According to Wikipedia's definition, a "prescription" is a medical document issued by a physician to a patient, and is an important basis for pharmacists to issue medicines to patients. In other words, the prescription is a medicine with therapeutic effects. However, the so-called prescription feed currently on the market is only food, not medicine, and has no therapeutic effect. Therefore, the word prescription may mislead consumers.

Common prescription feeds are for obesity, kidney disease, gastrointestinal and lower urinary tract diseases, etc. They may seem very convenient, but the actual situation may not be so good. This article will discuss the ingredients and efficacy of a certain brand of kidney disease prescription feed (hereinafter referred to as Brand A).

Precautions for kidney cat diet

First, let’s briefly understand how cats with chronic kidney disease should be cared for: Since cats have poor renal metabolism, their protein intake must be reduced, but they must still consume an appropriate amount of high-quality protein, as well as low-phosphorus and low-sodium foods, and should Increase the water intake of cats and help metabolize waste in the body.

Prescription feed ingredients

The first few ingredients of brand A feed are brewed rice, corn gluten meal, pig fat, chicken by-product meal, dehydrated egg products, dehydrated chicken, cellulose powder, fish meal... (omitted below). In the previous two articles [Pet Diet] Cat Food Selection - Dry Feed (Part 1) and (Part 2), it was mentioned that the ingredients listed earlier in the ingredient list account for more weight, and cats’ nutritional needs are high-quality protein. , that is, muscles. However, the first three ingredients of this brand of feed are not only low-quality grains and fats, but the following ingredients are not clean and fresh muscles.

This feed controls the disease by reducing the amount of protein, phosphorus and sodium in the feed, allowing the blood test values ​​to return to the normal range. However, its protein content is not only exaggeratedly low, but also of poor quality.

Moisture content of prescription feed

Regardless of whether it is prescription feed or high-quality feed, the moisture content of dry feed is not higher than 10%. Kidney cats need a lot of water, so prescription feed is definitely not suitable for long-term consumption by kidney cats.

What should I eat if I don’t eat prescribed feed?

In addition to nutritional supplements that are specifically designed to provide nutritional supplements for cats with kidney disease, it is recommended to choose canned or homemade fresh food that is low in phosphorus, low in sodium, and slightly lower in protein, and try to make the cat drink more water.

The prescribed feed can only be used for a short period of time at most to allow the values ​​to return to the normal range. It is not a medicine, cannot cure diseases, and cannot be consumed by healthy cats. Sick cats need to absorb sufficient and high-quality nutrients. Various diseases or symptoms must also find the root cause and treat or improve them to achieve a permanent cure.