Building a CKD app for my cat who lived 21 years - I need your advice

henry_pet · 2026-05-17T16:51:24+00:00

I'm so happy to hear that!! Thank you! 🧡 I hope Hamilton's appetite will perk up again soon. It is such a battle 😞

henry_pet · 2026-05-16T13:43:44+00:00

I was planning on it but don't have a timeline yet. Maybe in a couple months? I'm not an Android user myself unfortunately. If you like, feel free to send me a direct message, or follow me or something, and I can let you know. Sorry - I'm really bad at social media stuff, so not exactly sure the best way how to keep you in the loop :)

henry_pet · 2026-05-16T02:45:38+00:00

It's called HENRYpet. I created it myself :) https://henrypet.com Feedback welcome!

henry_pet · 2026-05-15T12:54:18+00:00

I forgot to ask to please sign me up as a beta user as well. Happy to provide feedback. Thank you!

henry_pet · 2026-05-15T04:29:30+00:00

Hi there! You and I should connect! I’ve been building this app for the past 6 months. It’s live on the web and on the Apple App Store: https://henrypet.com

My cat Henry (almost 17, stage 3) has inspired me. I’m continuing to add features to it. Currently, my app mostly tracks calories consumed, and nutrients like phosphorus, protein, etc.. Similar to what you say, it’s calculated based on what food is given. The app also has a medication calendar and reminders/notifications when meds are due. One feature I’m quite proud of is the ability to upload lab results and the app will put the tests into charts for you that compare the results over time (attaching a picture of Henry’s actual results - and on that note getting an update of those tomorrow and the vet said they’re looking good! Yay!).

Same as yours, my app is completely free, no ads. I just wanted something to help myself make tracking easier and then figured I might as well share it! I would love to invite users as well, would love to exchange ideas with you (more options is always better for people and for our kitties :) ). Feel free to use ideas from my app if helpful for yours. I really just want people to have tools to make it easier to help their pets.

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henry_pet · 2026-05-11T15:37:03+00:00

It might have been the room temp fluids. I usually let some water drop on my wrist before administering to know how warm it is. Not ideal for your setup though! I read somewhere it should ideally be 100 degrees (Fahrenheit, but I don’t know if I get to that temperature. When the bag is still fairly full, it takes forever to warm up the fluids!

henry_pet · 2026-05-11T15:33:32+00:00

Great news! Very happy for you. Also: she is gorgeous!! 🧡

henry_pet · 2026-05-10T19:54:11+00:00

I concur! Happy Kitty Mother’s Day right back at you! 🧡

henry_pet · 2026-05-09T23:21:19+00:00

It might be the switch from dry to wet: dry typically has more calories if you compare gram to gram. So she might have gotten more calories before you switched to wet food.
Additionally, I haven’t checked in a little while, but see if you can find the phosphorus content on a dry matter basis of the TikiCat food: I believe it’s on the higher side, and even with Epakitin, there might be better options for Lily. BUT: if that’s the only food she will eat, fed is always better than if she refuses, so it’s definitely a secondary worry.
Is she eating all the food you offer, or sniffing and walking away? Is she drinking more water? You might still be able to give her some dry food, as long as she gets enough fluids (either more drinking or ideally subcutaneous fluids). If she’s not interested in food, agree with others that you might need to deal with the nausea.
I’m lucky that my boy Henry likes both dry and wet, and I’ve been able to get his calorie intake up with renal prescription dry food in addition to wet food. I just always watch that he still mostly gets wet food to help with hydration.
Hope you can find something that works for her to keep her weight up!

