Thanks WS, I knew you'd have something helpful. The vets office sold us a few cans to try but I wasn't sure what to look for.

I read that but now I'm confused. My cat drinks tons of water, and eats mostly wet food these days as she's old and her teeth aren't great. But the vet recommended a low protein diet, not high protein. Hrm. But thank you. More info is good, even if it takes me a while to process it.

I seem to recall something about protein and uric acid, possibly from Hubby's gout days, but that may just be a random concatenation of facts that don't really go together.

(our spell checker knows how to spell concatenation! Even the board itself is smart!)

Until recently any classes on nutrition at veterinary schools were merely seminars taught by reps from Iams or Hill's and not to be relied upon to truly educate

I knew that Hill's and Iams pushed their product through vet schools, but did something change recently?

I felt like a magician last summer when I realized how good egg salad is with an avocado in the mix.

Mashed or chopped avocado? Because I love egg salad and am still looking for the perfect recipe.

A little of both -- I diced the avocado and then mashed about half of it, which meant I could use less mayo. My ratio is 4 eggs to 1 avocado.

I've been hearing that younger, newer vets are actually being taught about the real nutrition needs of animals. I have not yet experienced that as all the vets at my local clinic are my age or older and I am 100% certain that I know more about feline nutritional needs than they do. In other words, when they tell me something that is opposite of what I believe, I generally stick to my guns and feed my cats what I think best. One example is those ridiculous dental chews they send home with the cats after dental cleanings. One of the ingredients is corn syrup. No. Just no. Here's a hint: If a dentist tells you, "You don't seem to be doing a good enough job brushing you teeth in between visits, so what I want you to do is chew on some licorice," - find a new dentist. On the other hand, a friend from college who just got a couple of kittens after spending the last 7 years catless reported to me that the nutrition advice she got from her shiny new vet was startlingly different from what she was used to hearing. It was also much more in line with what I know. When she asked me about it, I was able to confirm and elaborate rather than contradict and re-teach.

As I understand it, even in humans with renal failure they are starting to realize that going low protein too soon in the course of the disease undermines general health and leads to greater weakness overall. And naturally not all doctors have caught up. With cats, as I understand it, since they are obligate carnivores, they are designed to thrive on eating prey animals and their digestive systems are not designed to handle plant-based foods. So it is even more perilous to start a cat in renal failure on a low protein diet too soon. Which diet leads to one's elimation systems dealing with fewer toxins: nutrient-dense food that satisfies one's needs with a relatively small amount of food; or food diluted with fillers that causes one to eat more in order to meed the body's needs and ultimately causes other health problems due to the poor quality?

When Harvey first had struvite crystals in his urine, I was still feeding him Purina. I followed the vet's advice to start him on whatever Hill's Prescription food. That was higher quality food. So he ate less and was generally healthier. But it was not until I learned enough about feline nutrition to suspect Harvey had some food allergies, and so switched him to the Iams low-pH and then learned enough to be unsatisfied with that quality that I rebelled against veterinary advice. I started feeding him half Iams Veterinary food, and half even higher quality foods such as Merrick, Natural Balance, Evo, Nature's Variety, etc. I also flat-out refused any suggestions to re-introduce dry food to his diet. He got even healthier. Then when Iams changed their formula to include fish, I dug my heels in and refused to feed it to Harvey any more. We went a few rounds with medication to acidify his urine, but it made him nauseated. When we retested his urine to see just how necessary the medication was, it turned out he was doing just fine on the better foods with no need for medication. And on these quaity foods, he eats even less. One 5.5 oz can feeds both cats for a day.

FLUTD is not the same as renal failure. I know I would have to think long and hard before defying veterinary advice in that event. But I think I would hold out until the end stages before switching to a low protein diet.

This would definitely be early stages of renal disease, WS, so thank you for your advice. She is 16 and has always had a thing about drinking lots and lots of water, and consequently she urinates frequently. I've had her checked for diabetes regularly, but tests say no. The only thing off about her latest tests was higher liver panels.

We already feed her Merrick Purrfect Bistro wet food and have been for years, We put out dry for her, but she eats roughly one 5.5oz can of food a day and maybe 1/8 cu of dry food. The flavors they gave us to try were Canidae and Hills. She preferred the Canidae, and it seems like a better brand. But from what you are saying it's probably too early to switch her to the renal diet food, since that's a lower protein diet.

Thanks, Andi! That's good to hear. My vets, although they're awesome in so many ways, put a lot of reliance on Hill's prescription products.

The blood test was negative for neural tube defects (like Spina Bifida)! We won't know for sure that there isn't one until our ultrasound in a couple of weeks, but I'm still relieved.

Yay, sj! That's wonderful news.