I've scheduled it for today at 3:30.

Saying goodbye after 18 years together is so hard. He's been a shadow of himself for 2 days, but still eating and drinking and using the litter box. He hasn't slept in my arms for the last 2 nights. I don't want to say goodbye.

I'm so glad he found me 18 years ago. My dad had called, a giggle in his voice. He hadn't even said it but I knew. "Did you find a cat?!" Payback, for 20 years of my life finding cats that needed homes and bringing them to my parents. He was wandering inside the dollar store!

I tried to give him away that weekend! As he left in their arms, I saw those big eyes and knew he was mine. He came back to me 2 days later. He wasn't the right fit for them.

He arrived a couple weeks after I had said goodbye to my 17 year old kitty from her fight with ckd. It was October 2008 when he came into my life. He was a lover and cuddler kitty from the start. I didn't think I was ready for him but he was ready for me!

That season of my life was a lot. My marriage had just ended. My brother had recently died. My soul kitty died. He's been with me through bad relationships, re-marriage, city moves, province moves, a country move! He's been with me finding new love, a man I could be proud to call my husband, having a baby, and letting our child hold her first kitty.

He has lived with dogs, and mastered them. He was chased up a tree by one of them! He's caught birds, mice, chipmunks, insects and lizards. He's flown on planes, gone through customs and did amazing. He has turned non-cat lovers into humans who will do anything for him.

From a young age, he abided somehow by our unspoken code: he could go outside as long as he didn't hop the fence. Somehow, he never has. At first, I would let him wander the yard with his harness on attached to the rope and he would drag it around. He never tried to escape by jumping. To come back in, he would ring his 'doorbell'. Last week, he finally taught himself to use the doggy door!

After his diagnosis last year, he saw a cat through the screen window in the front yard. He busted through that at 17 years old, like the Kool Aid Man and chased that cat away! Last month, he yelled at another cat in the backyard to "get off my lawn!" That cat left too. It's not the first time. With his back up squad of big dogs, he was fearless in his old age. When he was younger, he went solo on those missions.

We had some rough years, where he would pee his emotions. He ruined hard wood floors, a piano, a couch, a bed... One time, he started backing up and I thought to myself "No way" as you sprayed me! Where other people would have given up, I didn't. Once I realized he needed to be an only cat, he 100% changed that bad behavior. Even though he loved the other cat to pieces! When they first met, he licked Buddy so much his long fur was slicked back. He tried with Loki too, but she would have none of it. Buddy and Little Man we're always cuddled up together sleeping in baskets, kitty hammocks and in the sun. Inseparable, each weighing between 16-20lbs the hammocks were essentially on the ground. He weighed in at 7lbs yesterday. He's so frail now.

This year has been too much. You were there waiting for me after surprise open heart surgery and we had to find a new way to cuddle at night. You never stepped on my sternum and always do careful. I am sure your giant purr helped fuse my bones back together!

My sweet Little Man, how I will miss you. For the first time, I have no other kitty with me and we're not at a place in life where I can have another kitty. I'm not sure what lays beyond for this next adventure, but I hope it's filled with all the chicken party you can eat, all the best sunny spots, and your purrs fill the world.

100 years wouldn't have been enough with him.

Edit: I discovered a couple months ago he loved salmon. I cooked a big fillet for him and he went feral for it, grabbed a massive piece and tried to run away with it 😂 He ate two big servings of salmon.

And I wish it would be for something she should be eating. Sigh. 💔. I got some Greenies dental treats tonight and gave Maggie a couple. I left them on my dresser. I bring all her stuff in my room at night so she doesn’t have to go far to eat, drink, use the litter box. While we were sitting on my bed, she spied them. She climbed onto the chair that starts her little trail of descent to the floor and tried to figure out how to jump to the dresser. Of course it was too far, but when I picked up the bag, she went crazy wanting more. I wish I could find a food she loves like that — especially one that’s safe for her.

