Ask a Vet! New ...

[Karen]

We have a different veterinarian instead of Dr. Carol this week for the radio show. Does anyone have any questions they would like to ask a vet? Dr. Kanfer is knowledgable about exotics as well as dogs, cats and horses, so any question, bis or small, are welcome! The show will be taping Thursday if you want to call in, let me know any questions and I will hook you up with more information!

If you are shy about calling in, you can just email or PM or post your question as well, no pressure!

[Karen]

Anybody?

[phesina]

Karen, I have a question: Four of my cats (Sydney, Bob, Lavinia, and Poppaea) are kidney-challenged and are supposed to eat the prescription food. I give the three oldest ones (S., L., and P., all at least 17 years old) wet food each meal; Bob is only 10 or 11 and he gets to have the crunchy stuff for breakfast. The wet prescription food the kidney cats dislike the least is Purina NF.

All seven of my cats get wet food in the evening. Bob and the two youngest have dry in the morning (Poppy gets some wet because she won't touch the dry.)

Mid-days I leave a bowl of "Taste of the Wild" grain-free dry food out for all to munch on as they choose.

The wet non-prescription food is Trader Joe's Turkey and Giblets Dinner, which has pretty decent ingredients; no "meat by-products" like feet or beaks ground up.

The trick is to get the kidney cats to eat very much at a time. I have to keep re-shaping the wet food into little mountains for them to eat more off the top...

Sometimes I mix in the Trader Joe's with the NF, and sometimes they eat that, sometimes not..

Sometimes I give up in despair and feed them all the non-prescription. That has varying degrees of results with the kidney cats.

Every so often I get some expensive specialty-store high-quality cat food and divide it among them. That has varying degrees of results with the kidney cats.

I've also on occasion given them something like Friskies or 9 Lives wet food, some of which they seem to like and eat more readily (though they can be fussy about flavors), but then those are full of junk.

This all takes up a great deal of time, just trying to get them to eat more. The three old ones in particular really need to put on some weight.

And the last few days, Bob's appetite seems to have gone off a great deal. He used to eat the NF wet food quite readily, but lately he just turns away from it.

The non-kidney cats will gobble down their food. What I would like to ask the vet is:

What can I do to make these feeding sessions go more smoothly for the kidney cats.. what sorts of food can I give them that they will eat right down, that won't be too bad for them? Does prescription food really do better for them than others? The ingredient lists on those are rather appalling, lots of by-products and chemicals there.

Another thing is, I am on a very limited income, so I can't go buying expensive foods by the case (and the prescription food is quite expensive, too), but at the same time I want to give them the best I can.

Suggestions from a knowledgeable authority would be very welcome!

Thank you, Karen, and Dr. Kanfer.

Pat Murray

[Karen]

I hope you enjoyed the show and thought he did a very thorough job of talking it through with you!

[phesina]

Dr. Kanfer was very helpful in confirming what I pretty much had in mind, giving me lots of new information, and reassuring me that I AM doing the best I can for them. Please give him my thanks.

I still wish I could figure out some way to make this not take so much time to try and get them to eat something that will be better for them!

Thanks, Karen, for creating this show.

[Karen]

You're welcome, I am glad it was helpful for you! I am so glad you were able to call in, too! I just got the audio file, if you want to listen again!