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My 15 year old cat needs to be eating Hills k/d prescription food but refuses it. How do I convince him to eat this rather expensive cat food?
I’ve tried mixing it with other food, mixing it with warm water to make a nice gravy
He’ll drink the water but leaves the food, then follows me around yowling/meowing at me til I want to let him out ( he’s an indoor cat)
I bought a tube of a high calorie additive which he hated.
I don't think you can. We had a cat with kidney disease, & he refused the food, so we just gave in & gave him what he wanted. I figured he was dieing anyhow, so no point in also adding starvation into the equation. Please don't flame me for this. At the time we also had kittens, & they would eat the kidney diet food, not the sick cat, which was not good for them.
Ask your vet for some ideas.
Feed your cat good quality wet (canned) foods. Dry kibble is the worst thing you can feed a cat with kidney disease. The kidney diets are based on the flawed outdated belief that reducing protein will help slow the disease. Actually, its the quality of the protein that matters, protein from meat. Also reduced protein will cause muscle wasting and hasten the death of your cat, and reduce his quality of life.
If the phosphorous is high, use a phos blocker, don't reduce the very essential protein a cat needs.
This is what Dr Pierson catinf.org has to say about these poor quality diets:
There are a couple brands, including Fancy Feast which is like crack for cats in my experience, that sell “broths” in pouches. I have one picky cat that will eat food he doesn’t normally like if I add some of that broth to it.
If it’s dry food, I’d recommend pouring the broth over the dry food and letting it sit for a while, so the kibble absorbs some of the moisture content and flavor of the broth. You may need some extra water as well. But check to see if the cat likes the broth first.
There are a couple brands, including Fancy Feast which is like crack for cats in my experience, that sell “broths” in pouches. I have one picky cat that will eat food he doesn’t normally like if I add some of that broth to it.
If it’s dry food, I’d recommend pouring the broth over the dry food and letting it sit for a while, so the kibble absorbs some of the moisture content and flavor of the broth. You may need some extra water as well. But check to see if the cat likes the broth first.
Kibble has a high bacteria and mold content, when it gets wet, the bacteria and mold grow a lot faster. It's not advisable to get it wet. (or to feed it at all)
Eventually the cat will get hungry and eat it. Guaranteed. You are in charge, not the cat.
Absolutely never EVER do this. You cannot starve a cat into eating. After about 24 hours the cat's organs will begin to fail and the cat will lose all interest in eating anything at all.
Cats can be transitioned to different foods, it takes effort and patience. If the k/d is a wet formula, and the the OP really wants to try it, you can start by putting a little of the new food in a separate dish next to the cat's normal wet food. Just a very small amount, in a separate dish. Sprinkle a little of something irresistible over both dishes so they smell the same to encourage the cat to eat the small blob of the new food. A lot of people find forti flora as a successful incentive topper, though I prefer something like a freeze dried pure protein, maybe one of the ones made by PureBites.
Gradually use less of the old and more of the new, as you continue to use the topper.
But I wouldn't recommend feeding your cat only k/d, even the wet. Your cat needs good quality protein, from meat sources. And no kibble.
If I didn’t put down food Zeke liked, he would drive me insane following me yelling at me
I’ve been giving him canned cat food; is there a recommended brand that’s better than all, I don’t care what it costs if it’s a really good quality
I leave k/ d dry food in a feeder all the time, along with small amounts multiple times a day of canned food that I add hot water to to make a tasty gravy; been buying an assortment from the grocery store and Pet Smart but would like a really good quality canned cat food recommendation
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