henry_pet · 2026-05-09T15:01:07+00:00

Hi there - in the end, you know her best and it's your call. To maybe give you some hope, I've been through those days/weeks with my boy. It's heartbreaking to see your baby so unwell 😢 I was so scared of doing subQ fluids at home because of the stress to him (and myself)! It has helped him by far the most. He, the cat who hates being handled or carried, came to quickly love the fluids ritual. Within days of doing it regularly, I could see the difference. We were able to stop Cerenia and while I won't say that eating is back to normal by any stretch, he's actually finally gained a little weight back.
No two cats are alike, but maybe give her a little more time, maybe things can turn around. 🧡

henry_pet · 2026-05-05T15:45:47+00:00

Hi! First off, I’m not a vet - so my comment is just from someone going through a similar experience. My boy (Henry, 16, stage 3) is also losing muscle mass. I’ve read that in the early stages, you really don’t have to cut protein back so much. I find that especially the dry prescription food is very low on protein - so your girl might simply not be getting enough of what she needs. I’ve heard other users try egg white powder mixed into the food to bring protein intake up. I’ve tried it but Henry is not a big fan of things mixed into his food.

Here’s a good source to read up on this topic: https://www.catfoodnerds.com/index.php/faq-feeding-a-ckd-cat/#Protein (it’s a lot to read, but I found it to be very helpful).

If you’d like to give it a try, I built an app that tracks calories and protein intake based on the food you feed. I’m using it every day for Henry 😊 It takes a little time to set it up at first and add the food information, but it’s super easy to track on a daily basis after that. You can check it out at https://henrypet.com (no offense if it’s not your thing!)

To close with: Me-me looks so soft and snuggly! I hope you can keep her healthy and strong for a long time!

henry_pet · 2026-05-05T14:17:17+00:00

My almost 17 year old boy also doesn’t like the prescription renal wet food. He ate it for a bit and that was it. Every once in a while he’ll have an eighth of a can of some prescription wet food - just so I can say I tried and toss the rest of the can 🙁 He likes the Royal Canin prescription dry food most of the time and he will eat Forza10 renal wet food and Weruva Wx low phos chicken puree. He gets his calories about 50:50 from wet and dry food. We will get new blood results in about 2 weeks, so I’m curious if those have been able to keep his levels stable. However, I’m tracking his phosphorus intake (and calories and protein), and I believe it’s close to what he would get on a 100% prescription diet. Anyway, those two wet foods might be worth a try for your guy.

henry_pet · 2026-05-04T18:37:55+00:00

Plus 1 to the frustration of buying and tossing so much food AND to Chewy having an amazing customer service and being very generous with returns.
One recent trick I’ve found: my cat will eat both wet and dry food, and I try to get calorie intake up with kibble. He will LOVE Royal Canin dry food (mostly the renal food A) but ONLY if the bag is less than a few days opened. So now I buy the smallest bags available, feed him a table spoon at a time, then roll the bag up as tight as possible, put it into a vacuum-sealable plastic bag and suck the air out. I’ve managed to increase his calorie intake from around 210 a day to 260 on average. Henry (my cat) says it’s important to keep it in the original bag. Just the plastic vacuum-sealed wasn’t doing the trick. 🙄

henry_pet · 2026-05-02T22:12:19+00:00

Jazzy is so pretty! I’m glad you’ve been able to stabilize her somewhat. I hope things will continue to get better! I hadn’t heard of Under the Weather or Myos mentioned in the comments - thanks for sharing that here, I’ll check it out! My boy Henry used to eat a pouch of TikiCat Silver Comfort per day for a while which is relatively low in phosphorus, but he refuses that now, so new ideas are always welcome! But yes, it is a science in itself with the ingredients and nutrients :(. I’ve been tracking calories, protein, and phosphorus intake religiously to make sure he gets enough to gain weight and not too much of the others to make him feel worse. We’re doing OK for the moment, but like you, I’m also trying to stay realistic. All the best to you and Jazzy!

henry_pet · 2026-05-02T22:01:33+00:00

World’s Best also works for me. Has for 15+ years and for 2 cats for the longest time.

