Question:
Some of you have had problems keeping special-diet food separated from kitties with different dietary needs. It can be daunting, can’t it? Hobo is diabetic and on a high-protein diet. He has a special prescription DM food, both dry and canned, and fortunately likes it and eats both with gusto. However, Speckles has a kidney problem, currently has lost over two-thirds of kidney function. She also likes Hobo’s food, which is, of course, the complete opposite of what’s good for her. They are fed in different rooms but Speckles finds ways to get to it. She was prescribed K/D food last summer but refused to touch it, still does. Her vet says that’s not uncommon and has given her a special prescription food, which she ate heartily the first couple of days. No more!! She won’t even sniff at it!! So, while I feel like I’m murdering my kitty, I’ve given in and reverted to her beloved Fancy Feast, which isn’t good for her but beats starving, and believe me, she *does* starve herself rather than give in to K/D or the special Eukanaba. But I think FF is better than the diabetes-management food and try to keep her out of *that*. Once a vet would give my non-eating cat a dose of Valium which would make a cat eat *anything*. It worked but was only a temporary Band-Aid treatment. Maybe I should try that and *force* her to eat the prescribed food. Jeanne Jeanne Hajos spamguard:( u is i, and not is net) === "Anger improves nothing except the arch of a cat’s back." — Coleman Cox My SETI team: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_125874.html
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some of you have had problems keeping special-diet food separated from kitties with different dietary needs. It can be daunting, can’t it? Hobo is diabetic and on a high-protein diet. He has a special prescription DM food, both dry and canned, and fortunately likes it and eats both with gusto. However, Speckles has a kidney problem, currently has lost over two-thirds of kidney function. She also likes Hobo’s food, which is, of course, the complete opposite of what’s good for her. They are fed in different rooms but Speckles finds ways to get to it. She was prescribed K/D food last summer but refused to touch it, still does. Her vet says that’s not uncommon and has given her a special prescription food, which she ate heartily the first couple of days. No more!! She won’t even sniff at it!! So, while I feel like I’m murdering my kitty, I’ve given in and reverted to her beloved Fancy Feast, which isn’t good for her but beats starving, and believe me, she *does* starve herself rather than give in to K/D or the special Eukanaba. But I think FF is better than the diabetes-management food and try to keep her out of *that*. Once a vet would give my non-eating cat a dose of Valium which would make a cat eat *anything*. It worked but was only a temporary Band-Aid treatment. Maybe I should try that and *force* her to eat the prescribed food. Jeanne Jeanne Hajos spamguard:( u is i, and not is net) === "Anger improves nothing except the arch of a cat’s back." — Coleman Cox My SETI team: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_125874.html
My vet said she used to prescibe strict prescription diet for her kidney kits, but after a while with the number that wouldn’t eat at all, it has become her policy to get them to eat period whatever they will as that causes less complications than not eating at all, which is what can happen. If it eases your mind any, I believe there is a healthy debate going on in the vet community that it is perhaps NOT a low protien diet that is the answer and some believe higher protien diets are more important. I say as long as you get her to eat it is better than not.
Response:
If it eases your mind any, I believe there is a healthy debate going on in the vet community that it is perhaps NOT a low protien diet that is the answer and some believe higher protien diets are more important. I say as long as you get her to eat it is better than not.
