Dry food for starving cats?

Hi, Guys. Hope I am not repeating another question. I didn't see one similar, but sorry for being redundant if I am. Anyway, I do have one question. My cat Jinx was recently diagnosed with kidney disease.    So I immediately stopped the kitty crack (I knew it wasn't good anyway) and have just been continuing with their canned food (Wellness regular grain free). In the meantime, I have been researching low phosphorus, highest protein possible canned foods (that aren't too expensive). Of course, Jinxie has lost a terrible amount of weight, but not only Jinxie is losing weight, everybody is. (I have two other boys.) Boris is getting super light. I just can't seem to keep up with their food needs. (Or perhaps they just won't eat enough of the canned food. There is often quite a bit leftover.) So I think I am going to use a little of the kitty crack as a supplement again. What do you think about that? I know I need to get as much water into Jinxie as possible. I put extra water in their canned food. So I hate to do it, but it seems more important to try to keep the weight on them than to remove the less healthy dry food from their diet, even Jinx...Maybe I could put a little water on the dry food...

Thanks!

Susan

You said everyone is losing weight, did you have the others checked for kidney disease or hyperthyroidism as well? if so and they're alright, then they might be picky eaters and might want a different kind of cat food. My cat gets sick of one flavor so I mix it up but I've learned to stay away from chicken and an all meat can, she likes her veggies and fruits with the meat lol. but if your cats prefer lots of meat then I'd recommend Evo canned venison or turkey, they're low in phosphorus and high in protein and are grain free. But if need be, you could give them dry food but provide lots of water or mix it in with it some so they won't get dehydrated or scarf it down  

Thank you, jmljml19, for the suggestion. I don't think the other two have kidney problems. They both have just lost a lot of weight since I switched to just canned food. I have tried about 10 different kinds of food, but you're right. They do like some better than others. Guess I should just go the store, rather than order online (ugh), so I can get a variety at once. It is just so much more affordable by the case. I'll try the Evo. Last night I did give them a little bit of kitty crack at bedtime, and now they are even less inclined to eat the canned, of course. It's such a tough pull between healthy food and avoiding weight loss. I'll put some water on the dry food. Also will buy dry food that is for kidney cats from now on. Thanks again for the great advice!

How old are your cats? What is their ideal weight?

It is a balancing act, but it's helpful if you can determine how many calories your cats need. The general rule of thumb is 15 calories per pound. Let's say your cat needs to be 12 pounds; he should be eating 180 calories a day. Most 5.5 oz. cans run anywhere from 160-200 calories per can, so if they're not eating at least one can per cat per day, chances are they're not getting enough calories. Some brands such as Weruva and Tiki Cat are very low calorie (only around 130 calories per 5.5 oz. can), so you have to feed more of those foods.

At each meal, I give Boo and Caesar wet food first and offer as much of it as they'll eat. But with them being seniors and not eating as well as they used to, they don't always finish the wet. In those instances, I'll finish off their meal with a little dry (only a tablespoon or so). I do have to wait awhile sometimes and let them pick at the wet food, otherwise they'll just assume I'm going to put dry down for them immediately. I try to get brands/flavors that are pretty high in calories (at least 180+ calories per 5.5 oz can of wet and 450+ calories per cup for dry). The calorie content isn't always on the cans, but you can usually find it on the brand's website.

Sebastian gets an all wet and home-cooked diet due to his chronic pancreatitis, but he's a good eater when he feels well, so eliminating dry wasn't an issue for him.

My cats should be eating about four cans per day, then. (Ouch!) But they won't hardly eat one 5.5 per day. No wonder they are so skinny. I would be overjoyed to feed them as much as they want, but they just don't eat pretty much any kind of quality, low phosphorus (one has kidney disease), food very well. Last night I finally brought out the Wellness dry again and gave them just a little bit before bed, and already Boris just sits there expecting it again and ignoring the canned. I'm thinking I will have to feed a variety of high quality canned during the day, then just a little dry, wet with water, right before bedtime. I don't know. What a pain! Thank you for the info. I guess it's obvious now why they are so thin.

