Cat doesn't like his prescription food

Last weekend, Joey spent the weekend in the animal hospital on IV fluids for a kidney issue. They think it was just some type of attack on his kidneys or random blockage that the fluids flushed out, because after 48 hours on fluids his kidney levels were back in normal range. (On Friday & Saturday creatinine was 7.8 and 7.6, on Sunday night they had dropped to normal (forget the #) and on Wednesday at his recheck, levels were @ 1.3)
So even though they don't think it is chronic renal failure, my vet prescribed a precription renal diet for him. The prescription is for Hills & Royal Canin Renal foods. We decided to stick with the wet food, as we are working to transition our cats to a mainly wet diet, with some dry to supplement.
However, Joey doesn't like his wet food much...either of them. I didn't see any other flavors for the Renal foods, just one flavor for each brand and I have tried both of those. Also, when I feed wet in the AM and wet @ night, Joey doesn't even eat half a can. If I put him in a different room, he eats a little bit but then is mad he is locked in a room.
I have been letting him have the regular wet food for the past two days but worry that his kidney problem will come back if I don't keep him on the prescription diet...how can I get him to like it?? Should I try the Renal dry food?? I have tried mixing tuna, other wet food etc into his special wet food but he eats the other stuff out a bit but gives up on the food. I switched the other cats to pate type wet food so all the wet food is the same consistency so he thinks he has the same kind. Also, because he eats so little of each can, it is lasting for about 2 days each can and after the first day he doesnt seem to like it much (i keep it refrigerated in tupperware and slightly warm it in the microwave before giving it to him..doesnt help)

Also I am trying to switch to the canned food, but how much dry should I still leave out? I have 9 cats, and I don't know how many cans I should give at each feeding so each cat gets full enough. I don't want to leave regular dry food out because Joey will snack on it...if I give him wet Renal food twice a day but let him snack on dry food throughout the day does that make the renal wet food worthless?
Sorry for all the questions, I just am trying to get all this worked out for the cats and have no clue how to go about stopping free feeding and also making sure they each eat enough, and making sure that Joey gets his special foods.
Sorry for the long post!!

Hey there Frank,

Firstly and most importantly, is Joey staying hydrated? (You can check by gently picking up the skin on his back (not scruff, not reliable), but on his back, let it drop and if it takes more than one second to drop down completely, Joey is dehydrated and needs fluids (which can be given Sub-Q so you can do them at home, and buy 12 1,000Ml bags at Costco for around $20.00). If Joey's skin stays up or goes down really slow, he needs emergency fluids, like now.

The fluids are so important in this because first, they will make Joey feel MUCH better and he will most likely start eating and drinking normally again, but even more importantly, will flush all toxins out of his body that can enter the kidneys.

I have a Hypercalcemic cat (Hypercalcemia causes Kidney Disease and vice-versa) and would suggest you have your doctor check the chart for the Phospherous, Ionized Calcium and Calcium (and BUN) - or if you have the paperwork, see if any of those are high. Then you can get a test done for that or, actually, you will know by that test.

Fluids are of ultimate importance to a cat needing to get toxins out of the body.

For feeding, you could pick up all food at night before bed. Then feed Joey first in a separate room (Bathroom, for instance), and then put out the dry for the other cats.

Not sure if you free-feed (I do), but I believe as long as Joey gets the food prescribed (when he's hungry, he'll eat; if he's dehydrated, he'll become more and more lethargic and emaciated and be drying up in his body with toxins going to ... could be many different organs, but kidneys for sure if there's dehydration.

Ask your Vet about Sub-Q fluids and if you can give them at home. Ask him for a prescription so you can get them at Costco and save a LOT of money. I can give you websites to where you can buy - under $3.00 drip sets, and really high quality needles for about 12.00 per 100. That's all you'll need!

Keep us informed on how Joey is doing!

Warmly,

Julie O'

He is definitely staying hydrated. I check his skin pretty often nowadays just to make sure. All of his kidney levels were down on Sunday night when the animal hospital checked, and on Wednesday the vet only checked creatinine and BUN levels and they were both normal.
I am trying to check for dehydration often because if he does get sick again, SubQ fluids would be all we could do, we could not afford to do IV fluids in the animal hospital again at the moment. Last weeks 2.5day stay pretty much took all our extra money for that (I have a post in the Health section about 1 yr old cat w/ kidney issues, that details last weekends problems w/ Joey). Last week we caught it early but could have caught it earlier had we knew more of what to look for so now we are really watching him!
We currently feed one can of wet in the morning, and one can in the evening. I have tried this past week to feed Joey in the bathroom but he is pretty distressed when locked in a room alone, so he doesn't eat much. He is also the type of cat that picks at food more then eats all at once, like he will nap, run to the food bowl for a few bites, drink some water, then go back to napping, and repeat that throughout the day.
I want to stop free feeding completely because I want him to only eat the Renal foods but I am having trouble doing this...I don't know how to figure out if each cat is getting their fill and I have a couple cats who do not even eat the wet food and exist only on the dry food so I am still trying to figure out a feeding plan I guess.
Will it hurt a cat with possible kidney problems if they eat too much regular food? For instance, if I can get Joey switched to wet Renal food 2 times a day but he still snacks on regular cat food 1-3 times a day, is that bad for him? If there a non prescription low protein dry food that I could use for dry food so that Joey can still eat the same dry food as everyone else, if I continue to leave a small bowl of dry out each night, and is it harmful to the other cats?

