My cat licks kidney diet pate, won't eat it. Is this normal?

Royal Canin carries a diet called Senior Consult which has restricted Phos but not as low as the renal diets so it is not appropriate to feed instead of the renal diets. I recommend to discuss this option with your vet before making any diet changes since they are the most familiar with Tony's history. You may ask your vet about an appetite stimulant such as mirtazapine. Many renal cats want variety. Many owners will keep several renal food options and will switch the kibble every week to keep it interesting. Most cats will go back to eating a diet that they had previously stopped eating so you may try circling back. You should also ask about the return policy when purchasing the food in case Tony won't eat the food. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

The key here is to go VERY slow. I saw a presentation by Hill’s that said over 90% of cars will eventually transition into a kidney diet- but it can take up to two months. I’d say go back to whatever Tony was eating well and try one of the following: 1) If he eats dry food, mix in a few kibbles of the kidney food at each meal. As he begins to finish all the food, very slowly creep up on the prescription food and back off on the regular food. 2) If he eats dry food but is interested in wet - or eats a mix of wet and dry: top dry food with a tiny dollop of canned kidney food. As he begins to eat this, replace more and more kibbles with wet kidney food. OR, if you want to keep him on a mix of both, start slowly replacing the kibbles as described in option 1. 3) If he eats only canned, mix a tiny bit of canned kidney diet in with it. Same as for the dry food, slowly increase the kidney diet and decrease the regular stuff. Again, this could take a month or two so be slow and patient. Best wishes to you and Tony.

Hello, thank you for your question about Tony. I am sorry to hear that Tony does not seem to love the kidney diet; these are known to have a bland taste so many animals do not like them. The freeze dried morsels have a high protein content; most veterinarians recommend minimizing protein ingestion in patients with kidney disease. However with that being said, the main goal in any patient with kidney disease is to ensure that they eat. If this helps Tony eat his food regularly I think it is ok to add this as a meal topper. One other thing you could try (if you are using dry kibble) is to add a small amount of low sodium chicken broth to moisten the food and help improve the taste. Hope this helps, good luck!

Unfortunately, this could be a number of things. The first thing I tend to think of in older cats in which renal disease has already been diagnosed is the development of a urinary tract infection, and especially if urinary signs (urinating outside the box, increased frequency of urination, increased drinking, etc) that should be considered. Kidney disease predisposes them to the development of UTI's, and they can quickly become serious in these patients as often times it's not a LOWER UTI (i.e. a bladder infection) but an UPPER UTI (i.e., involving the kidneys). At this point she's only missed one meal, so I wouldn't panic yet - especially because she did eat when you hand fed her. However, do be diligent and consider whether she needs another checkup (to include a urinalysis and potentially x-rays or ultrasound) if this keeps up more than 24 hours, since it's such unusual behavior for her.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Appetite stimulants sometimes do not help so it is not uncommon to be in this spot especially if there is significant underlying disease. I would recommend you contact your veterinarian who knows the entire medical history to make further recommendations. There are other appetite stimulants that can be tried such as Entyce. Good luck and have a great day!

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.

Good question. They are both appetitive stimulants but are a different class of drug so they work in different ways. I think it is worth a shot trying to the Entyce. I would also highly recommend informing your veterinarian about this continued issue because often times the pets kidney values are really high, causing appetite suppression alone. Also ask your vet about getting Tony on Cerenia (anti-nausea) medication long term (can be given every other day in renal failure cats ) to help with his appetite. Often cats won’t eat because they are nauseous due to elevated toxins in their blood stream from the kidney disease. Also a product called Azodyl can help reduce kidney values more naturally. I hope these suggestions help you get Tony’s appetite back to what it used to be. Best wishes and take care!