I want to start out by saying we desperately love all of our cats, but we have a tighter budget than we'd like...( I definitely don't want it to sound like we don't want to do anything and everything we can for all of our kitties). Anyone who knows me on this site knows we go out of our way to make both indoor and feral as healthy and happy as possible - often to our own detriment (vacation? what's a vacation?). But here's our issue....
Our 14-year-old indoor only cat, Jo, has had a rough few months. He started with extreme constipation -but we're finally starting to manage that. Then last week, the vet discovered he now has slight heart murmur and is in the very very beginning of kidney failure. So he's now on Miralax, Cisapride, lactulose, and a new heart med...and a new food. The vet put him on Hills K/D, preferably canned. Unfortunately, we also have 3 other inside cats, 5 TNR'd ferals outside we feed. So paying the cost of app $36 for 24 small cans (plus $25 for a 5 lb bag of hard) means we'd in food alone - we'd be adding at least $90/month for canned. When I add that to the medication costs (which at this point are a little more than $80/month, making food plus meds more than $170 - we're really in budget trouble...and I don't want to choose which of our other cats doesn't get to eat because of Jo (kidding!).
From our vet - the Hills K/D is $37 for 24 3 oz cans - so $1.50 per 3 oz can ( the larger cans that are more "pate-like) are cheaper - but he just won't touch them. We tried tempting him on the pate ones - all the tricks - warming them a bit, adding a bit of tuna juice, adding a bit of tuna juice AND tuna...he won't touch it. We even tried the "wait him out - he'll eventually eat it if he's really hungry - - he'd nibble, but he lost almost half a pound in less than a week, so that old "eat eventually" definitely didn't work.
Are there ANY canned alternatives anyone would recommend for me given all of the above? Any non-prescription food ---or another source for Hills K/D that might be cheaper? (although I'm not sure if they'll give us a prescription so we can buy anywhere else - our previous vet wouldn't allow that - but these new guys might).
We really desperately want to do what's best for him -----but sadly, 8 other cats - plus ourselves have to eat too
ANY suggestions appreciated!!!!
Our 14-year-old indoor only cat, Jo, has had a rough few months. He started with extreme constipation -but we're finally starting to manage that. Then last week, the vet discovered he now has slight heart murmur and is in the very very beginning of kidney failure. So he's now on Miralax, Cisapride, lactulose, and a new heart med...and a new food. The vet put him on Hills K/D, preferably canned. Unfortunately, we also have 3 other inside cats, 5 TNR'd ferals outside we feed. So paying the cost of app $36 for 24 small cans (plus $25 for a 5 lb bag of hard) means we'd in food alone - we'd be adding at least $90/month for canned. When I add that to the medication costs (which at this point are a little more than $80/month, making food plus meds more than $170 - we're really in budget trouble...and I don't want to choose which of our other cats doesn't get to eat because of Jo (kidding!).
From our vet - the Hills K/D is $37 for 24 3 oz cans - so $1.50 per 3 oz can ( the larger cans that are more "pate-like) are cheaper - but he just won't touch them. We tried tempting him on the pate ones - all the tricks - warming them a bit, adding a bit of tuna juice, adding a bit of tuna juice AND tuna...he won't touch it. We even tried the "wait him out - he'll eventually eat it if he's really hungry - - he'd nibble, but he lost almost half a pound in less than a week, so that old "eat eventually" definitely didn't work.
Are there ANY canned alternatives anyone would recommend for me given all of the above? Any non-prescription food ---or another source for Hills K/D that might be cheaper? (although I'm not sure if they'll give us a prescription so we can buy anywhere else - our previous vet wouldn't allow that - but these new guys might).
We really desperately want to do what's best for him -----but sadly, 8 other cats - plus ourselves have to eat too
ANY suggestions appreciated!!!!
