Please forgive me for breaking the cardinal cat rule - I don’t have a picture to post at this time.
Raven, is a 17 year old short haired domestic kitteh with attitude. She also has kidney insufficiency. (They no longer call it kidney failure, because that’s too depressing.) The vet tells me she has 1-2 more years before it will take her out. She’s had a good long run, but I’d prefer to keep her going as long as possible.
When she first adopted me, she was a small but healthy nine pounds. Now, she’s down to just under six. Her coat is good, but you can feel her hip bones and her shoulder bones all too well.
The trouble is, she’s beyond a picky eater. Previously, we’d had her on the cheap, stinky cat food, as that was the only thing she’d eat, and even then, we had to swap flavors twice a week to keep her interested. Now I’ve got the KD Science Diet specially formulated for kitties with bad kidneys. She likes the kibble, but after three days of the canned food, she turned her nose up. The only way I can get her to eat it now is to mix it 50-50 with the cheap, stinky food.
Even then, she eats a few bare mouthfuls and leaves the rest to dry out and get nasty. As far as I can tell, she needs to eat about twice of what she currently is. I’ve tried different foods out on her. She sniffs, thinks about it, and then stalks away. I’ve added salmon oil, both for the calories, the omega-3s, and the smell, and it might as well be Play-Do.
My kitty needs to eat more, but she’s far too well armed for me to force feed.
Since she’s not long for this world, have you thought about maybe just letting her have the good stuff? Maybe a handful of ground beef/turkey/chicken/pork mixed in with the other stuff?
When my previous cat was losing weight, I would feed her a nutritional supplement that came in a tube. It was some kind of calorie-dense malt-based substance that was apparently quite tasty to cats as she’d lick it off my finger as a special treat.
My vet says that even his cat won’t eat the special kidney food. My cats (and I have one super-finicky girl) love a brand called Weruva. Of course, this stuff happens to be one of the most expensive brands I can find (rolleyes), but they always clean their plates.
Our cat had some urinary problems a couple of years ago (requiring surgery) and he wouldn’t even touch the bland-diet food. Of course, he wouldn’t eat at all after the surgery until our vet prescribed him some valium. It worked like a charm.
There are several kidney formulation diets on the market for kitties. Your vet should be able to hook you up with some sample cans you can try. I know for sure that Purina and Walthams both make their own kidney supportive diets and there may be others that have come out since I was last in practice.
That said, your girl may still turn up her nose.
Talk some more with your vet. Picky eaters are a problem we deal with pretty often. They should have the latest tricks.
You could try warming the canned food a bit–it increases the stink factor, which is a big thing in kitty appetites. You could try hand-feeding her, sometimes that helps. Or I’ve had luck getting kitties to eat meat baby foods, like strained lamb or veal, but a high-protein food like that puts extra strain on her kidneys.
I gotta ask, though, if she likes the dry kibble, why not just put her on that? It’s not got the water content of the wet, but it’s usually easier to do just do sq fluids on them from time to time than to struggle with getting them to eat something else.
I had a kitty who needed weight, too. In the last year she was alive I pretty much gave her whatever she’d eat, whenever she’d eat it.
When she wasn’t happy with her wet food I’d sometimes pour a little gravy on it. She preferred Heinz Homestyle Pork. I also found that she had a thing for Cheez Whiz. Go figure.
Actually, that’s not far off…I’ve noticed that after a good catnip session, my cats are lined up at their bowl!
This is strictly silly, but I’ve also found that any food the cats think is mine is much more enticing to them…if your kitty likes to investigate and steal from your plate, maybe you could trick her into thinking it’s people food…put it on your plate at the table (or, in my case, computer desk!) and then walk away…
a cat-sized bong (I thought bongs were mostly smaller than cats)
valium (I wouldn’t mind a little for myself, especially after having force fed her a pill)
baby food made of meat
gravy on the wet food
catnip
raw chicken livers
tricking the cat into thinking its mine
warming the food in the microwave.
Okay, so I’ve already been warming the food. It helps. I also picked up some shrimp and fish last night. Chopped fine and warmed, she scarfed it up. All other suggestions will be duly tried. About the only one I don’t think has a chance is the catnip, as wee Raven has no interest in the herbal refreshments.
Sorry, I had 2 sick kids this weekend, and didn’t see this until now. I recommend raw. Don’t shock her with a sudden complete change, but just toss a little raw meat in with her regular food. Animals have the natural ability to digest raw meat without all the issues we humans do. They can also eat raw bones (never cooked – those can splinter), and it’s actually a great source of loads of vitamins/minerals for them.
Now, I don’t have a cite, but I suppose I could try to find one if you insist, but I remember reading several years ago that cats are finicky eaters because unlike humans, dogs or many other animals, they lack the ability to taste sweets and other specific tastes. They are primarily driven by protein.
Really, though, my suggestion was meant more along the lines of “since she probably won’t live much longer, why not just let her be happy while she does” than “here’s an idea to prolong her life.” You know?
Now, all that having been said, I will say that I have recently switched my dogs over to a partial-raw diet. They still get dry dog food, but I also give them raw meat and bones. In only a week, I noticed that the wolf’s fur took on a high gloss and he calmed down immensely. Now, mind you, that calming effect could be due to getting a little older, puppies are like that, but the fur? Totally going to attribute it to the meat and the bones – especially since I have noticed the chihuahua’s coat getting glossier. The chihuahua has been feed dry dog food since day one, mostly because I didn’t want him to fall into the small dog trap of being spoiled and begging for human food, but it makes no sense to feed them different diets, so here we are.
If you have the time and inclination and money for it, definitely look at a raw diet. For one cat, I would imagine it wouldn’t be too costly, and I am sure there are specialty diets that take into account stuff such as kidney issues (I mean, hell, people are told to eat certain things and not eat certain things when we have kidney issues, surely we know enough about animals to do the same, right?)
Caveat is that I am not one of those new age/homeopathic people that thinks that my animals have to have the best of the best of the best and that commercial foods are part of the evil agenda. I just think that from personal experience my animals that have been fed table scraps tend to be healthier and live longer than those who only got commercial foods. Plus, if I feed them the same thing (only raw instead of cooked) that I feed my family, that’s less money spent. Not to mention come hunting seasons, we know enough hunters to keep the boys in raw venison and turkey necks for a while. I am doing the partial raw because I don’t have time to create specialised (read personalised) diets for a 40 - 60 lb wolf versus a 5 lb chihuahua, so I know that they will get many essential nutrients from the dog food, but they will both benefit from the nutrients in the raw foods. I might take them to a full raw diet eventually, when I have done enough research to justify it, but no promises.
As for your kitty, I say just make her happy while you can and enjoy her being happy – how many cats aren’t happy getting a handful of tuna packed in water?