My senior cat refuses his prescription food. What can I feed him?

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.

Rabbit based foods are a little more difficult to come across. The only rabbit based diets I have ever found have been novel protein diets formulated for adult cats, comparable to the Royal Canin variety he has been eating. It may be worth trying a few different flavors of canned senior foods to see if he finds any of them palatable. Worst case scenario, you can also find a dry senior diet (again, Hill's Science Diet, Purina ProPlan, Royal Canin, or Purina One) that he will tolerate and mix it with the rabbit and pea food regularly. Here are a few links to different canned senior cat diets available: http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/products/sd-feline-senior-11-plus-healthy-cuisine-tuna-and-carrot-med-stew-canned https://www.proplan.com/cats/products/focus-adult-11plus-chicken-beef-entree-classic https://www.proplan.com/cats/products/focus-adult-11plus-salmon-tuna-entree-classic https://www.royalcanin.com/products/royal-canin-feline-health-nutrition-aging-12-canned-cat-food/4082 I hope this helps and that all goes well for Tony!

Senior cats can certainly be a challenge. You didn't mention if Tony eats canned or dry food. Since you are having to change every few days, I would suspect that it is canned. One thing that will entice my older cat to eat is if a grind up dry food and sprinkle it over the canned food. Dry foods have a number of flavor additives in them and grinding them up (in a coffee grinder) seems to make them smell better to an older cat. (You can also do this if Tony has a favorite dry treat.) Adding small amounts of the water that canned tuna, salmon or chicken are packed in can also be a good way to get them to eat if he likes those flavors. There are a number of companies that make food "toppers" that are ment to be extra flavorful. Some cats really love liver, so dehydrated liver treats or toppers are a great idea for senior cats. Finally, sometimes we rotate foods on a regular basis instead of just feeding him a food for as long as he will eat it. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and gives you some ideas. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! That is great. Please let us know if you have a particular question so that we can try to understand the issue and address it. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Best of luck!

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.

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!