Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 13-year-old Persian cat, Kiki, was diagnosed with CRF in April '05. He's been down a long road -- starting with Hepatic Lipidosis and renal insufficiency, which turned into CRF, as well as the most recent diagnosis of anemia and High Blood Pressure. Despite the odds, he's doing VERY well. He's as happy & playful as ever! We give him SubQ fluids, Pepcid, High Blood Pressure meds and prescription food (Eukanuba Renal & Hills KD) as prescribed by the vet. He's supposed to weigh between 7 - 9 pounds, but tends to tip an ounce or two under 7 pounds. So, the main problem I'm having right now is getting him to eat enough. I heat the food, mix baby food w/ his Rx food (no onion), and handfeed him to try to get him to eat more. We even fry the food a little (without Pam or anything, of course). He also gets an appetite stimulant cyproh when it gets really bad and we just finished a round of anabolic steroid injections. I was wondering if anyone has any other tips I might be able to use to try to get him to eat more. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for your help. It's been inspirational to read the other posts.

Hi There,

It's great to hear that your baby has been doing so well. It's obvious that he is a much loved kitty!

You can try adding some water from canned tuna to the food, or even mixing in a bit of the tuna itself. If your kitty really likes a certain non-prescription food you can even add some of that.

Now, I'd like to say that there is some controversy regarding low-protein diets for CRF cats. The most important thing is to keep them eating as well as possible, and most cats aren't crazy about a low protein diet. I have given my CRF cats anything at all I could get them to eat, from sliced turkey to cheese, to a wide variety of wet and dry cat foods. Baby food has always been very popular too. And I can honestly say that feeding a higher protein diet did not seem to adversely affect my CRF cats. In fact, many vets now believe that it is the quality of the protein that is most important, not the quantity.
Please check out this site for more info:
http://www.felinecrf.com/managd.htm

Medically, you might consider giving Pepcid twice daily if you are presently giving it once per day, giving cyproheptadine daily for several days to see if it makes a difference, or even asking your vet about continuing steroids. Depending on the severity of the anemia, a round of epogen may also be considered, or even a blood transfusion. It sounds like your baby isn't severely anemic, though. He feels too good

Take care, and please let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,
PHKitkat

You would have to run this by your vet to see if it will work or be OK with the current regimine, and I don't know if it is for long term use, but I have been given Cyproheptadine by my vet in the past for when my cats have had no appetite/haven't eaten after surgery or rounds of medication that take their hunger. You may want to check to see if your vet will prescribe it to jump start the appetite -- and if it is good for longer than a few day use -- if you just can't find the right food combo to get your cat to eat.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate your input on the 'low protein' controversy. I have been giving it serious contemplation. And, thank you for the link, too. I recongnized the site, but it was a great refresher. Kiki has been doing very, very well for the past couple of months. I'm feeding him a combo of Rx food, low Phosphorus/low sodium/'lower' protein Wysong food, and baby food. It seems to be working. So, I'm very thankful. Thanks again for your feedback and input. I appreciate it.

Hi,

You are very welcome

I am so glad to hear how well Kiki has been doing!

Take care,
PHKitkat