Transitioning to prescription food

Worriedkittymom

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Looking for anyone who’s had success transitioning cat to prescription food. Trying everything I can to get my cat to eat her new kidney health food.
 

susanm9006

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Are you giving her wet kidney food? Have you tried mixing a little of it in with her old food? If that works you just keep increasing the amount of new vs old. Or you can try mixing a little bit of pure Beechnut chicken baby food in with the new food and if she will eat that you decrease the baby food over a few days.
 

cmsandford

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All my cats go crazy for Bench and Fields Holistic Treats...I crush up a couple and sprinkle on top food. It's worked with RX food & food they're not crazy about. Trader Joe's has for $1.99. More on line.
 

LTS3

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You might be able to feed a non-prescription food. Have you seen this web site? Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat There's info there about diet and a list of suitable commercial foods. Of course, check with the vet first but don't be surprised if the vet insists that prescription food is the only food your cat can eat. Lots of vets push prescription foods and most of those foods are pretty useless and full of junk ingredients.
 
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Worriedkittymom

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Are you giving her wet kidney food? Have you tried mixing a little of it in with her old food? If that works you just keep increasing the amount of new vs old. Or you can try mixing a little bit of pure Beechnut chicken baby food in with the new food and if she will eat that you decrease the baby food over a few days.
Giving her dry and wet food. I have tried mixing new and old food and adding baby food and she just wants to eat the old food.
 
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Worriedkittymom

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You might be able to feed a non-prescription food. Have you seen this web site? Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat There's info there about diet and a list of suitable commercial foods. Of course, check with the vet first but don't be surprised if the vet insists that prescription food is the only food your cat can eat. Lots of vets push prescription foods and most of those foods are pretty useless and full of junk ingredients.
I’m trusting my vet to tell me what to do but also wanted to ask you all because pet owners know so much too. I’ll check out that website.
 
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Worriedkittymom

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All my cats go crazy for Bench and Fields Holistic Treats...I crush up a couple and sprinkle on top food. It's worked with RX food & food they're not crazy about. Trader Joe's has for $1.99. More on line.
I will look into these treats.
 
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Worriedkittymom

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If you haven’t, ask your vet what he or she thinks you should do if she refuses the food.
Someone at vet office assured me cats won’t starve themselves but will eat when hungry. I don’t believe that is always true.
 

white shadow

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'Have to jump in........with all four feet :crackup:

Cats will indeed starve, or near-starve rather than eat an unpalatable food......and, they can easily develop a most serious condition, "hepatic lipidosis", when their systems are deprived of a basic level of nutrients. (You or I could survive for quite some time stranded on the 'ol desert island with no food and having only water. Our livers would draw on and metabolize our body fat for energy. But - cats are the only known mammal whose liver lacks the enzymes necessary to do that efficiently.....they will try but, instead of metabolizing the fat, their livers absorb the fat and quickly become unable to function at all - and develop the condition commonly known as 'fatty liver disease'. That condition is very often fatal in cats. And, overweight cats are most susceptible to it.)

LTS3 gave you a wonderful resource there. The author has worked on that for more than 20 years now, resulting in thousands of pages of solid, science-based information on feline kidney disease....all in plain, ordinary, everyday language. There is a problem with it, though........you can drown orget lost in all that information!

There's a section that will speak to exactly your concern expressed in this thread - it's at this link: What to Feed and What to Avoid. Here's a snippet:

"The Best Food for a CKD Cat...
...is a food that the cat will eat. I'm not trying to be flippant here. You can source the most expensive, organic, wholesome food on the planet, but if your cat would rather starve than eat it, it is of no use whatsoever......​
Are you going to let your cat starve to death? I doubt it! So please read below about the best food choices and try to feed them, but if your cat refuses to eat them, alternatives are discussed too. Bottom line, your cat is going to eat!"​

Even that section/'chapter' has a lot of information - just take little bites at a time;)

If you or your Vet should wonder about the credibility or reliability of Tanya's site, the front page has a list of all the leading Veterinarians and specialists who recommend it along with their comments.

The woman who owns/authors the site also sponsors an online community discussion group (advertised on the front page) - many folks find that a very helpful resource - you could try it out....just join and take a 'test drive', read the threads and consider if it could be helpful.

............just don't let her starve, though!
.
 
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Worriedkittymom

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'Have to jump in........with all four feet :crackup:

Cats will indeed starve, or near-starve rather than eat an unpalatable food......and, they can easily develop a most serious condition, "hepatic lipidosis", when their systems are deprived of a basic level of nutrients. (You or I could survive for quite some time stranded on the 'ol desert island with no food and having only water. Our livers would draw on and metabolize our body fat for energy. But - cats are the only known mammal whose liver lacks the enzymes necessary to do that efficiently.....they will try but, instead of metabolizing the fat, their livers absorb the fat and quickly become unable to function at all - and develop the condition commonly known as 'fatty liver disease'. That condition is very often fatal in cats. And, overweight cats are most susceptible to it.)

LTS3 gave you a wonderful resource there. The author has worked on that for more than 20 years now, resulting in thousands of pages of solid, science-based information on feline kidney disease....all in plain, ordinary, everyday language. There is a problem with it, though........you can drown orget lost in all that information!

There's a section that will speak to exactly your concern expressed in this thread - it's at this link: What to Feed and What to Avoid. Here's a snippet:

"The Best Food for a CKD Cat...
...is a food that the cat will eat. I'm not trying to be flippant here. You can source the most expensive, organic, wholesome food on the planet, but if your cat would rather starve than eat it, it is of no use whatsoever......​
Are you going to let your cat starve to death? I doubt it! So please read below about the best food choices and try to feed them, but if your cat refuses to eat them, alternatives are discussed too. Bottom line, your cat is going to eat!"​

Even that section/'chapter' has a lot of information - just take little bites at a time;)

If you or your Vet should wonder about the credibility or reliability of Tanya's site, the front page has a list of all the leading Veterinarians and specialists who recommend it along with their comments.

The woman who owns/authors the site also sponsors an online community discussion group (advertised on the front page) - many folks find that a very helpful resource - you could try it out....just join and take a 'test drive', read the threads and consider if it could be helpful.

............just don't let her starve, though!
.
Thanks for your message. I did start looking at her site and it is a lot of info to get through. Also called to have message relayed to vet that I need better answer because new food isn’t working.
 

white shadow

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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

Maybe you can gather some 'ammo' from that part of the site and be better prepared to deal with the Vet !

But, listen.........between now and then, just make sure she's eating !

>>>> I have to say, though, about letting her go for half a day............I would never do that. That chips a little away from her....then it happens again...and again. These cats are already at a disadvantage - we need to build them up, not allow them to deteriorate!

There's more harm in her starving........than in eating what she enjoys for a short time.

Have you posted any pictures of her on here yet? (that's the membership price here, you know :flail: )
.
 
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