So my vet said to give half a scoop of the 35 gram Phos-Bind a day to my cat who is 9 pounds. Her phosphorus in blood has risen. I just checked the manufacturer website, and they say to give 100 mg per kg of body weight per day. My cat is 9 pounds, so roughly 4 kg. A scoop has 250 mg of product. So she needs 400 mg of product, which is roughly 1.5 scoops. Not a half. What the heck?

I am looking for what has worked for your picky cat. My 13-year-old Isabella has Stage 3 CKD. She was diagnosed at the end of August 2026 and was in the hospital for two days on IV fluids. Her creatinine was 4.8 when diagnosed and 3.8 on the second day in the hospital. A recheck a month later showed 4.6. Despite her numbers, she is pretty normal. She has always been a picky eater; she ate more wet food when I had two other cats, though she never really finished it. After the two cats passed, she did not care for wet food. I stopped the wet food after a few months of trying different flavors and textures. She would eat dry food, usually all of the portion she tolerated, which was 1/4 cup a day, though I would give her 1/2 cup and she always left half of it. After coming home, her appetite was poor. We started Mirataz and Cerenia, and she started eating better; she was eating 1/8 of a 5.5 oz can of k/d tuna or chicken pate twice a day with a topper of Delectables. We stopped the Mirataz and Cerenia, and she was still eating well. Now, she is back to eating a bit of the wet food—half of 1/8 of a can—once a day. She eats dry food with no issues. I get stressed when she does not eat the wet food, so I started giving it to her at night, as she has always been a night eater. Isabella is not impressed by Fancy Feast, Churu, Friskies, tuna, baby food, or k/d stew. She liked Hydra Care for a couple of days, as well as the Weruva low-phosphorus treats. I have made the food watery and left it thicker, trying all sorts of combinations. She is on 100 ml of subcutaneous fluids twice a week, and I have water for her everywhere. As soon as I find something she likes and buy it in bulk, she stops eating it. What kidney-friendly wet food does your picky eater like? She is my third CKD cat; my two boys loved the k/d wet food or any wet food, even when they did not feel well.

My cat who was recently diagnosed with kidney disease stage 2 has these random episodes of this twitching, recently it’s just been when she is eating. Does anyone have ideas of what may causing it? Thank you

Hi everyone! I’m looking for advice from other CKD cat parents on what has helped support their cats’ kidney health and slow disease progression.

My girl weighs approximately 9.1 lbs. She has CKD and hypertension. She’s still eating well, playful, active, and jumping around normally.

Her most recent kidney values (July 2026):
Creatinine: 3.2
BUN: 63
SDMA: 20
Phosphorus: 4.1
Potassium: 3.6

Current medications and supplements:
- Amlodipine: 1.25 mg once daily (½ of a 2.5 mg tablet). Recently increased from 0.625 mg because her BP remained elevated.
- AminAvast: 1 capsule twice daily.
- Antinol: Currently giving for joint support.
- Azodyl: Considering restarting it or adding a different feline probiotic.

Current diet:
Weruva Wx Phos Focused Chicken Purée: 2–2½ cans daily.
Weruva BFF OMG Chicken pouch: 1 daily.

I use the BFF pouch alongside the low-phosphorus food because the Wx food isn’t complete and balanced on its own.

What I’m hoping to learn:
Has anyone seen meaningful improvements using AminAvast, Azodyl, regular probiotics, or Kidney Support Gold?

Has anyone introduced phosphorus binders while their cat’s blood phosphorus was still within the recommended range? Did your vet recommend it as a preventive measure?

Are there any other supplements, nutritional strategies, or supportive treatments that have genuinely helped your CKD cat?

