Cat won't eat prescribed Hill's k/d; what can we do?
John Benton
Old cat is experiencing kidney failure and vet says he *must* eat a low
protein food such as Hill's k/d. Of course the cat hates it. Have tried
mixing with small amount of favorite food; doesn't work. Suggestions
please. TIA.
Ruth E. Russell
Whiska's (Waltham) makes a product called Vet's Choice, Select Care --
varying diets -- for kidney disease. Check to see if your vet can order it
for you. My cat will eat this, but refused to eat the Hills.
Ruth
John Benton wrote in message <6584fn$p...@argentina.earthlink.net>...
Brandon
John,
I have my cats on a food called Purina CNM, NF formula. It is a
prescription diet available through vets like the Hill's food is. My cats love
it and most cats that have been prescribed this diet also love it. Last I
heard, it is only available in dry form which isn't a problem for me but I
don't know if your kitty eats dry or canned. This particular formula is for
kidney problems but they also make specific diets for other types of problems.
You might want to ask your vet if he carries it or knows a vet that does.
Hope this helps!!
Shelly and friends
R Wrede
The scoop on the prescription kidney diets:
Vet's Choice Select Care MODIFIED can or dry
Purina CNM NF formula can (new!) & dry
Waltham's LOW PROTEIN can
Hills K/D can & dry
Lucky you - many choices available now! It would be better to feed canned
as it basically forces the cat to at least take in some fluids.
Palatability wise, Vet's Choice Modified canned and CNM's NF canned are
the tastiest per our taste "panel" ( a finicky bunch I assure you).
Renee Wrede
Feline Behavior Specialist
Visit my web page at:
http://home.att.net/~rwrede/my_business.html
Brandon <bran...@erols.com> wrote in article
<3478A3A2...@erols.com>...
: John,
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RobNHol
We had the same problem with our Kitty, Fleetwood. What we did was put her
on a diet of canned cat food with a 8-9.5% minimum protein level, and mixed
it half and half with pasta (elbow macaroni), rice, and mixed veggies. I
just microwaved the latter three ingredients with enough water to cover
them for 4-5 minutes or until tender and mixed it up with her favorite cat
foods. She was very hyper-thyroid as well, so the starches were good to
help put on the weight. Please, talk with your vet first, but our vet
recommended this treatment, and it worked great. She couldn't really eat
around anything but the lima beans...the starchy water and the rice sort of
bonded everything together. I suppose you could even food process the stuff
if worse came to worse. At 22+ years of age her kidney levels tested
normal. She lived to well past her 23rd birthday. I hope that this can help
your kitty.
Holly, Kaitlin, Chopin, Wacky and Cole
http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~robnhol/ourpets.htm
--
Spudgirl....er....Holly
http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~robnhol
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1536
"La La La Linoleum!" - Bert
John Benton <jbe...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
CATHYCLAR
my old cat had to eat same thing!!--kidneys too!!
he wouldn't eat the canned hills k/d but would sparingly eat the dry, esp if I
mixed in a few tastes of human tuna or tuna juice. When he wasn't feeling good
and would stop eating
alltogether for several days, the vet would jump start him eating like a pig
with a shot of valium. Eventually, I also had to give him water subcutaneously
to assist his kidneys.
Good luck with your cat. My P.T. is in heaven now eating whatever he pleases!
cathy
a big lost kitty
John Rosevear
John Benton wrote:
>
> Old cat is experiencing kidney failure and vet says he *must* eat a low
> protein food such as Hill's k/d. Of course the cat hates it. Have tried
> mixing with small amount of favorite food; doesn't work. Suggestions
> please. TIA.
Our elderly deaf albino Tristan is in much the same boat. He has been
on a strict diet for just over a year, and he really does prefer just
about anything to k/d. Old shoes, the rug, one of the other cats' ears,
you name it. His appetite doesn't seem much diminshed; he just hates
the k/d. For what it's worth, we have had some success tempting him
with:
Mixing roughly one part Sheba (a fairly low-protein "normal" cat food)
with three parts k/d;
Adding a bit of hot water to the k/d and mixing into a sort of smelly
mush;
Microwaving it -- fifteen seconds or so, no more -- until it's warm
enough to smell;
Draining the juice from a can of salt-free tuna (salt is BAD for cats
with CRF ("Chronic Renal Failure"), evidently) and blending that with
the k/d;
Doing all of the above at once.
Another suggestion we were given was to try feeding a bit of chicken
baby food (the real mushy high-fat stuff intended for very young babies)
as a supplement or treat. We use it to hold his attention during his
daily subcutaneous hydration sessions, and occasionally mix with his
k/d, with some success. We rotate strategies among the above, but he
definitely seems perkiest when given the baby food regularly, fwiw.
Another suggestion: If you have other cat(s), seclude your sick one for
a few minutes at his feeding time to give him first crack at the food
when it's at its warmest and smelliest.
A couple of days ago we began to round up a selection of prescrip and
non-prescrip low-protein foods to see if we could find something to
tempt him into eating more, as he is down to a scrawny 7 pounds from his
previous solid 13. I'll post the results next week, if you like.
- John Rosevear