Senior cat won't eat kidney food. What low phosphorus diet is best?

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!

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.

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 )

Hello, & thank you using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The most important thing for you to consider is the palatability of food for Tony. The best food for the kidneys will do him no good if he will not eat it. That being said, I think the Sci. Diet Adult 7+ is an excellent choice. The phosphorous level is actually a bit lower or about the same than in some of the Royal Canin renal diets. He should do quite well on this. Take care.

This can be fairly normal behavior for a cat with a decrease in appetite, and I would guess that Tony's kidney disease may be making him less interested in food. You could try a different variety of food, and you may want to buy several different flavors of the kidney diet. You can also scoop a smaller amount out onto a plate and refrigerate the rest so the food isn't wasted. If Tony seems to be losing weight and not eating much food you may also want to ask your vet about an appetite stimulant.

Great question! One of the benefits of Royal Canin aging 12+ is that helps support renal health by having reduced phosphorus. It doesn't say if it's lower in sodium, but it is an excellent food for older cats and has the reduced phosphorus which is important given the prevalence of kidney disease in older cats. I recommend it as a food option for Tony. I hope this helps!

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.