Why would healthy senior cats with normal bloodwork need renal diet?

Question

We have 3 senior cats all > 13 years old. Everyone is healthy and their most recent blood-work is normal. My new vet recommended renal diet for all of them, despite their healthy blood-work. He said he recommends it for all senior cats. I'm unable to locate any research behind this, and never heard of this from the 5 vets I used to work for. Is there something to this for healthy senior cats? I'd do it if needed, but worry about this causing more harm than good. Thank you for your time. Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 14 years and 1 month old | 10 lbs

Maria DVM · Accepted Answer

It really depends on what the kidney levels look like and how concentrated the urine is on your cats. To be able to tell if a cat has kidney disease by looking at the blood work about 75% of the kidney was already damaged. Now there is a test to detect kidney disease earlier in cats. It is called the SDMA and it increases when about 25% of kidney function is lost. I typically do not switch older cats unless it shows on the SDMA or on the blood work. I would discuss this with your veterinarian. I do recommend that older cats eat wet food to increase water intake which in turn will also help with their kidneys and hydration overall. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Why would healthy senior cats with normal bloodwork need renal diet?

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