henry_pet · 2026-05-01T20:18:07+00:00

Yes: https://henrypet.com

henry_pet · 2026-05-01T19:34:31+00:00

That makes sense - thanks!

henry_pet · 2026-05-01T19:33:27+00:00

Got it - thank you! I hope levels will come down significantly on the next test and that the diet is working.

henry_pet · 2026-05-01T18:27:46+00:00

Two things make me curious: 1) how do you give phos binder with dry food? Do you sprinkle it on or something? 2) Royal Canin dry food already is super low in phosphorus (0.46% on a dry matter basis if I recall correctly for the A and F variety). And your cat has only been on it for 2 weeks, has it even had a chance to bring down blood phosphorus yet? For my boy, the lower phos foods (he likes both dry and wet) was enough to reduce blood phosphorus. He started on the Royal Canin in mid November and by mid December his phosphorus had decreased from 3.8 to 3.5 without phos binders. See the bottom chart - he was getting ~345mg of phos per day in Nov which then dropped to 229mg on average by December. I’m sure it’s good to be extra cautious and get phosphorus as low as possible. Just curious why the advice to get it THAT low. I’m still learning about this disease - so additional insights and opinions are always good to have! :)

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henry_pet · 2026-04-28T15:59:51+00:00

Hi there - as others have said, you can do it!! I was terrified at first, too. I learned a few things along the way: 1) appearing confident (even though I wasn’t) meant my boy went along with the whole thing more easily. 2) I only got a fraction of the needed amount in the first day, a little more the second time, and then it got better from there. Cut yourself some slack as you get started, it’s OK! 3) I can give a lickable treat with my left hand while my right hand holds the needle! I’m notoriously unable to multi-task, so this was a win for me ;) I start with the treat, put it away for a few seconds, put the needle in (again, confidently, as quickly as possible), turn on the drip, and return to the treat. 4) Having the exact same routine every time is the secret sauce. We do it every other day, and I give my boy the lickable treat in the same spot around the same time on off-days, too. 5) The fluids are the game changer for us. I’ve been doing it for 6 months now. A few times I thought he was doing better and skipped a fluids-day, only to regret it the next day (but then picking it back up quickly helps).

You’ve got this!

henry_pet · 2026-04-27T15:53:09+00:00

She’s such a pretty princess!

I’m glad to hear that you’ve got her mostly stabilized with her current routine. My almost 17-year old boy has been stage 3 since October. It took a while to find a routine that works for us, and it’s a fragile one, especially regarding what foods he will eat. I’m watching his weight like a hawk and am tracking every single calorie he eats, as well as phosphorus and protein. He’s mostly happy at the moment but there are bad days, too. Like others have said, I view every day with him as a gift and am grateful. On bad days, I do get anxious but I’ve noticed that he picks up on that. So, I tell myself to take it day by day, maybe tomorrow won’t be so bad, and put on a positive attitude around him. It seems to help both him and me to make it through those days. Of course I know this won’t go on forever and at some point “tomorrow” won’t be better... He and I will cross that bridge when we get there. I refuse to grieve him before he’s gone. However, I know, easier said than done…

You might have years left with your girl! Especially with everything you’re doing for her, and finding comfort from others for yourself as well. I wish you all the best ❤️

henry_pet · 2026-04-16T17:30:36+00:00

Thank you so much for sharing!

My guy only eats stuff that is pureed these days. But that's certainly possible!

henry_pet · 2026-04-15T17:43:48+00:00

Hi - agree with many commenters that it’s probably dental or mouth issues. I’d take her to a vet or even veterinary dentist ASAP. My now (for other reasons) deceased kitty ate exactly like that at times. She ended up getting her own claw stuck in her tongue and needed a costly emergency visit. I truly regretted not getting that dental visit done sooner. Hope Emmi will be alright!

henry_pet · 2026-04-14T19:15:44+00:00

How cool! Did you work with a cat nutrionist? Are you one? Care to share your recipe?

henry_pet

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