Kidney Diets for Older Cats

Homemade Diets and Recipes for Cats With Kidney Disease 

Never feed dry food to cats, only canned or home prepared. If you do feed a commercial pet food make sure it does not contain corn, wheat or soy. Never heat your cat's food in the microwave. Warm the pet's food in a hot water bath instead.

When cats get older their kidneys often begin to fail. Because the kidney's job is to eliminate anything unusable from the blood, the goal of this diet is to lighten their load. You can do that by providing minimal levels of protein, phosphorus and sodium in a maximally usable form so that there is a little waste as possible. By feeding a fresh diet, you can also eliminate the artificial preservatives, flavorings and colorings added to many pet foods. This recipe provides about 24% highly usable protein, with low sodium and phosphorus levels and generous levels of B complex and vitamin A.

RECIPE #1

Yield: About 6 cups; provides about 5-6 days food.

1 and 1/3 cups (2/3 lb. ground chicken, turkey or lean heart)
4 cups Well-cooked soft, basmati rice (add an additional 1/2 cup of water to the recipe and cook it longer, this will make it easier to digest).
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of a good cold-pressed oil, (can be alternated with unsalted butter)
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley, finely grated carrot  (optional)
1/8 teaspoon iodized sea salt
1/8 teaspoon potassium chloride salt substitute
1,500 mg calcium
5,000 IU vitamin A
50 mg level vitamin B complex (the equivalent of about 10 mg/day)
2,500 mg vitamin C (1/2 teaspoon sodium ascorbate)
Cat vitamins with taurine (about 5 days worth)

Mix all ingredients together (except the vitamins/supplements) in a large bowl. Bake in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then add the vitamins and mix well. (If you cat has a poor appetite you may have to experiment to some extent to cater to his/her preferences just to keep him nourished). Store in fridge. If you warm your cats food before you serve it DO NOT use the microwave to do it. Instead put the food in a small glass dish in a hot water bath to warm it. Microwaves change the molecular structure of protein. It will also ruin the vitamins.

Variation: Occasionally include a small amount of calf, beef or chicken liver in the recipe (1-3 teaspoons).

RECIPE #2

4 parts carbohydrate: Pureed barley flakes and /or baby food creamed corn
2 parts protein: Lightly broiled chicken or beef or raw organic egg yolk and cooked white (used with meat, not alone) you can also use baby food chicken
1 part vegetable: Chopped of finely grated raw vegetable or vegetable juice-carrots, zucchini, and alfalfa sprouts are best
2 Tablespoons of a powdered feline vitamin and mineral supplement
2 teaspoons soft butter

Blend above ingredients together and store in glass jar.

Each day mix the following into each meal:
A feline vitamin and mineral supplement (follow label instruction)
1/16 teaspoon ascorbic acid crystals or sodium ascorbate powder (250 units Vitamin C)
1/8 teaspoon Pet Tinic (a B vitamin and iron tonic available from the veterinarian) or 1/2 of a low-potency B complex capsule (10 mg level)
1/4 teaspoon or 1/2 tablet mixed digestive enzymes.
Once a week give:
400 units of vitamin E (alpha tocopherol);
A capsule containing 10,000 units vitamin A and 400 units vitamin D.


RECIPE #3

White meat chicken, chicken gizzard plus 2 hard-boiled eggs with a touch of clam juice or chicken broth: 20%
Kidney beans, mashed: 10%
Well-cooked white/basmati rice (I add an additional 1/2 cup of water or vegetable broth to the rice cooking instructions and cook it longer. It makes the rice much softer and easy to digest, polenta, barley: 60 %
Parsley, squash, asparagus, carrot kale: 10%


RECIPE #4

Feline Restricted Mineral and Sodium Diet

1 lb. Regular ground beef, cooked
1/4 lb. Liver (beef, chicken or pork only), cooked
1 cup cooked enriched white rice without salt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 t (5 grams) calcium carbonate
1/8 teaspoon KCI (salt substitute)

Also add a balanced supplement which fulfills the feline MDR for all vitamins and trace minerals, and 250 mg taurine/day.

RECIPE #5

Chicken Mineral Broth

The recipe below is not a specific for renal disease but it is very nourishing and helpful to have on hand if your cat looses interest in food and doesn't want to eat. Nutritionally it can help replace minerals that have been lost if your cat is urinating excessively.

3 lbs. chicken thighs
Water to cover Distilled water is my preference
1/4 cup tomato juice (NOT, V8 Juice)
Add approximately 1 1/2 inch piece of Kombu, (this is a dried sea vegetable) for added minerals

Put all chicken into a soup pot large enough so the chicken fills the pot only halfway.  Cover with 'distilled' water until water is one to two inches above chicken.  Cover the pot loosely (tip the lid).  Bring to a low simmer.  Simmer three to five hours, occasionally breaking up the chicken and adding more water if necessary.  During the last hour remove the lid and let the water cool down until the chicken is barely covered.  Broth is now deliciously strong.  Pour off broth, cool to room temperature, and then store in refrigerator.

Pour this broth off and store it with the first batch of broth.  Transfer the bones into a smaller pot.  Crack them up so they form a fairly compact mass in the bottom of the pan.  Cover the bones with water ad add the one-fourth cup tomato juice.  Simmer one-half to one hour.

Pour off this broth, again combining it with the other broth.  Throw the bones away.  Store about two cups of the broth in a jar in the refrigerator;  store the rest in the freezer in pint-sized covered freezer containers to be thawed as needed.  To thaw, stand the container in a bowl of hot water.

PET REMEDY CHARTS TO THE RESCUE

To learn about holistic treatments and natural healing strategies for cats, be sure to visit Pet Remedy Charts the ultimate guide to using herbs, homeopathy, flower remedies and acupressure, in home pet health care.