Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cats with early kidney disease keep weight and muscle on special
By Hall, Jean A et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2019·Department of Biomedical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Cats with IRIS stage 1 and 2 chronic kidney disease maintain body weight and lean muscle mass when fed food having increased caloric density, and enhanced concentrations of carnitine and essential amino acids.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 28 adult cats with early-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD) were fed two different types of food to see how it affected their weight and health. Cats eating the test food, Hill's Prescription Diet k/d, gained weight and maintained their muscle mass, while those on the control food, Royal Canin Renal Support A, lost weight and muscle. The cats on the test food also consumed more calories and had better kidney function markers over six months. This suggests that a diet higher in calories and essential nutrients can help cats with CKD maintain their health better than a standard diet.
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Abstract
A prospective, randomised, 6-month feeding trial was performed in 28 adult cats with International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) stage 1 and 2 chronic kidney disease (CKD). All cats were assigned to either a control food: Royal Canin Renal Support A Feline, dry or a test food: Hill's Prescription Diet k/d Feline with chicken, dry. Food intake was recorded daily; body weight weekly; and serum, urine, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and body condition assessments were performed at 0, 1, 3 and 6 months. Twenty cats (9 control, 11 test group) completed the study according to protocol. Cats consuming control food had significant loss of body weight (n=14; mean, -13.0 per cent, P<0.0001) and lean body mass (LBM; mean, -11.1 per cent, P<0.0001) over the 6-month feeding period, whereas cats consuming test food had a significant increase in body weight (n=14; mean, 5.8 per cent, P=0.003) and no change in LBM (P=0.42). Cats consumed 23 per cent more calories (P=0.05) when fed test food (mean, 207.1 kcal/day) compared with cats fed control food (mean, 168.0 kcal/day). Serum creatinine increased at a faster rate (P=0.0004) in cats consuming control food compared with cats consuming test food. Cats consuming test food had increased caloric and essential amino acid intake, increased body weight, stable biomarkers of kidney function and maintained LBM compared with cats consuming control food.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30514741/