What is it with renal food?

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Mollycat
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What is it with renal food?

Post by Mollycat »

... and specifically with renal wet food?

Is it just me or do we go through hell trying to find one they will accept, finally settle on one or a choice of 2 or 3 in rotation, and then suddenly one day (usually when we have just bought in 8 boxes (as I have, unopened) it starts to cause D&V or one or the other or they refuse it.

Actually, I wish Molly would simply refuse it, and I would gladly give her something else. Cleaning up drips and scoot smears I can handle, it's always a possibility with a sick or elderly cat, but what I find unbearable is watching her clean herself up and there is nothing she will let me do to help.

And Bobby went through this before her. Advantage he let me help him; disadvantage the long cream fur.

And the vet is not an option at the moment, having failed to make THREE appointments this year so far. Apparently the threat of being turned into a Davy Crocket hat was not enough to make her comply the third time.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by booktigger »

Yep, I've never had a cat go off renal dry food, but renal wet food is a different matter entirely. Lucy has none now, I got fed up of throwing it in the bin and felt she must be miserable missing meals, hopefully we'll get bloods done this year and see what impact it has had.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by fjm »

Oh how I sympathise! I have an enormous stack of boxes of food Tilly liked but will no longer eat; liked but threw up 15 minutes later; liked the gravy but left the lumps... And she prefers wet to dry - the dry is often simply ignored unless it is this week's favoured flavour. On the plus side I opened a pouch of RC pate the other day and she decided it was edible after all, so I can retrieve those from the reject pile. Hills makes her sick, ProPlan, which was her favourite, is now yucky, Integra even yuckier, but RC still gets eaten as long as it is served half a pouch at a time. I really must get the dishwasher fixed - what with Poppy-dog's 4 meals a day for liver failure, Freddy-pup's extra meals because he is growing and a clean bowl every few hours for Tilly I spend half the day washing food bowls!
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Mollycat
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by Mollycat »

Tempted to do the same, Booktigger. Molly already has 4 meals a week of raw mince with Felini Renal and 3 Felix soups since she stopped accepting a whole Lick-e-Lix. Fluids and meds. She is 15 and happy enough - fat, possibly arthritic, electrolyte imbalance :?: Conns (mild) - and has had one single post iodine check in 3 years. The vet who failed to take proper blood and urine samples while she was in for a dental will never see her again, of course, vets must understand that when we say opportunity of a lifetime we mean it literally and it should not have been missed. Only reason I hesitate at the moment is she still has a split bowl for dry of renal and digestive, and she tends to choose digestive care over renal. Perhaps it simply tastes better, but perhaps she needs it, but who knows perhaps she'd need it less if I didn't keep feeding her renal pouches.

As for you fjm I admire your dedication, and for once yours and mine are doing the same, it's the gravy-rich PP that she loved (hence 8 boxes) and she is also easier with the much drier RC where it's that much harder to sneak meds. Perhaps Hills has a new formula or something, though I think it's some cumulative effect as Boo did the exact same after a while.

They are exasperating.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by Ruth B »

While I can't help with the renal food, the only special food we have ever used was a sensitive one when we first had Saturn to see if it would help with his cowpats, it didn't seem to do a lot and he went off it half way through the tray of tins, but the shelter he came from accepted them happily so they weren't wasted. What I can sympathise with is getting a cat to the vets. Freyja was due her vaccinations back in October, due to a short supply we were asked to leave it a couple of months, so we made an appointment in December, then another in December, then a January morning, then for later the same day in the afternoon. We blocked off the underside of the bed to try and stop her running there, but she has found she can get down behind the headboard and squeeze under that way. She is too clever for her own good. I really miss the days of open surgery when you could turn up and just wait without an appointment. When I haven't got an appointment i can get close and fuss her and could pick her up, when I have got an appointment i can't get with in 6 feet of her. I think I have a telepathic Antivaxxer cat.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

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Please forgive me if I repeat myself, I forget what I have said to whom, at least you know I will get caught out if I ever try to lie! Ours was two December on consecutive days and one January after what I thought was a respectable time. I agree Ruth I think they learn to read intention, and when you think about it it's not really that extraordinary, it's an essential survival skill and they are exceptionally good at surviving even after 9000 years of domestication. Knowing someone approaching you means to do something unpleasant to you and taking early decisive action to evade capture is an essential skill ... until it's time to see a vet.

