I have a cat with feline kidney disease (Barnes - see pictures). We are managing his conditions well through a number of easy but effective methods:
Low protein and phosphorus content diet
For soft food, that means guaranteed min of 6-8% protein, for kibble that means 21 - 24% protein or thereabouts. We feed Barnes a small amount of moist food morning and night with kibble available the rest of the day.
Mostly you'll only find such low protein content in foods specifically designed for kidney disease but to be honest, I don't think it tastes very good because Barnes really doesn't want to eat it when I put it in front of him (specifically, I'm referring to Hills Prescription Diet k/d both kibble and moist food).
So the vet recommended I look at high quality mature cat food to see if Barnes likes it better (she figured it better to eat something that's close to the ideal than very little of the ideal) and I've found Science Diet Mature moist food (6.5% min protein) and Royal Canin Mature kibble (27% min protein) seems to do the trick. He eats it, doesn't throw up (which is what he does when he steals our other cat's higher protein food) and his kidneys are stable. Substitute your own favorite brands. [we have no relationship with any of these companies - maybe one day :)]
Loads of water
Cats may not drink enough water to keep their kidneys flushed and so we add quite a bit of water to Barnes's wet food and mix it up into a bit of a gravy. He loves it and drinks all the water down in one go and his food goes down with it.Smart Kitty Litter
I know, what can kitty litter have to do with a cat's kidney health? Well, there are some smart kitty litters out there that can tell you when your cat is having kidney issues by turning a different color as the urine ph changes. This is very helpful to spot health issues in cats as I find it takes longer to notice when there's a problem with Barnes from his behavior than from the kitty litter color changes (it's hard to tell when lethargically sleeping on the bed all day is different from other more healthy days!).
We are currently using Healthmeter and it gives me comfort that Barnes's kidneys are fine at the moment. It changed a lot when my inlaws brought their 19 year old cat to stay and it turned out she had a bladder infection [disclaimer: At Embrace, we were given some free Healthmeter litter at a conference we attended and that's what I've been using. I will be buying more though when it runs out]Hydration when necessary
In the past, when Barnes has had some bad episodes of kidney issues, I have hydrated him every evening for about 15 mins to help ease the burden on his kidneys. This involved inserting an IV needle attached to a bag of saline solution into the scruff of his neck. He never seemed to mind it since he knew he was going to get 15 minutes of undivided attention on my lap - lots of purring going on. Obviously this is not for everyone but I'd never done this before I did it and I got used to putting the needle under his skin - it's amazing what we'll do for our pets, isn't it?!
As I said, I'm not a vet so make sure to ask your vet about any of the above tips before doing any of them. Barnes has now had his kidney disease for 4 years and you wouldn't know there was anything wrong with him.
See also: a case study of a cat with kidney issues; Perineal Urethrostomy: description and costs.
