Can my healthy cat eat the same kidney diet as her sick sister?

Yes, it’s fine. The kidney care diet is appropriate for all cats, it just helps protect the kidneys and not make them work harder than necessary. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about your cats. My mother has this same problem. She has one cat who has renal failure and needs to be on a special diet, and the other does not. She solves this problem by feeding them twice a day, and feeding them in separate rooms. She puts the cat who doesn't need the special food in his own closed room, and feeds him in there. Bacchus, the cat with kidney failure, is fed out in the kitchen, and Hermes (the other cat) isn't allowed out of the laundry room until Bacchus is done eating. Hermes typically eats all his food at once, but if there is any left, she picks it up so Bacchus can't get to it. Same with Bacchus's food, she picks it up so Hermes won't eat it. You can put your cats on twice a day feeding, and feed Sadie in her own room so that the other cats won't eat her food. I hope this helps!

Yes, it is ok to eat renal food, but only as a treat or supplement to the main diet of Hills Rx Senior. Renal food is lower in protein than normal cat food since the kidneys can't handle excess protein when they are failing. So it would be best for long-term health if Tony gets plenty of protein, which is in the senior diet!

Aww, they are a pretty adorable pair! The short answer is, 'yes," that is fine. This will not harm your other dog to be on long term as well. The longer answer is that if he is a working dog, or is a very athletic dog (regularly goes for 3+mile runs, does agility, etc) then a less protein restricted maintenance diet would be better for him. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

As long as she does not have a lot of weight gain and becomes overweight from feedng this much, she should be ok to eat a little bit more. Start with 2 pouches and see how she does with that. You can also opt to give her some treats in between meals to hold her over. : ) Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Take care.

Renal diets are very effective for cats with kidney disease -by reducing the amount of toxins the kidneys are required to excrete many of the symptoms can be reduced; they are also naturally antiinflammatory and enriched with vitamins etc and are proven both to extend life expectancy and quality of life. The larger proportion of the diet that is made of of kidney food, the more effective it is however calorie intake is very important and tempting or supplementing the diet with easy to digest protein sources such as egg, boiled chicken or fish is ok (for some clinical diets this is not appropriate but for kidney patients it is better than not eating the special diet)

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cats. As long as your other cat is healthy with no underlying medical problems, then it should be fine for them both to eat the hydrolyzed diet. I hope this information helps!