Thank you for the solidarity though. Vickivet obviously hasn't met Molly yet as she sent via her buddy system nurse a list of great ideas to help me catch the elusive mackerel tabby and equally slippery creature. But when catching means trauma and/or injury to self and/or cat, I would buy a catchpole net, only I know it could only be used once. Oh, and Reiki is not to be used to trick them into being calm to do something they don't want to do, so that's me told. Another door closes, full stop, there are no new doors opening. More like being bricked up!

I'm not complaining, I have such immense admiration and respect for the pesky little darlings with flicknives in their feet.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by Ruth B »

I managed to pen Freyja in the bathroom, once, it took about 5 years and a complete refurbishment before she would set foot inside the door.
I caught her and wrapped her in a towel, once, about 4 years ago, i can just about pick up a handkerchief now without her taking one look and running off.
The carrier has been open in the bedroom for well over a month so it won't shock her when it comes out.
I've bought some 'calming' treats and catnip treats in hope of helping her, you would think I was trying to poison her (Saturn will happily eat any she doesn't want).
I've bought four new catnip toys as she really likes catnip, Saturn has claimed two of them so far and I have alternate them so they have time to dry between slobbering sessions.
I've tried giving her time and space, i've tried pushing her boundries, one day she will be fine and a total fusspot, the next she take one look at me like i'm the devil incarnate. I could almost start to believe there is something going wrong in her head at times, but she is as she is and as she isn't in pain then I have to hope when I really need to get her to the vets she will be bad enough to let me.

I've considered traps and catch poles as well, but as you say, they are a one shot item and I think they would only make her worse in the end.

In the end I just keep trying, the fun will come if it takes much longer and the vet tries to tell me she has to start her shots again and be brought in for the second in a months time. I think i will be rolling on the floor laughing at the idea.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by Joe_Danger »

I find this to be the case with wet food, period.
They go through periods of liking and then disliking certain wet foods or outright completely cutting them off.
I've had Kala beg for wet food for an hour or two straight, despite having eaten well just to give it to her and she refuses to eat it, same with every other cat Spaska who eats everything and anything included.
Something about wet food and cats seems to be difficult.
They're less difficult with dry food in my experience.

As for renal food, that one dry purina renal food we had for Anastasia drove her crazy, she adored it, so at least she got to eat what she wanted techically for the years she was dealing with CRF, she didn't like other renal foods IIRC, wet was a big no.
Overall, I've found wet food to be a lot more "trouble" than dry food with cats, plus all of mine won't eat wet food unless it has been freshly opened form the package/can/pouch, even trying to heat it up doesn't help.
So they eat what they eat when you open the food anew and the rest goes to the street cats.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by fjm »

This afternoon I made chicken pancakes for dog treats - and Tilly would have eaten the lot, given half a chance.
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Re: What is it with renal food?

Post by Mollycat »

Thanks Ruth, it really is a huge relief to know someone truly understands. Years ago I caved and tempted Molly out of hiding with a treat to capture her, she then wouldn't take treats off me in that part of the room for a couple of years. I tried getting her into Pill Pockets just in case she ever needed meds and she loved them and ate them for weeks ... until the day she saw me put a pill in the putty for Bobby - not even for her - and she refused it ever since.

Same, I figure if her pain level is enough she will let me take her in, but we are going to try husband putting her in the carrier in a few weeks' time - after all I'm always telling others how sensitive cats are to our emotions and as I'm only 90% convinced she must go perhaps she is picking up on my doubt. Hubby has no such doubt and could just carry it off, once is all it needs, so worth a try. i just feel sorry for the vet's wasted appointments. Which cost us dear, as the dog took the appointment intended for Molly and ended up having a large skin tag removed from his neck because it rubbed on his collar and got weepy, for 400 quid thank you very much. Glad it's gone.

The point when I needed incontinence pads was when the vet helpfully suggested that if Molly didn't like Metacam on her food there was this new miracle drug for arthritic pain as a monthly injection - she's now missed 3 appointments - oh but you can give it at home - we'll give it a miss thank you.

Yes it is just the wet that seems to be such a problem!
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