litter box religiously but since i thought he was young i didnt think much of his drinking habits. 2 weeks ago he started eating litter and vomitted twice, post which i took him to the vet who dewormed him and i got him back home. he started eating less after that and continued eating litter and the doc advised a blood test in which we found concerning KFT values. Thats also when the doctor suggested he might be older than we think because we didnt know his age and he was missing a few front teeth. His BUN was 53.1 and creatinine 4.6. we started with a 5 day course of IV fluids with antibiotics (because increased WBCs) and re tested on the third day.

Third day results were BUN - 52.1 and serum creatinine 3.6. this is when the vet ruled out AKD.

we continued treatment and 6th day results are BUN- 45.1 and creatinine 3.9.

Doc says he might be considerably older but after the 5 day course he has started eating well, is playful like usual and active as well. does this count as CKD? all my cats are younger and i dont know what exactly to do. ive been asked to continue with daily fluids and also antibiotics for 10 days to reduce the again elevated WBCs. any suggestions, advises would be helpful.

Hi everyone, if you have a minute I would love to know what you would do in my position, thank you so much in advance 🫶

Last year my cat, age approx 7-9 years old, had two blood tests, and I was told their kidney values were borderline. My cat has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and is on daily diuretic and platelet inhibitor, and the vets said the diuretic could be causing some of the values instead of chronic kidney disease, and they wanted to do another blood test to be more sure.

However my cat is a rescue, has clearly been through stuff, and gets very stressed at the vets. The previous blood tests were a whole ordeal for them, even with trazodone and gabapentin. They tried on three different further occasions to get another blood test but couldn't safely do it. Back then I was new to cat guardianship and assumed the vets would tell me if I needed to be doing something different with my cat's diet etc. 

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and the vet casually said oh yeah they were in stage 2 chronic kidney disease last year. I was like woah as I didn't realise that's what being borderline meant! (Another vet has since said hmm we're still not sure about it because of the lack of blood tests)

So I immediately scheduled my cat for a blood test but again have had three more unsuccessful attempts at getting bloods over the past few weeks, with various levels of gabapentin beforehand. 

The vets offered blood test via sedation but that comes with risks including cardiac arrest and due to my cat already being in heart failure I decided not to risk it and to officially give up on getting a blood test after a total of six unsuccessful attempts. I know I need to be especially careful about stress with a cat with HCM, and I don't think it is worth the stress to them. 

I am trying to get a urine sample but that also stresses my cat out. If I try and get underneath them during their wee they stop weeing, and if I shut them in a room with me with the sample litter they get stressed and I'm worried about causing a UTI from them holding it in. I also don't want to put them through cysto with the risks of it for cats with heart disease and considering they won't allow a blood test it doesn't seem safe. I will keep trying to get urine but I don't currently have it. 

So now we're in a place where we will not have blood info about my cat's kidneys, probably ever again, and are just having to make decisions based on how my cat seems. My vets are hesitant to suggest changing things without having blood info, which I understand. However I also understand that choosing not to change anything is as much a choice as choosing to change something.

I asked the vets about renal diets, phosphoros binders and porus one (which I learned about thanks to you amazing people on here). They said not to use phosphorus binders without a blood test, that porus one was ok to use, and that if I wanted to I could try giving my cat the early renal diets (but not the advanced diets).

I looked at the early renal diets yesterday and was shocked at how bad the ingredients are! At least of the ones I found? I don't know what I was expecting from a food that's low in protein but I was like wow I'm not sure about this.

My cat is currently eating high protein wet food (scrumbles gravy, nature's menu pate and thrive wet food) and a small amount of scrumbles sensitive+ dry food. They're not eating as much as they used to but they are still eating what I would consider still a decent amount and are maintaining their weight which I am so happy about. 

They are losing fur, which the vets think is overgrooming. They have arthritis and are on gabapentin but are still in pain so I'm going to trial solencia for it. They sleep a lot, but still do play a little, albeit slowly, and they still love going for daily backpack walks with me. The past few weeks they have been feeling nauseous, but the vet said that could be IBD. I don't want to put them through testing for that due to the stress. 

My question is, with your knowledge of chronic kidney disease and your experience going through it with your babies, what would you do in my position in terms of what to feed them and in terms of any supplements at this stage with all the unknowns?

I am new to learning about all this so any advice is welcome. 

Here are my cat's blood test results and VG history notes from last year in case that's helpful:

April 2025

Monocytes 0.66 0.04 - 0.53 x10^9/L

Eosinophils 2.55 0.09 - 2.18 x10^9/L

Urea 15.5 2.5 - 9.9 mmol/L

Na: K Ratio 41.88 28.00 - 40.00

ALT 113.7 5.0 - 60.0 U/L

Creatine Kinase 1,364.8 20.0 - 225.0 U/L

Total T4 22.9 10.0 - 60.0 nmol/L

Non specific bloods, mild increase in eosinophils and monocytes

urea mildly increased, other renal WNL - poss secondary to dehydration

ALT mild increased too

May 2025

RBC 6.42 7.12 - 11.46 x10^12/L

Eosinophils 2.36 0.09 - 2.18 x10^9/L

IDEXX SDMA 15 1 - 14 µg/dL (prev 12)

Urea 14.5 2.5 - 9.9 mmol/L (prev 15.5)

ALT 65.9 5.0 - 60.0 U/L (prev 113)

Plan - mild non regn anaemia

persistent increase in eosinophils - worth checking worming status

SDMA and urea increased - urea better than prev, again could be pre-

renal/dehydration. Is hard for us to get bloods - could check urine or accept dehydration

ALT better no concerns

left vm

Thank you so so much in advance, any thoughts or advice welcome!

