Hi,
I believe this is my first post here. My 17 yr old male cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and ckd last month. I immediately started researching everything about it, and realized that his diet was probably mostly to be blamed. I rescued him when he was 2 years old, and he refused to eat any type of meat or poultry foods, but he would eat tuna/seafood. So for the past 15 years, he's always been on a seafood diet.
My question is this, how do you get a cat who hates meat and poultry to eat it? I have removed foods from my house that were seafood based because of their iodine content. I have spent, not kidding, probably close to $200 in just 2 weeks trying different wet and dry foods that he might like (and that don't have grains, are non GMO, no soy, eggs, etc). I have found 0 that he likes. Sometimes he will lick the broth..but I know that's not enough nutrition for him. Because of the fact he's burning 30% more calories from his hyperthyroidism, I'm scared that he's not eating enough. I caved Last night and gave a bit of tuna, and he ate it all up. So it's not a loss of appetite, he just only likes seafood.
I have tried bonito flakes, catnip, putting chicken treats in the food..nothing. I've tried pates to soups to broths to chunks, everything. I'm at a loss. I want to switch to raw foods but I don't want to put the money out there for it, because I doubt he will eat it.
I have been partially successful with feeding the dry food (I know, he needs to be on an all wet..but he needs to eat something) Only natural pet power fusion poultry dinner. Because my cat has both hyperthyroidism and ckd..I'm in a juggle between low and high protein diets, this one being high protein. But he 50 percent of the time will eat it, and he needs to eat.
Any suggestions? I'm desperate at this rate. Do I need to start feeding him some tubes that just have calories in it since I assume he's not getting enough?
Also, in case interested.. last month my cats labs showed:
- creatinine at 2.3 (my boy is a big cat, is there a possibility that is the reason he's a .1 over?)
- BUN 53
- T4 10.8
His phosphorus is 4.6 which is in normal range, Tanya's site says it should be around 4 for a cat with kidney disfunction? His potassium level is normal as well it says at 3.7, but that's the lowest it can be. His sodium is 152 which is on the higher end, but in range... Which I found strange that one would be on the lower and the other be on the higher range.
Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you. My cat Max has been with me through everything, I want the best for him and I would appreciate anything you can add. Money is not an issue here, so if what you suggest is pricey, that's okay. I will do anything for my Max.
Thanks.
I believe this is my first post here. My 17 yr old male cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and ckd last month. I immediately started researching everything about it, and realized that his diet was probably mostly to be blamed. I rescued him when he was 2 years old, and he refused to eat any type of meat or poultry foods, but he would eat tuna/seafood. So for the past 15 years, he's always been on a seafood diet.
My question is this, how do you get a cat who hates meat and poultry to eat it? I have removed foods from my house that were seafood based because of their iodine content. I have spent, not kidding, probably close to $200 in just 2 weeks trying different wet and dry foods that he might like (and that don't have grains, are non GMO, no soy, eggs, etc). I have found 0 that he likes. Sometimes he will lick the broth..but I know that's not enough nutrition for him. Because of the fact he's burning 30% more calories from his hyperthyroidism, I'm scared that he's not eating enough. I caved Last night and gave a bit of tuna, and he ate it all up. So it's not a loss of appetite, he just only likes seafood.
I have tried bonito flakes, catnip, putting chicken treats in the food..nothing. I've tried pates to soups to broths to chunks, everything. I'm at a loss. I want to switch to raw foods but I don't want to put the money out there for it, because I doubt he will eat it.
I have been partially successful with feeding the dry food (I know, he needs to be on an all wet..but he needs to eat something) Only natural pet power fusion poultry dinner. Because my cat has both hyperthyroidism and ckd..I'm in a juggle between low and high protein diets, this one being high protein. But he 50 percent of the time will eat it, and he needs to eat.
Any suggestions? I'm desperate at this rate. Do I need to start feeding him some tubes that just have calories in it since I assume he's not getting enough?
Also, in case interested.. last month my cats labs showed:
- creatinine at 2.3 (my boy is a big cat, is there a possibility that is the reason he's a .1 over?)
- BUN 53
- T4 10.8
His phosphorus is 4.6 which is in normal range, Tanya's site says it should be around 4 for a cat with kidney disfunction? His potassium level is normal as well it says at 3.7, but that's the lowest it can be. His sodium is 152 which is on the higher end, but in range... Which I found strange that one would be on the lower and the other be on the higher range.
Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you. My cat Max has been with me through everything, I want the best for him and I would appreciate anything you can add. Money is not an issue here, so if what you suggest is pricey, that's okay. I will do anything for my Max.
Thanks.