I have a question sort of along the line of the one Candace has just posted on food for diabetic cats.. sort of but not quite the same..

First, the background:

Sydney and Bob are both kidney-challenged. Their main meal has been Hill's K/D with Chicken wet food for a LONG time. This was the one that back some time ago they kind of decided was the best of a bad lot, after I'd tried all the available prescription kidney foods on them). They've always pretty much eaten it, or eaten enough of it for me to keep giving it to them. They of course preferred it fresh from a new can rather than one that had already been opened and then refrigerated.

Well, lately they seem to have gone off the K/D with Chicken almost completely. Sometimes even when I've just opened a fresh can. They turn up their noses and turn away from it.

As for the others, the two Mature ladies get old-cat wet food mixed with warm water, and the "babies" (Poppy, Elmer, and Sparkler) get kibble in the morning (Taste of the Wild Venison and Salmon and Holistic Select Radiant Chicken Meal have proven to be the most acceptable so far) and wet food (Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul seems to be the best so far).

I fix them all up in bowls on the kitchen counter. Sydney and Lavinia and Elmer and Poppaea are right there at my feet and get theirs first. Then I give Poppy (the most particular of the regular-food eaters) hers under the table, and Bob his in whichever of his huge beds he's in. Then Sparkler, who wants to be served in the bedroom.

Then I come back to the kitchen, and what has most likely happened is Sydney is now eating Elmer's food and Elmer is eating Sydney's! Elmer is young and healthy and can eat ANYTHING (and does), and he certainly does not need prescription food costing almost $2 a can!

I switch them back, and by then Lavinia is eating Sydney's and Sydney Lavinia's. I don't mind that as much because Sydney is as old as she is, and she probably could use kidney-adjusted food too.

Anyway, there is a lot of milling around, and usually they each get something that is good for them, but it takes a lot of chasing around on my part.

What I am concerned about is, WHY have Sydney and Bob gone off the K/D so drastically just recently? I'm thinking this may have started about the time that the two new girls joined the family, but I don't know why that would affect the taste of the food to them.

Sometimes I wonder if Hill's has changed their formula.. I can open one can, and they'll both eat most of what they're served. But much more often, they just DON'T want it. They used to usually eat most of it.

Anyway, at this point I am just sick and tired of spending all that money for the K/D and then it not even being eaten by the cats it's intended for.

SO... FINALLY... here are my question to you all:

I have been trying out all kinds of high-quality foods to find the ones the most of them like the best.. and do any of you have any thoughts on which or what sort of food might be most suitable for cats with kidney issues? I'm going to call their vet on Monday and ask him too.

Another thing.. I have a whole lot of supermarket brands like Friskies Wet that Simon gave me.. I'm also trying to pin down the good-quality elderly cat food that Lavinia and Poppaea like best. ..but they have lived to the ages of 17 and 20 on the supermarket brands.. maybe I should just let them all have that... ? I don't really think that's a great idea, but again, they've thrived on it, so it seems.

So.. your thoughts, your experience, your expertise will be most greatly appreciated.. Thank you so very much!

Pat, Sydney, Bob, and the others