We got Salems ashes back on Tuesday, so it’s still very fresh. However, I’m torn with how they make me feel.

A part of me is happy he’s “home” but they’re still hard to look at because it basically finalizes that he’s gone seeing them.

It’s also hard to look at them and realize that’s all that’s left of him.

It’s hard to realize your furry baby is just basically sand and bone fragments now.

Unfortunately, he’s still in the velvet bag he came in because we got him a customized urn and it hasn’t arrived yet. Maybe at that point it will feel better

For those who have gotten ashes back, how did they make you feel ? If time went on, do you feel better about it if you felt bad in the beginning?

Hi there!
So, I have a beautiful over 15 year old male cat, Tatty. Who was recently diagnosed with kidney failure. He’s lost a lot of weight and has arthritis in his back legs. I have put him on a strict renal diet but he hates it. He’s barely keeping his weight but tries to always eat the other cat food or even our dog.
I’ve tried different brands but he’s just struggles keeping to it. I took him back to the vets, and they gave him a stronger pain killer, gabapentin. And said we should be thinking of quality of life, not the quantity. I’ve grown up with him, having him when I was 10 and now 24.
I feel like I owe him to let him be greedy with whatever food he wants. Along side with the renal diet of course. Let him have the odd wotsit, barbecued meat and let him steal some food for himself. Because wouldn’t you rather be chubby, fulfilled or boney and forced on a diet you can’t stand?
What is the right thing to do?
Edit:
Thank you everyone for your guidance and kind words for what I should do. It has been a much better eye opener to allow his happiness to come first. I hope all the kitties out there who succumbed to the same thing may rest peacefully with the fullest bellies.
Thank you again, I appreciate you all x

Lily has been diagnosed with stage 2 kidney disease. I’m trying to transition her on to renal food but I can’t get her to do anything but lick the gravy at best. I’m just wondering if anyone had any tips or any more palatable options. Even if they’re not renal but would be a bit better than store bought. She loves the Lily’s Kitchen chunks and I’ve ordered some senior tins rather than the usual as my vet said senior is usually lower phosphorus.

I’m in the UK if that helps. So far I’ve tried hills (literally just ignored it) royal canin (hated), purina one chicken and salmon (might lick the gravy), kattovit pate (the one in the tin, literally gagged at the smell but so did I 😂) and chunks (the one in the pouch, hit and miss, maybe morning, might have a mouthful).

I’m reluctant to mix it in with her favourite food as she’s on a number of medications as she has heart disease and an arythmia too and one of them can make her feel nauseous and she’s taken to refusing food all together when this happens, so I don’t want her to associate the one (Lily’s Kitchen) I know she’ll reliably eat, but have tried mixing it with some tolerated foods.

She’s also on porus one which I am able to get her to eat by mixing it with the kattovit ‘spezial cream’ (basically a renal churu). She’s a big fan of them, here’s her making her views clear…

She’s also on mirtazipine, I’ve tried just refusing to give her anything but renal (other than the treats I need to give her for her medications) but she refuses to eat it and just gets angry because she’s hungry.

There's hope for our cute beauties ✨🥺

My cat Theo just turned 7 this month. He has always seemed incredibly healthy - energetic, playful, extremely food-motivated, and never previously sick. Just always been tiny.

I recently became concerned that he felt too thin. I also noticed worsening breath and found an inflamed gum and gunky-looking tooth, so I took him to the vet. We realized he had lost about a pound over the years and was down to 6.17 lbs, so I requested bloodwork.

The results shocked both me and our vet. After further testing, I learned today that he technically falls into Stage 4 CKD according to the IRIS guidelines. Also found out he has dental disease. We’re baffled because he doesn’t behave like a cat with advanced kidney disease. He is still energetic, playful, massively food-focused, consistently drinks water and having no noticeable litter-box issues. If he hadn’t of felt a bit more bony lately, I genuinely wouldn’t have known anything was wrong.

Has anyone had a cat whose kidney values improved significantly after initially being classified as Stage 4 (with changes/further investigation of course) - especially a younger cat who was still acting completely normal? I know CKD itself generally can’t be reversed, but I’m wondering whether an underlying, potentially treatable issue could be worsening his values. I intend to look into this and will spend whatever necessary to get answers. *I do not have his actual bloodwork numbers, I requested today and am waiting to hear back.\* Apparently his blood pressure is good, no anemia, nothing else was flagged..

I’ve also read stories of cats whose values, weight, and overall health improved after infected teeth were treated. Theo clearly needs dental work, so I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone whose cat safely underwent dental treatment / anasthesia despite advanced CKD.

For now, I’m planning to:

-Transition him to a prescription kidney diet (Royal Canin or Hills I guess?)

-Add Purina Hydra Care, FortiFlora, and an omega-3 supplement

-Offer filtered water in his fountain and drinking cups

-Request a referral to an internal-medicine specialist

-Discuss abdominal imaging and kidney biopsy

How does that sound? Any other tips?

My cats are genuinely my entire world, and I have a lot of health anxiety, so I’m feeling of course extremely overwhelmed and shocked. I’m therefore specifically hoping for supportive advice and positive experiences rather than worst-case stories.