Transitioned to new food - they don't like it

[lisahe]

I am sorry that we are causing panic - it isn't our intent. If we had gotten the lab results you just shared above, we would have told you before what I am about to tell you now.

BUN is affected by all sorts of things, slight dehydration, stress, to name a couple of the more typical ones. Creatinine can also be impacted by a few things - one of the most common is cats who eat high protein diets and have high muscle mass can typically have a higher creatinine count; slight dehydration can also elevate creatinine. The phosphorus number is superb. I actually think your vet wanting your cat on a kidney diet sounds premature, IMO.

I would just monitor the creatinine level (and all the others too) over time and see what happens. And, in the meantime let your cats eat what they have been eating as long as they like it!!!

Please don't panic, K Kacox ! All these test results/numbers have a range for "normal" and the only number here that's even slightly above the reference range is the creatinine... And as FeebysOwner says, lots of things can make a creatinine number a little high. It's worth asking your vet about that.

I, too, would monitor the cat's results -- have an annual test as part of the annual exam -- and then see how things go. And let your cats eat what they want rather than forcing them on a kidney diet at a young age, when they really need that protein. If they're eating a lot of dry food but don't drink much water, it would be worth feeding them some/more wet food and/or adding a fountain or other way to encourage them to get more fluids.

 

[Kacox]

No worries I just needed to get that out there since I was getting a lot of the same website. I am prone to anxiety about my cats since they have FIV and I'm trying to prolong their life as much as possible.

I will monitor how the values progress when they are due for their next check up.

He was a street cat who was intact for the first 2 years of his life. He is the big one in the house and I usually keep him active and give him more food than my other baby. He also prefers to hold it when his litter boxes aren't clean enough, which is my fault and idk if that affects it much of at all.

 

[Furballsmom]

also prefers to hold it when his litter boxes aren't clean enough,

It certainly can. Can you give him an extra litterbox?

 

[Kacox]

They have 3 of them, so them not being clean enough is my fault because of mental illness. I have a rotating alarm to tell me when to do it now a days

 

[Furballsmom]

. I have a rotating alarm to tell me when to do it now a days

This is a good thing

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm a bit paranoid about my cats too since I've already had three kidney cats, so when I took one of my boys in last year for his semi-annual exam (they are seniors so go in every six months) and his creatinine was high I freaked out. BUT, it turned out he had a UTI, so when we got that under control, his creatinine went back to normal and all is well again. Whew!

 

[Kacox]

Thank you guys for commenting I appreciate it!

 

[ailish]

So I recently was told by my vet that it would be a good idea to switch my cats to a kidney friendly diet, so before I ran out of my last food I bought the new one. It's the pro plan indoor health to the pro plan kidney.

I mixed their food and tapered it for about a week and a half with no issues and they ate it just fine. Now that they are purely on the new food it seems like they don't like it because it takes them all day to eat it which is out of character for them. They usually finish their food in one go.

Its a different flavor, they're used to turkey or salmon and this new food is chicken. The pieces are also a little bigger.

How do I get my cats to start actually eating their new food? I feel like I tried to do everything right so I'm at a loss here.

Well, if they are eating it... My cat on regular food will graze sometimes.