My cat has kidney/GI issues & won't eat. Can I add chicken to diet?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am so sorry to hear about Anano. Although the royal Canin renal diet is ideal, it’s more important that he eats SOMETHING. So go ahead and feed him the meat. Then contact your vet to see if he or she has any other testing or treatments to try. Best wishes to you and Anano.

Hello, thank you for your question about Ammosh. Ideally Ammosh should be eating a diet that is designed to help with the management of renal disease. Renal diets are generally low in protein which is helpful in management of progression of kidney disease. Kidney disease, however, can also make pet's nauseous, which could be contributing to Ammosh's symptoms. If Ammosh does not like this renal food (they are known to not be very palatable diets) you could try offering him other diets or forms of food as the ultimate goal is for him to continue eating. Liver has not been shown to be beneficial in renal disease, but you could try other things such as boiled chicken or hamburger. Hope this helps, good luck!

Prescription kidney diets have proven to improve both quality and length of life in pets with poor kidney function. They are formulated to reduce the amount of work required for the kidneys by reducing the amount of waste products produced from food as well as containing tightly balanced mineral, vitamin, omega fatty acid and protein levels and work best in wet forms or where good water intake can be encouraged. The larger proportion of the diet the better, any additional food sources should be highly digestible and suitable for pets in kidney failure, blood tests would be recommended 3-4 weeks after any diet changes to ensure no negative impacts develop

If he won't eat the Royal Canin renal diet then you should try a different brand like Hill's k/d. The Hill's diet has an appetite stimulant in it which helps with palatability. If he won't eat that either then all you can do is feed him what he will eat. It may shorten his life span but you cannot let him starve to death. If he is anemic that is called anemia of chronic disease. The only thing to help that is injections of EPO (erythropoeitin). Feeding organ meet is not going to help. ( https://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/cardiovascular/c_ct_anemia_chronic_kidney_disease )

We always say that it doesn't matter how good a food is if the pet won't eat it. This is especially true with cats. Your goal with a diet for a kidney patient is to avoid foods that are too high in protein, so you will want to avoid any kitten foods. Most non-prescription diets are very similar in their protein levels because they are made for the needs of an average adult cat. If Cricket was previously on a dry food, I found the best way to get my cat to eat canned food was to grind up dry food, then sprinkle it on the top of his canned food to get him eating. I am attaching a link to a handout below with tips to transition a cat onto canned food. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=3041 Since Cricket has been a fussy eater, the most important thing will be to find a food that she likes. I have found that cats tend to like Fancy Feast the best, so that might be an option if you can't find something else that she will eat. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

The challenge with chronic kidney disease is that it's often necessary to limit protein intake, but they can be a bit nauseous if their kidney values (BUN and creatinine) are high. Some cats also require supplements of potassium to help keep their electrolytes under control. I don't know specifically what you have available in Brazil with respect to prescription diets, but I usually prescribe either Hill's Science Diet k/d, Purina NF, or Royal Canin renal support. I would start by asking your vet if you could try one of those diets for Sophia - possibly mixed with the A/D to help make it more palatable to her. Ultimately, when it comes to managing cats with kidney disease, it's more important to get them to eat something - anything - over nothing. If you try all of the renal diets and Sophia rejects them all, I would next try any other canned commercial cat food. If she also rejects those, you'll just have to give in and go with the higher protein fish option, such as cooked fresh tuna or salmon. It's not ideal, but what in life is? I hope that everything goes well for Sophia!

I hate to hear that Lily is having an issue eating her food. I would advise too try several renal diets. Royal Canin makes three different formulas. Purina and Science diet also make their own version. The best medicine would be for her to eat only a renal diet but sometimes pets have other ideas. If you cannot find a food that she likes and will readily eat, try mixing in about 25% of the renal diet in with 75% of her normal kibble. Every few days gradually increase the renal food. Even if she never goes on the renal diet fully, it's still better than not eating it at all. Try the canned renal diets as well (once again, all the brands carry this formula). If you want to try making her food at home, you will need to work with a veterinary nutritionist. Renal diets need carefully controlled protein, phosphorus and potassium levels. You can go online and find several who offer both phone and online consultations. I hope this helps to point you in the right direction. Please feel free to post any further questions!