Susan

Do you think they'd eat something like Fancy Feast? I believe some flavors are suitable for CKD cats. Most cats like FF, so they might eat more of it than a higher-quality food. Granted, 2 cans a day for each cat can get pricey! But it's important for CKD cats to not have any dry food (of course it's more important that they get enough calories! ).

Although if they willingly eat their kibble with water added, and eat it right away (moistened kibble gets nasty fast) that might work too.

Thanks for the suggestion, Willowy. I have heard that just about any cat will eat Fancy Feast, so I checked it out and at this point I just can't handle the meat by-products and other ingredients. I may change my tune if I can't get them to eat other food. Two cans of food daily isn't so bad, but five, as someone else suggested, would be pretty hard. Still I would give it to them if they would ever eat that much. It helps to have your vote of confidence in the Fancy Feast. Thanks!

Susan

What are you going by to say that your cats would need 4-5 cans each? Most adult cats need about 5-6 ounces of most brands (as pointed out, some brands are lower in calories though), which is one 5.5-oz can or two 3-oz cans. Larger cats might need 8-9 ounces, but no adult cat should need 12-15 ounces or more!

We have some discussions about by-products on this forum. Basically, in a canned food they aren't too bad---some by-products are quite nutritious (spleen, kidney, etc.).

Actually, I meant four or five cans a day for all of them together. That seems like it would be pretty amazing. Four to five cans each would get a listing in Guinness Book of World Records! Sorry for being unclear.

Oh and if you do try that Evo brand, they do come in 13.2oz cans and in bulk at www.Chewy.com and lists all the ingredients in each flavor on there. The site has tons of different brands that are grain free and by product free since that's all I ever feed my cats. Right now they're in love with Red Barn Beefapalooza

I would recommend to take a look at Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney  Disease website, expecially enticing to eat.

Helped my cat (not CKD, but stopped eating once and vet could find what was wrong). Warmed food, on flat plate or even piece by piece on mat, plate on raised support, in different place (even in different room), giving first pieces of food to start from pinkie finger first, and adding some water in canned food.

Binky's Nutritional Information page and Dr. Lisa Pierson (catinfo.org) provide protein content per calorie intake, not what is on label, to make an informed choice.

Friskies classic pate comes in large cans too, high end food from pet store will be expensive, another solution is homemade diet, much cheaper but needs special meat grinder and no autho rethaw freezer, details on catinfo.org. Works for me, but I started fairly recently, still on mixing wet and raw food together.

Thank you both, jmljml19 and 42cattier. Good advice. I have started mixing wet and dry, but I can't say that they like that too much, either. I asked for a nutritional analysis of the Wellness signature, because they seem to like that a lot. It actually looks pretty good, though if I recall it's pretty expensive. At this point I think I am just going to have to go to the store, I don't know, and buy several different kinds of low phosphorus food for them. This seems like it is probably the most healthy choice anyway. Though I must say that I always buy everything I need online. I hate going to stores. Really, I'll probably just buy online. I have been immersing myself in Pet360/PetFoodDirect, but I'll take a look at Chewy. Thank you!

rooneyandmuldoo said:

 
I have been immersing myself in Pet360/PetFoodDirect, but I'll take a look at Chewy.

Click to expand...

I, too, buy from Pet360/PetFoodDirect, and also PetFlow.

You should try looking into different flavors of the food you are using. Don't switch back to the "kitty crack" if you can at all help it! It will only add to the problem. There are a number of over-the-counter diets that you can look into, that will help with kidney support but shouldn't be too terribly expensive. If you are only feeding canned food, be prepared to be feeding 2-3 cans per cat per day.  

Okay, it's almost 2:00 AM here. My little darlings have awakened me three times. I have to go to work. I just gave them a bowl of kitty crack. Please forgive me. (Just kidding.) I'm getting some other varieties of canned food soon. Maybe that will help...

jmljml19, thank you so much! You just saved me a ton of money! I have been poring over different online websites about cat kidney failure, spent hours comparing different online pet food stores, comparing prices. But somehow, I had not seen chewy.com. Wow! What a difference in pricing! Compared to Pet360, Pet Food Direct, Petco  ( what an awful website!), and others, it is so much cheaper. In fact, one brand of food (can't remember which) was fully $8 cheaper for a case than Pet360/Pet Food Direct. You saved the day!

Susan

Glad I could help you