Dr. Pierson on Renal Disease/ Fish Oil

Why Supplementing With Fish Oil/Omega-3s Is so Important
So let's say we have a cat for which we regularly check urine specific gravity, and all is well until kitty turns 9 or 10 and his number dips to, say, 1.025. We take him in for an SDMA test, and the vet determines he's in the beginning stages of renal disease. I asked Dr. Lisa how she would proceed at that point.

"First of all, let's hope the cat has been off of dry food all his life, or at least as soon as his owner learned dry food is not a very healthy diet for a cat," she says. "So let's hope he's on a water-rich diet.

Regarding urine specific gravity: Picture a sieve in your kitchen, and the holes of that sieve are getting bigger and bigger and bigger. When urine specific gravity drops, it means the kidneys are leaking more and more water. They're unable to save water for the body.

There's nothing that frustrates me more than to see cat owners leave their vet's office with a bag of fluids under one arm and a bag of dry food under the other arm. They've been told to feed a water-depleted diet and then stick a needle in their cat's back to put water into him. That's pretty nonsensical

The sensible approach? Step one, provide a water-rich diet. Step two, the diet should be low in phosphorus. Step three, supplement with omega-3 fatty acids— fish oil, fish oil, fish oil. When we do post-mortems on these cats, we see nephritis. 'Neph-' means kidney, '-itis' means inflammation.

We know that fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) plus docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are anti-inflammatory. There was a meta-data study done that looked back at all the individual CKD studies that were done, and the researchers discovered that cats getting high amounts of fish oil seemed to live the longest.

 

The entire article can be found here: A Feline Expert Shares Her Dos and Don'ts for Caring for Cats With Kidney Disease by Dr. Karen Shaw Becker. The section referenced in JoyBee&Ravan's post above is close to half way down the page.

 

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sit...8/03/06/cat-care-tips-for-kidney-disease.aspx

 

Thank you both for the information

 

I needed this today! Thank you.

 

I know we are not supposed to feed our cats too much fish. I forgot the reason why though. i wonder if the fish oil would cause the same issues as too much fish

 

Fish contains mercury, oil does not.

 

A Word About Fish Versus Fish Oil
For those of you confused as to why we're recommending fish oil but not fish, I should clarify that our issue with fish as a protein source is that not only are many types of fish contaminated, they are also high in iodine, which can cause hyperthyroidism. Good-quality fish oil supplements don't contain iodine and are tested for purity and potency, which means they're screened for heavy metals and PCBs.

Fish oil also doesn't cause food sensitivities, unlike fish fed as a protein source. Bottom line, fish oil is really in an entirely different category from fish fed as a protein source. It's protein versus fat, as Dr. Lisa points out. Fish oil is safe and a good source of omega-3 essential fatty acids. However, feeding fish to cats is not recommended. (300 mg per day)

 

Thanks.