I’m actively working with her vet to get her blood pressure under control, and I’ll be repeating her kidney labs. I’m especially interested in evidence-based approaches, but I’d also love to hear personal experiences from people managing CKD long-term and hypertension
.
I’m trying to be as proactive as possible and give her the best quality of life for as long as I can. Any advice or experiences would be greatly appreciated! ❤️🐾

tomorrow afternoon i am saying goodbye to my beloved Valentina. she has been my guardian angel over the hardest fives years of my life. a reprise in the darkest moments i have experienced and my reason to keep going on days when i felt like giving up.

i adopted her in 2021 as a senior gal. she was diagnosed with ckd about two and a half years ago. she held strong and steady on her treatment plan but has been declining pretty rapidly for the past few months. i knew i would have less time with her since she was already ten but i know that there would never be enough time with her.

we went to the vet yesterday to get confirmation that it was time to say goodbye. we were so lucky to have the most amazing care team who helped bring her back from all her crashes. the staff at the clinic all came to say goodbye to her and it meant so much to me!

we have been having extra snuggles the past few days. i wrote her a letter that i’m going to read her tomorrow. we’ll be saying goodbye in the safety and love of the home that we shared. i’ve braided a piece of my hair to send with her, along with the letter, leaves from the backyard that she loved to hunt as the fell on the balcony, and a red flower.

thank you to everyone in this community for offering such a gentle place to land amongst the hardships of this disease. i learned so much through the posts her and that helped me take care of her. i spent so many nights scrolling this subreddit trying to find answers and it helped me feel less alone. thank you for reading if you made it this far.

i’ll end this with what i always say when i leave the house - “bye boushkie (short for baboushka), i’ll be home soon!!!!”

💓💓💓💓

My 15-year-old void was recently diagnosed with early stage kidney failure and I want to ask this sub specifically about diet. Obviously my vet suggested limiting dry food and focusing on getting him to eat as much wet food as possible (and drinking lots of water). But I was curious to learn she doesn’t recommend switching to a renal/low phosphorus cat food. She said this is commonly taught in vet school, but in her many years of experience, she no longer suggests this. She said since those foods are lower in protein, the cats that switch to these foods often waste away very quickly and lose a lot of muscle mass leading to poor outcomes. So she suggested sticking to his normal wet food and just making sure he eats and drinks as much as possible. She did mention as the disease progresses, she’ll likely recommend adding a phosphorus binder to his food. But that it’s not quite time for that yet.

Is this a reasonable approach for his diet? It seems like everyone here places a big emphasis on switching to a renal diet ASAP after diagnosis.

Hello,

Our sweet 16 year old kitty, Nala, is struggling so much right now. She was (and still is) having accidents outside of the boxes, is lethargic and has stopped eating which prompted us to get her into the vet on Tuesday. She has a 104F fever, elevated white blood cell count and elevated kidney levels. After fluids, an antibiotic shot, vet said it was early stage renal failure (did not give a stage) but did not want to start a kidney diet until she gained her appetite back.

Initially on Wednesday she ate one of her favorite treats and some chicken baby food and thankfully had no accidents until today when he peed on the rug again. We have 4 total boxes that are cleaned daily since we have 2 other days. She prefers to pee on a rug by the front door and we have no way of moving on closer due to our 2 dogs.

I am just at a loss and hate seeing her suffer. We try different meaty baby foods and offer wet food multiple times a day but she is not eating anything substantial. The appetite stimulant given by the vet makes her drool.

Does anyone have any advice in how to get her to eat or I hate to say it, when it's too late to help anymore.

Thank you all 🐾❤️

My 7 year old cat was diagnosed yesterday. His bloodworks showed his creatine 2,27 mg/dl. He also had anemia. Phosphorus was 4.06 mg/dl. Current weight is 12,1 lb. He has lost 1,1 lb in a month.

He lost his cat friend a month ago to stomach tumors and since that he ate less than usual. Thought the poor appetite was just sorrow. I took him to the vet for dental cleaning and bloodworks and this came as a total shock that there was something so severe going on. He has also had overgrooming for 2 years and the vet gave a description for depression/anxiety meds.

My cat has not been eating his regural foods. I have been giving him churu mixed with schesir baby thrive and water. I got Royal Can special Renal dry food for the vet yesterday. He seems to tolerate it but won't eat it enough. I ordered many different renal wet foods online hoping he would like at least one of them.