Yes, it *does* ease my mind. Thank you. I’ve been truly concerned about it – we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that we’re going to lose Speckles since she has only 1/3 kidney function and has lost a pound in the past month – but I want her last to be "happy meals" and if she enjoys what allegedly is not good for her, well, I guess that’s all right. Jeanne
Response:
Jeanne, I sort of had to face that with my RB kitty Frodo who had both kidney and liver problems. They started to show up when he was around 15. He wouldn’t eat the special foods either so I decided that quality of life was most important for him and I let him eat his food. In other ways I managed his conditions with daily lactacted ringer fluids for his kidneys and prednisone for his liver. He lived to be 3 weeks shy of 21 and actually had a good quality of life up until the last few months. Christine
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some of you have had problems keeping special-diet food separated from kitties with different dietary needs. It can be daunting, can’t it? Hobo is diabetic and on a high-protein diet. He has a special prescription DM food, both dry and canned, and fortunately likes it and eats both with gusto. However, Speckles has a kidney problem, currently has lost over two-thirds of kidney function. She also likes Hobo’s food, which is, of course, the complete opposite of what’s good for her. They are fed in different rooms but Speckles finds ways to get to it. She was prescribed K/D food last summer but refused to touch it, still does. Her vet says that’s not uncommon and has given her a special prescription food, which she ate heartily the first couple of days. No more!! She won’t even sniff at it!! So, while I feel like I’m murdering my kitty, I’ve given in and reverted to her beloved Fancy Feast, which isn’t good for her but beats starving, and believe me, she *does* starve herself rather than give in to K/D or the special Eukanaba. But I think FF is better than the diabetes-management food and try to keep her out of *that*. Once a vet would give my non-eating cat a dose of Valium which would make a cat eat *anything*. It worked but was only a temporary Band-Aid treatment. Maybe I should try that and *force* her to eat the prescribed food. Jeanne Jeanne Hajos spamguard:( u is i, and not is net) === "Anger improves nothing except the arch of a cat’s back." — Coleman Cox My SETI team: http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/stats/team/team_125874.html
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If it eases your mind any, I believe there is a healthy debate going on in the vet community that it is perhaps NOT a low protien diet that is the answer and some believe higher protien diets are more important. I say as long as you get her to eat it is better than not. Yes, it *does* ease my mind. Thank you. I’ve been truly concerned about it – we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that we’re going to lose Speckles since she has only 1/3 kidney function and has lost a pound in the past month – but I want her last to be "happy meals" and if she enjoys what allegedly is not good for her, well, I guess that’s all right. Jeanne
Terry, my dog through my middle years and early adolescence, was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on K/D. He hated it, and had been given only six months to live even with it. My mother decided to put him on Gravy Train, simply because he loved it. He filled out, and lived almost 3 years longer, dying of cardiac, not renal disease.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – If it eases your mind any, I believe there is a healthy debate going on in the vet community that it is perhaps NOT a low protien diet that is the answer and some believe higher protien diets are more important. I say as long as you get her to eat it is better than not. Yes, it *does* ease my mind. Thank you. I’ve been truly concerned about it – we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that we’re going to lose Speckles since she has only 1/3 kidney function and has lost a pound in the past month – but I want her last to be "happy meals" and if she enjoys what allegedly is not good for her, well, I guess that’s all right. Jeanne . .snip thats what my Henri died of, you have my sympathy Jeanne Jean.P. Terry, my dog through my middle years and early adolescence, was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on K/D. He hated it, and had been given only six months to live even with it. My mother decided to put him on Gravy Train, simply because he loved it. He filled out, and lived almost 3 years longer, dying of cardiac, not renal disease .thats great, they used to say a little bit of what you fancy does you good
Jean.P.
Response:
Terry, my dog through my middle years and early adolescence, was diagnosed with kidney failure and put on K/D. He hated it, and had been given only six months to live even with it. My mother decided to put him on Gravy Train, simply because he loved it. He filled out, and lived almost 3 years longer, dying of cardiac, not renal disease.
That’s a wonderful story! And encouraging to hear. Good for your Mom!!! So if Speckles is happier with her Fancy Feast, that’s what we’ll do. Thanks for posting. Jeanne
Response:
The big issue with feeding a CRF cat is phosphorus levels in food. Most brands of Fancy Feast are much too high. This following chart has phosphorus levels for a variety of different foods: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/jmpeerson/canfood.html You may be able to find something that has lower phosphorus levels that Fancy Feast that your cat will eat. Wellness or Innova Light are good options you might want to try. Megan "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -Edmund Burke Learn The TRUTH About Declawing http://www.stopdeclaw.com Zuzu’s Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way." – W.H. Murray
Response:
The big issue with feeding a CRF cat is phosphorus levels in food. Most brands of Fancy Feast are much too high. This following chart has phosphorus levels for a variety of different foods: http://www.sugarcats.net/sites/jmpeerson/canfood.html You may be able to find something that has lower phosphorus levels that Fancy Feast that your cat will eat. Wellness or Innova Light are good options you might want to try.
Thank you so much!!! I didn’t know about the phosphorus angle. I’ve checked out the chart and will go by that. There *are* some flavors of Fancy Feast that Speckles won’t eat and I can avoid those with higher phosphorus content. She’s so darn picky she won’t eat the Iams or others prepared for "mature" cats. I’ll most definitely try the Wellness/Innova Light. The prescription foods are so dense she acts as though she’s trying to gag down peanut butter! I do want her to have what’s best for her. I’m already moved to tears sometimes when I think of what’s ahead for her. (As an aside, I’m indebted to Megan for her help when I was a terrified newby with Hobo’s diabetes. I knew absolutely zilch about the disease. Megan spent hours of her time talking with me and gathering and sending invaluable information, which I still keep handy and refer to. Hobo is stable now, doing very well, gained back the four pounds he’d lost, and looks and acts great. Also I found a vet who not only OKs home testing but recommends the best testers!) Jeanne
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