Did you get the report of the levels, by chance? If so, check the Potassium, Calcium and Ionized Calcium levels to see if they are within normal range. Could be hypercalcemic (like one of my cats); although if this were the case, your Joey would be constantly dehydrated and you'd be going through 10 x as much litter from monolith pee-balls like I do. )

Wow, that stay in the hospital or vets getting fluids IS expensive. Sub-Q's are so easy to do at home and, if I didn't mention it in my last post (I know I did in one post this evening, you can have your Vet prescribe the fluids; and Costco sells a box of 12 - 1,000Ml bags of fluids for about $20.00 (true! I get all my cats' meds there since they're all human meds as well). If it comes to that, pm me and I'll give you a couple websites so you can stock up on drip sets (can be used for a couple weeks before changing) that are less than $3.00 each as well as a box of 100 Monoject needles (I use 18x1A) for about $12.00.

And remember, there's always "CareCredit(dot)com" where you can borrow whatever amount you are authorized by them to receive with no interest payments if you pick one of their 3 different payment plans. (If you go over the limited plan, the interest rate is very high; however, they do give you plenty of time to make smaller payments with no interest. It's a miracle, I swear! They send you a card and once it's paid of, you can fill it up again or, if Vet calls them and says something is really needed, they check your credit again and will or will not raise the amount they are loaning. When you get to the site, go to the right "drop-down" box and pick "Veterinarian" and go from there, it's easy.

What you can do (which sometimes just has to be done) is force-feeding. Mix the wet prescription food with good, warm (not hot) water and mix it until it's very soupy. Get a 10cc or higher oral feeding syringe, coddle your cat firmly and put syringe in through side of mouth and point towards throat. Give little squirts and give Joey time to swallow, then do it again. NOTE: If Joey's head is straight up, wait until he puts it normal level or down as force-feeding with a cat's head straight up - the food can aspirate into the lungs - very dangerous. (Used to foster a lot of newborns from kill shelter).

So maybe get yourself a nice 10cc - 60cc oral feeding syringe and mix that food into soup and do the force-feeding thing. Never stress out while feeding, even if he puts up a fight, he will know and fight harder, just stay calm, put him back in his place in your arms and talk to him the whole time about how much he needs this to stay healthy and how much you love him - always in soft tones. This way you can do it in the living room, bathroom with door open, wherever you like. (Warning: Wear a bib for yourself and keep extra paper towels for when he might spit some out if he gets to big of a squirt). Trust me! lol

(I used 10cc syringes for the little kitties when I used to foster - you might want one bigger).

For the rest of the cats, I just check their weight on a regular basis and free feed over here. Everyone is at a healthy weight (well, Tiny Dancer eats a BIT too much and shouldn't because of his Radial Hypoplasia).

I'm not a D.V.M., just speaking from my own experience, my hypercalcemic girl would not even eat the CRF foods they recommended and was growing weak, so I let her eat Innova Red like everyone else (high protein, but she's healthy due to the fluids) - she gets fluids at least every other day (200-250 and sometimes 300mg). On that note, I adopted her 4 years ago and the vet at the kill shelter said she was a "short-timer". Ha! With consistency in giving fluids, her last test last month was better than the one before! She's doing great! Always dehydrated, but always being refreshed and I KNOW those toxins are coming out because of those pee-balls... or should I say pee mountains!!

Warmly,

Julie O'

If it was an acute episode, there is a good chance he wont need prescription food for life, and there are health issues if he doesn't eat any food, so I would let him have some normal food if he really hates the prescription food. I would also question the vet about him having this food for life now his kidneys are fine again, as there are certain nutrients that are lower in that kind of food which I would think would be a bad thing with his age - most cats on renal food are a lot older than he is. You can get phosphorus binders to mix with normal food for cats who really wont eat renal food

What is the Royal Canin ? is is the Urinary SO?

Three of mine are on the Royal Canin Urinary SO - for crystals - they get mostly canned, with the dry as treat food. They like the canned, and love the dry.

For two of the three I have to warm the food (even from a new can - not just from the refrigerator) before they will eat it. What I do in order for them to eat this food - well, I wouldn't want to admit.

If I give them too much of the dry - which they are crazy about - they hardly touch the canned stuff. When I cave and let Phoebe eat more of the dry, she gets diarrhea - so this helps me keep on the "straight and narrow" and feed 99% canned.

I totally understand the problem of feeding Joey other foods because you fear him getting sick again - I'm in that boat with you - and, it's expensive - especially when they don't want to eat it.

My vet tells me that the feeding has to be 100% prescription because of the chemical balance the food creates. If you feed another non-prescription food, then it prevents the "medicine" aspect of the food to work. (?)

Getting our cats to eat food that we serve is already a tricky deal, much less feeding a special diet, and then, add multiple cats with different diet needs, ugh! I have to laugh - my Original Three have to have their food served in a special place on the floor - otherwise they're not interested in eating sometimes. I find I am wearing myself out trying to get all the cats to eat the canned food and at times I feel like just giving up, and filling up the bowl with the dry food - life was so much easier with free feeding.

That was until they got sick, and then cost mega $$ in vet bills. Our Phoebe just had bladder surgery for stones - the estimate was $1700 +, but the actual bill came down a couple hundred. AND, the cost doesn't even take into consideration the pain she was suffering before the surgery, and after.

Caring for multiple cats is a full time job - I don't know how you do it, AND take care of children all day. Bless you!