I feel hopeless because of his poor appetite. I feel like I can't get him to eat enough. So far his only symptom is the appetite loss.

I read that many use Welura wet foods but here where I live in Europe I can't get that one. He likes Sheba fresh and fine but I am not sure if it is bad for cats with CKD.

Any advice for a someone new to this? I went through Tanya's CKD website and it had a lot of information but I feel overwhelmed with everything.

A week ago, Mojo got diagnosed with stage 2 chronic kidney disease. He is 15 years old, and if I'm being completely honest, I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened sooner. He has an autoimmune disease called Pemphigus Foliaceus and has spent most of the last 11 years on steroids,which whilst treating the autoimmune disease, it's hard on the body.

This last week has been insane. I'm so overwhelmed trying to learn about CKD and working out what I need to do now. This is not the first time that I've had to learn about a chronic health issue in cats, but this one seems different somehow. Maybe because I've had Mojo since he was only 5 weeks old, and unlike his autoimmune disease, not much can be done other than trying to manage symptoms.

I keep getting mixed up with the advice the vet gave to me before the diagnosis, when it was suspected that arthritis was the issue and things I've been told afterwards. It's just a lot to take in. What's worse is that I've found so much conflicting information online, that it's hard to know what's true or not.

there’s a lot of AI in their video, but how true are their claims?
Is this company the best to buy the flakes off of and how accurate is it that this is providing moisture for cats?
Any and all advice welcome, thank you so much in advance for your time:’) <3

My sweet boy Arthur was diagnosed in May of this year, after a crash that left him hospitalized for 2 days. After 5 too-short months, we lost him this past Monday. In my grief, I've been looking for signs I missed, answers of what went wrong. In my search, I found an email from my vet in December with an ultrasound report attached, from his regular check up. In the body of the email the vet says "Everything looks good." That's it. Again, this was 5 months before diagnosis, before I knew what CKD was and before I knew I should always read everything thoroughly myself. So I open and read this ultrasound report now and on the bottom of the second page, below the section where it says his organs look normal, the ultrasound tech had written:
"Suspect early kidney disease due to low USG. Recommend rechecking a water fasted urine and creatinine in 3 to 4 months. Kidney disease could be the cause for hypertension."
She also suspected nausea as the cause of his appetite loss and suggested cerenia and mirataz in the report. That had never even presented this to me as options. I had attributed his weight loss to age, and appetite loss to arthritis, which we were treating at the time, so I thought we could get his weight back up with arthritis treatments. I had no idea about cerenia and mirataz for his appetite until doing my own research on CKD months later, which we did use for those 5 months.
I am devastated all over again. He was going through this for 5 more months than I knew. I am so sad for him. I am so angry at myself, so angry at my vet. The pain is worse than I could have imagined. If I had known back in December, I would have had more time to learn about this awful disease and maybe with that extra time I would have gotten better at treating him and he'd still be here today. After his diagnosis, I started to research, read, and track everything in an effort to make him comfortable and keep him with me. But it was too late. Why wasn't I doing that before? I feel so stupid that I caused him to suffer so long in silence. I could have done so much more for him and I hate myself for it.

Has anybody had success using niacinamide to lower phosphorus levels for your cat? Thanks

