Welcome to our regular “Ask the Vet With Dr. Kris” segment! Dr. Kris answers as many of your questions as he can, and you can leave new questions for him in a comment.
Dr. Kris Chandroo (DVM, MSc, HBSc) has spent years in the trenches of real-life feline medicine, traveling from living rooms to laundry rooms to help cats live longer, happier lives. He’s turned his clinical know-how into vet-approved, lifesaving playbooks, videos, courses and blogs. He is the founder of 100x Mobile Vet, a mobile veterinary service with several locations in Ontario, Canada.He is the author of Nine Lives, One Mission: Vet-Approved Home Treatments for Cats with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).a comprehensive guide to this common disease in cats. Every page of this book is infused with Dr. Kris’ compassion and determination to give cat parents the tools and the confidence to make the right decisions, always in partnership with their veterinarian.
Porus One Kidney Support for Cats
We only had one question from Jennifer last month: Do you have any experience with Porus One? Do cats tend to accept it well in food? Since I’m already adding Phos Bind & my kitty’s appetite isn’t great, I’m hesitant to ask him to accept yet another additive. Which cats seem to benefit from this product the most, and is the benefit enough to warrant the extra expense? Thanks in advance.
Hi Jennifer,
Here’s what I like about Porus One: when companies start making products this targeted for cats with kidney disease, it means something important: cats are no longer the forgotten stepchildren of veterinary medicine. It means someone in the industry gives a damn!
What even is Porus One? In my BITE strategy for managing CKD, I discuss how to use the Gut-Kidney Axis to improve your cat’s health and slow down CKD. Think of a fish tank. In the fish tank, there is a filter. The filter adsorbs and converts impurities in the water, so the fish stay healthy. The filter actually removes toxins that would affect a fishes kidneys (yup, they can get CKD as well). Porus One is kind of the same…it eliminates toxins, and spares the kidney some workload.
In a nutshell, that’s what Porus One is for. We are intelligently utilizing the gut, to absorb and eliminate toxins. So it’s valid…and I believe could be worth a try.
You’re absolutely right to ask: will Porus One affect my cat’s appetite? In my BITE strategy to CKD, you will also note that appetite is everything. It’s part of the foundation for healthy kidneys too. From what’s been reported so far, it’s palatable. It only recently arrived in Canada. As I start using it with more clients, I’ll post updates. If you try it at home, please share how your cat does, too.
Do you have a question for Dr. Kris? Leave it in a comment and he’ll answer it in our next column.
Purrs of Wisdom is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This means that if you decide to purchase through any of our links, we get a small commission. We only spread the word about products and services we’ve either used or would use ourselves.
I started Lopan, my 13 y.o. siamese boy, on Porus 1 and the new Weruva WX for kidneys. At first he wasnt eating well and lost a 1/2 pound since our visit to vet a couple months ago. He is stage 2 CKD.
He is now ravenous! This Porus 1 is fantastic! He eats and asks for more!
Thank you for sharing your success with The Weruva diet and Porus One, Lesley! All my best to Lopan for continued good health.
My 18 yo cat was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease about six months ago. She has been on Porus One for roughly the same amount of time and her numbers have stabilized. I tried SubQ fluids with her but she squirms away. (She was part of a feral colony for the first twelve years of her life and has only recently allowed me to handle her.) I add a tablespoon and a half of water to her food (She likes Royal Canin Renal (E) canned food in loaf form) in the morning and at night. Her appetite is good. Her litter box habits are normal, and she rarely, if ever, vomits. I attribute her normalcy to Porus One, which she seems to like! On occasion, when her appetite seems to lag a bit, I will add a tiny bit of Fancy Feast ocean fish classic food to her bowl–or the juice mixed with water from a Fancy Feast can of chicken and liver classic. I do, however, have another formerly feral cat (age 12-14, approx), who is in stage one kidney disease, but refuses to eat food with Porus One added to it. I am hoping to slowly get him used to.
Thank you for sharing your experience with Porus One, Nancy. I hope your 18-year-old continues to do well!
Our 15 year old cat has spasms in her hind legs to the point where she can’t walk. Our local believes it is a spinal cord issue with no hope for recovery. We’ve tried meds and acupuncture. Acupuncture seems to help for a short time . Is there anything we can do to remedy this?
My 2 cats were given annual vaccines of Rabies and FVRCP in November 2023. They were both 3 years old. In December 2023 they were taken in for blood tests. Lucy was lethargic for 3 or 4 months. Lucy had stage 2 kidney failure and Lily had stage 1. Neither cat is related. I tried to treat Lily for this as she apparently was the least affected. But things got worse after each test. All the vets (3) said to keep giving her kidney diet. She was given a number of different drugs and she dropped 3 lbs from being almost 9 lbs. When I finally got Lucy in for a blood test in April 2025, she no longer had kidney failure, but had lost 2 lbs, thanks to the kidney diet, that also destroyed muscle and teeth. Started changing her diet and now she is happier and healthier. But Lily died in May 2025. I learned so much, but all too lately to help her. I have come to the conclusion that the kidney diet is a starvation diet. Better to have food that reduces the Phosphorus and sodium. Still in shock of 2 three old cats coming down with kidney failure. I was feeding them expensive canned food, so it wasn’t their diet. Maybe Lily was more prone to failure as she always drank lots of water even when she was a kitten. But 2 cats at 3, seems like a problem with the vaccines.
My 15 year old is on Azodyl Caps 100 mg 3 caps a day. What is your experience with this over the counter addative that I sprinkle on her food? I have her on appetite stimulators mirtazapine and cerenia. I also started her on an arthritis injection every month to help her with her arthritis. Any input would be appreciated. Thank You.
I have a tuxedo kitty that is 18 years old . For the last couple of years, she does a lot of howling, mostly after she has eaten.. sometimes early in the morning she’ll do more howling, and I’m attributing this to her hearing loss . She is not completely deaf, but has had hearing loss because now when we run the vacuum cleaner in the house, she stays put in her bed on top of the sofa. She gets a high protein diet and no dry food and in the past occasionally raw food for the last 10 years. Her appetite is good and last year she went in for a dental cleaning and had two teeth removed, which allowed her to eat better without pulling the sides of her face. Is there anything else I should be doing or is the howling normal?
I’m curious about updates on this too. I don’t have a need for it right now, but we never know what the future will bring.