Please can I pick your brains again regarding my cat with renal failure. After a promising start of a day or two he now will not touch the renal food at all (any brand) so he is now on pouches of Felix Senior - As good as it looks. He loves this and I want to keep him on it as he is eating so well. However I now want to add some phosphorus binder to that.

How much should I add to the 100 g sachet I give him. He eats about 3 sachets a day. I believe I just sprinkle it on and mix it round and pray he doesnt notice its there and stop eating..

Its a bit of a challenge as have two other cats who obviously dont need the binder so am feeding him in another room.

Thanks for any advice.

Would it not be a good idea to phone your vet and check with them? Five minutes, expert help, job done.

Thanks Susie that was really helpful and constructive.

Perhaps - at what has been a really sad and challenging time for me - I wanted advice from various cat owners as to how best to administer the binder and learn from their experiences. Please dont be so quick to be flippant when I am struggling at the moment.

I think, like me, Suzie is suprised and perhaps concerned that the vet has not advised you.

Many of us on the forum - myself included twice - have had a cat go through CRF. This is the first time I have heard of using a phospherous binder. So, I too would think that the vet would be your best source of information.

Other than the usual advice for administering medication of mixing with strong flavoured foods - sardine, shiphams sandwich paste, salmon and/or warming the food it is fed in. Or seeing if you can get a liquid or pill form of the medication that can be administered without food (added bonus of getting an exact dose)

There is a very good website for CRF cats though it seems to have a number of broken links at present:
http://www.felinecrf.org/
http://www.felinecrf.org/which_foods.htm#low_phosphorus
http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_uk.htm

Unfortunately there is no indication fo the % phospherus in the food you are giving at present, but
However I would expect how much phospherus binder to use would be on the packing for the binder? It might vary from make to make.

Thank you, yes I was! I have two cats with serious illnesses, and if I had any queries about their medication I'd contact the vet first.

My vet advised me to put a phosphorus binder in with my cat's food it was Felix Senior in Jelly as she hated renal cat food.
The binder binds the phosphorus in a newly consumed meal to stop it going into the body or bloodstream

I just divided it up between the pouches I was using, I also had a renal dried cat food from Zooplus. Phosphorus level in renal cats has to be a low as possible there are two types of binder Renagel or Ipakitine,

I lost my first renal kitty in 1992, my second in 2010 and my beloved kitty in 2011.

Thank you for all your responses. My cat is having his annual check up this week and of course I was going to discuss all this with her.

Its just so useful and supportive to talk to other owners who have experienced this. To work with a renal failure cat is one thing but to live with one is another and each cat is a challenge in its own unique way - so its great to hear what your experiences are.

Piper - so sorry to hear you have lost three of your cats through this illness.