Virbac Launches Vikaly™: The World’s First 2-in-1 Medicated Food for Cats

We are proud to announce the launch of Vikaly™, a breakthrough innovation in the management of feline chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the world’s first 2-in-1 medicated food for cats. Vikaly™ integrates the pharmaceutical active ingredient benazepril, for the reduction of proteinuria, into a highly palatable clinical renal diet, offering a convenient, effective and cost-conscious solution to improve treatment compliance.  

Vikaly™ is indicated for the nutritional and medical management of chronic kidney disease in adult and senior cats with proteinuria, from IRIS stage 2.

CKD remains the leading cause of mortality in cats over five years old and affects up to 40% of feline patients over the age of ten1,2. Administering daily treatment is recognised as a major issue for CKD cat owners with 45% of owners not administering treatment daily as they should and 51% of owners citing administration difficulties as the reason why3. 

Vikaly™ simplifies treatment by integrating benazepril, a trusted ACE inhibitor, directly into a clinical renal diet and delivers the same therapeutic dosage as benazepril tablets (0.5–1 mg/kg bodyweight/day).  This eliminates the need to administer medication separately, improving treatment compliance and reducing stress for both cats and their owners.

Nutrition is key to managing uraemia and slowing the progression of CKD in cats and is the foundation of any multimodal treatment approach. Vikaly™ provides highly palatable clinical renal nutrition with:

• Low phosphorus (0.5% as fed)
• Reduced protein (30% as fed)
• Omega-3 fatty acids (1.2%, including 0.6% EPA & DHA)
• High metabolisable energy (416 kcal/100g)

Due to the pharmacokinetic profile of benazepril, which is incorporated into the kibble, at an equivalent dose Vikaly™ displays greater ACE inhibition than benazepril tablets4. The rate of food consumption also does not affect plasma Benazeprilat levels, ensuring consistent treatment efficacy regardless of the cat’s feeding behaviour5. In practice, this means that even if the cat being treated consumes less than 50% of their daily ration, efficacy is maintained with ACE activity similar to that of benazepril tablets.

Benazepril has a wide therapeutic margin, tolerated to 20x the minimum effective dose (10mg/kg) for 52 weeks, with the first signs of toxicity being reduced erythrocytes counts & ovary/oviduct weights6. With Vikaly™, these levels cannot be reached due to its association with food consumption, which would require a cat to consume more than 10 times their daily ration. 

Vikaly™ empowers veterinary surgeons to offer cat owners a cost-effective, all-in-one solution that eliminates the challenges of administration, removes the risk of missed doses and ensures confident, stress-free prescribing. Available exclusively through veterinary prescription, it also maintains professional oversight and optimal care.

Presented in a 1.5kg bag, which would equate to a 30 day supply for a 4.5kg cat with normal bodyweight, Vikaly™ can be fed alongside wet food, providing that the cat consumes at least 50% of their daily ration before being given the wet food. The daily ration can also be administered in several smaller meals throughout the day, to accommodate the individual preferences of the cat and to promote consistent food intake. 

‘Vikaly™ is the culmination of Virbac’s 50+ years of expertise in both veterinary pharmaceuticals and nutrition’ said Aimee Lawrence, Product Manager at Virbac.  ‘It reflects our unwavering commitment to supporting veterinary surgeons with innovative solutions that elevate standards of care. Administering medications to cats is notoriously challenging, so with Vikaly™ we’re opening a new era in the management of feline chronic kidney disease’.

For more information on Vikaly™, or to request a Vikaly™ Vet User Guide, please contact your local Virbac Territory Manager or visit us on stand K45 at London Vet Show.

Or visit the product page here

1. Conroy et al. Veterinary Record. 2019; 184: 526-526. 2. Sparkes et al. J Feline Med Surg. 2016;18(3):219-239. 3. Internal compliance survey among owners of cats diagnosed with CKD (n=675) conducted in 2025 in France, Spain & Germany. 4. Internal study on 112 CKD cats in field conditions either fed a medicated diet containing benazepril or treated with benazepril tablets (0.5-1 mg Benazepril/kg BW), 2023. 5. Internal study on 24 healthy cats either fed a medicated diet containing benazepril or treated with benazepril tablets (0.5-1 mg Benazepril/kg BW), 2011-2012. 6. Benamix premix summary of product characteristics.