CRF foods vs. grain free, also - won't eat wet

Oh what a jumbled title... I'll try to explain myself better.

My 16 year old was just diagnosed with CRF. The vet's only advice was to change her food to something like Hill's k/d. Copper has been on a high quality food her whole life, and grain free for the past 5 years or so. She currently eats Evo.

I'm of the opinion that the prescription diets are a rip off and typically have craptastic ingredients, and this one is no different.

Ingredients

Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Fat, Chicken By-Product Meal, Dried Egg Product, Dried Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Fish Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Calcium Carbonate, Dried Beet Pulp

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The research i've been reading seems to be about 50/50. Half think that CRF cats should be on a low protein/phosphorous diet, and half think that that may cause muscle wasting/starvation and the cat should eat whatever they like. Copper has never been a huge eater and has always been a slim cat. She just weighed in at 7.(something) lbs and always has Evo down.

As much as the k/d food goes against what i've been taught about cat nutrition, I will feed it if it's the best choice in the long run. Can you all help me make an informed decision?

As for the other part of my title, in 16 years, I have not been able to get Copper to touch wet foods. I realize that in an ideal world, wet would be healthier for her. I've bought her different foods to try, but I haven't made a massive effort before to find something she would eat. Any ideas on brands to try for an impossible eater?

Nutro Max and Royal Canin both make "lower" protein formulas that are "decent " in the ingrediant department... My Kandie RB ate both for the first 18 months after CRF diagnosis ( she spent the next 3 ish yrs eating raw with some canned as she hated my homemade food )... I would NOT use EVO as the % of minerals are TOO HIGH .. Remember DRY food IS hard to digest and the higher the dry matter protein without moisture the harder the kidneys work

Have you read the CRF thread sticky in the health section?? lot s of us have given our experience s with this issue.. If you have any specific ??s feel free to post or pm
Wysong makes a decent ingredient RX kidney diet also

I have a 17 year old Crf cat that is on k/d and Royal Canin Kidney.
She eats the dry but hates the wet food.
When a cat has Crf it is hard to decide what they should be on.
Coco loves the gravy on the Royal Canin wet but will not eat the food once the gravy is licked off.
Here are some Crf sites maybe they will help you.
http://www.felinecrf.org/

http://www.felinecrf.com/

I did see on some of the charts that Evo had one of the highest phosphorous contents.

I've been wading through the CRF topic, but I think i'm only to page 8 or so yet.

My vet gave me a sample of each K/D canned food she stocked and I finally found one Gray One liked. She liked the Royal Canin and Hill's Science Diet chicken both. But she would not eat canned until the latter stages of her CRF, she would not eat anyting but Purina KD dry for the first 3-4 years after she was diagnosed. I miss that cat.

Originally Posted by GrumpyCat

As for the other part of my title, in 16 years, I have not been able to get Copper to touch wet foods. I realize that in an ideal world, wet would be healthier for her. I've bought her different foods to try, but I haven't made a massive effort before to find something she would eat. Any ideas on brands to try for an impossible eater?

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I don't have any experience with CRF, but for the above question I have a couple suggestions:

- Before Grain canned (quail) most cats seem to love the quail version of this food. BUT, the canned food is NOT a complete food.... it is strictly meat, no vitamins/minerals/etc. and is only recommended for supplemental feedings.

- Fancy Feast grilled chicken feast.....my really picky wet food eater will actually eat this one. It is chunky, looks like tuna with a little bit of sauce.

Those are the two that my finicky eater will eat and I've heard alot of people having success with the BG Quail food.