To be honest, Noah's CKD started about 3 or 4 years ago. She was about 12 then, and the slight damage was attributed to her age: she was already a senior cat, and she had no apparent symptoms. She was diagnosed after a lacunar infarction, most probably the result of hypertension, but on the follow up appointments her blood pressure was always normal. In July this year, she suddenly crashed, CKD had officially made its presence known as Stage 2: time for the renal diet, the Porus One, Megaderm she would never ever take. The crash was attributed to an episode of hypertension and a UTI. She was declared Stage 3 about one month ago, and she got better for about three days (with anti-inflammatory and antibiotic, as this was also a suspected UTI) until she began feeling down again, like she never truly got over the bump of her illness. She began hiding more than usual, and I made her a little bunker in the closet so she couldn't need to move too much. I brought her water, food, which she slowly stopped eating. It had been such a short time that her blood test results came in while her good times were already gone: her toxin levels were much higher, even with PorusOne. I bought CatneyOne to help with her phosphorus, but I'm pretty sure it made her constipation problems even worse. She pooped a large chunk and didn't poop anything but a tiny pellet five days later. Worse still, nothing could make her eat: not milk, not her favorite tuna water. I would open a can of her favorite food and she would lap at it once or twice, then stop accepting it. This deterioration was on the course of the last two weeks, from feeling slightly down to absolutely fasting. I learned to give her SubQ hydration at home so she didn't have to visit a clinic, as she hates vets and being away from home. This past week I finally decided the stress was worth it and sent her to be hospitalized for 72 hours of hydration and nausea medicine. I had the thought that maybe she hadn't been fully cured of her previous UTI, so I asked for a urine culture: find the right antibiotic, everything back to normal. But then the hospital showed severe anemia, maybe that's the cause? Ran around the city trying to find Aranesp, spent what I have left of my monthly salary on the tiny vial that would cure her. That day she looked better, she even jumped to my shoulders like she loved to do. So she stayed one more night for observation; the next day her PCV started to improve, but she seemed worse for the wear. She could barely stand but the vet attributed it to laxatives, to her not having pooped lately, to the buprenorphine she was administered for any constipation pain. When I brought her home, the vet told me she should be feeling better by the next day. She didn't she actually took a turn for the worse. Laxative didn't have any effect, she couldn't poop at all, but sedation was too risky because of her weakness. We assessed to wait until the next day, but I called the vet as an emergency because her breathing became laboured.

She seemed to be in too much pain because of constipation, so he made the enema right then and there, hoping it would make her feel better and perk up. After the enema, she seemed better, and he told me we would reassess in the morning. We should let her rest, get some sleep myself. I slept beside her for two hours, and when I woke up she was unresponsive but breathing. The vet returned to help her rest. Fortunately, mom, dad, my aunt and me (the ones who she loved the most) managed to arrive right on time to be with her. The doctor told me that, after the enema, she didn't seem in pain any more. Metabolic acidosis and excess toxins seemed to be the culprit.

She faded too fast, practically rushed from stages 3 to 4 and then she left me. We all tried everything. I have two other cats but she is my eldest, my first, she had been with me almost half my life and she was the one closest to me.

Darling Noah, my 16 year old princess, who bunted my chin and rode on my shoulders, who slept on my chest and woke me up every two hours to feed her. Now I feel like I'm falling apart. I can't sleep and, when I do, I wake up as if I had a nightmare but the nightmare is in the real world. I feel numb to everything pretty, and everything ugly seems too loud, too sharp, too hurtful. I have my two other boy cats, and it makes me feel sad to approach them (as they remind me of her absence) but guilty because they don't deserve me being this distant with them. I feel too hurt to ever adopt another cat because I can't see a cat without thinking of them growing ill and dying. I just... Hope I eventually feel better. This is a very cruel disease.

Rest in peace, Noah. You are no longer in pain.

My girl is very likely to be on stage two of CKD. We are waiting on urine analysis but as of today her numbers are
SDMA 20
Bun 25
Creatinine 2.3
Phos 4.2

The vet was in between early kidney diet and traditional kidney diet and we started her on hills traditional kidney.

I’m interested in anyone’s suggestions based on experience in this stage, and perspective on her numbers (if it looks promising or concerning)? She’s almost 14, and about 12.5lbs holding steady. My goal is of course to keep her in this stage as long as possible. No obvious symptoms, she eats plays and uses the litter box like she always has.

Hi everyone, my cat is stage 4 CKD and he’s been having soft stools for a bit. My vet recommended psyllium husk powder - do any of you use this for your cat? if so, which brand? Thank you!!!