Hills k/d opinions/Banfield?

[mokayla14]

Hello all! First time posting here.

I need some feedback about a situation I have going on with my kitty named Olive (DSH, 7-8 y/o)

I took Olive in for an exam, (previously has bills of good health outside of a minor heart murmur. Doctors aren't worried) to a new vet in a Banfield Clinic. She has been having some loose stool, but nothing else seemed afoot. They did some blood work and the vet made a big deal about being worried about her Kidney, since it seemed irritated. She usually eats Weruva Fowl Bowl wet food. She had eaten some homemade bonito broth me and my housemate made, (there was no additives or salt, just dried fish bonito flakes). We stopped feeding it because her tummy seemed upset.

Vet gave antibiotics to make sure it wasn't a UTI, and the culture came back negative. She took a probiotic for a while and it fixed her poop.Vet said he was so worried they might want to do some IV therapy in-house-- however, he also said she wasn't having any other symptoms that went alongside early kidney disease: ie lethargy, appetite, weight, or pee problems. She is very active and the rest of her health looks awesome besides her loose stool and kidney report.
I always give water with her wet food, and changed her water fountain to a stream-fountain to encourage her to drink water even prior to this incident. Her stool is back to normal with the probiotic, and they suggested I start to feed her the Hills Science Diet k/d pate food. Vet was so worried, but they never return my calls or even wanted her to come back for a check up... something just seems a bit fishy. I want to trust them but I am nervous.

To be honest, the ingredients in the food seem super processed as opposed to her old wet food, the Weruva Fowl Bowl. She seems fine, and I know some vets at Banfield will recommend some foods that aren't so great (for example Purina) so I'm a little hesitant to switch her to this food. I also am thinking of switching to Nationwide Pet Insurance because Banfield's "discount program" sucks financial wise.

Do any of you have opinions on Banfield and Hills Science Diet, or just this situation? I used to work at a small local pet store, and I know sometimes PetSmart and Banfield get stock/quantity breaks on brands that they sell/push... I want to visit a non Banfield to get another opinion too. I also want to switch to Nationwide Pet insurance, so let me know if any of you like their program as well.

Thanks so much! I can answer answer any questions as well.

[Mollycat]

Hello, sorry can't help with the pate version of k/d because I'm in the UK and we can't get it, we can only get the dry food and the pouches of horrible looking pieces in gravy. However I can tell you the Hills renal foods really work. My first kidney failure girl had 8 good quality years on the dry food because that's all there was back then, with no other treatment, a perfectly normal happy healthy life. You may not like the ingredient list, but the food she was on before didn't stop her getting kidney failure, so it isn't going to help her get better. If your cat is wiling to eat renal formula food, be grateful - millions of people all over the developed world are frantic because their cats won't eat it at all.

Can't help you with Banfields probably for the same reason, and definitely can't help with insurance as I don't insure my cats, never have. Do you have the blood test results? Did they give you an IRIS Stage for her kidneys? There is a lot of loss of function before any intervention is needed and starting a renal diet too soon isn't good and the formula is unhealthy for healthy cats. Retesting in the early stages isn't always helpful either, what we very often find with early stage is a retest soon after diagnosis shows huge improvements, and then later follow ups begin to gradually decline. Regular tests become more important as it progresses, but even then I think it's every 6 months recommended, no more than that.

One thing I would reconsider though, is adding too much water to Olive's food. A cat's natural food is around 80% water which is the composition of wet foods, and they don't need to drink much on top of that. Overdrinking creates dilute urine and a cat's naturally concentrated urine kills bacteria that cause UTIs, and dilute urine can't kill those bacteria, so drinking a lot might "flush" the kidneys (good stuff as well as bad) but also can cause the very problem you're trying to avoid. Read up about that subject and make your own decision for Olive.

[mokayla14]

Okay! That makes sense. Thanks so much for your feedback!

I add water to her food because usually (she was a stray previously) if i dont water it down she will eat too quicklu and throw up. Maybe I will try a slow feeder bowl instead. Thank you!