As nobody who’s lived with a CRF kitty will be surprised to hear, we’ve been having some food issues lately. Vashti’s appetite is good, actually, but she’s completely unwilling to eat her Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d formula for cats with kidney disease. The food itself is supposed to help her kidneys, plus we mix in a powdered medication called Epakitin that’s also helping her kidneys (it’s entirely possible that the powder mixed in is giving the Hill’s a funny taste, in fairness).
After about a week of frustration (and worrying that Vashti’s going to lose that half-pound we worked so hard to get her to add), I’ve arrived at a recipe that includes a few of Vashti’s favorite, incorporates her prescription food, and appears–for the past two days, at least–to be a big hit. I call it Vashti Surprise. Here’s the recipe:
Vashti Surprise
1/3 can, Hill’s Prescription Diet k/d formula
1/4 can Friskies, or any other really gooey, unhealthy moist cat food (note: works better if it’s a) a pate and b) comes with gravy)
1 slice American cheese, torn into small chunks
1 scoop Epakitin powdered medication
Grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Preparation:
Mix two moist foods together on one plate, saving the Friskie’s gravy for later. Distribute American cheese slices across the top. Microwave for about 10 seconds, to slightly warm food and make cheese a bit melt-y. Remove from microwave, add Epakitin, and stir entire mixture together. Add Friskie’s gravy and stir again. Top with a light dusting of Parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
As a side note, this is now the meal, minus the Epakitin, served twice a day to all the cats in our home. Scarlett and Homer seemed very enthusiastic about sampling this recipe for themselves (as the claw marks on the sides of my legs will attest to!).
Wow!!! That sounds really yummy……… for a cat!!! How does it smell to you while microwaving?
I am thrilled that Vashti is feeling so much better. Keep up the good work!
Beth
Good morning!
I must say, lucky cats! I am sure they can’t resist. Thanks for sharing. I will tuck it away for a time when I need to encourage eating!
Sounds good! Thank you for the recipe – I think I’ll try it as a treat for my cats! Glad that Homer & Scarlett enjoy it too! Hopefully. Vashti will gain some weight now.
Sounds delicious, for a cat anyhow! (be prepared for her to suddenly decide she doesn’t like it anymore…cats are like that!) But in the meantime, it sounds like it’s doing a great job to encourage Vashti to eat well and healthfully.
I think you’ve found your next book: Cooking for Cats Who Won’t Eat What They Are Supposed To. Now I need a low-cal version for my obese cat.
Congratulations on finding something to please everyone. I hope you and Laurence are doing well, too.
WOW !! To be able to come up with a meal that a reluctant kitty will repeatedly eat is a miracle. It seems that, if a food is good for them, they decide not to eat it. Goodness knows that I’ve been down that road too many times. I do like the cheese idea, think I’ll try that tonight when I medicate six of my pampered fur babies.
Keep up the great work, Vashti is blessed to be part of your family.
Purr on…………………
Gwen,
Long live Friskies Gravy! I wish they sold just the gravy sometimes, so that when I do occasionally have to have Kiki on prescription food I could just coat it in the stuff…..
Although Vashti’s results are not what you hoped, I’m so happy she has good quality of life and is acting and looking better. I agree with the commenter who said to savor every minute. I do that with Keeks, never knowing what will happen, (although for the past 15 months she doesn’t even appear sick as long as she gets her meds) every little thing she does I savor like that fine wine! I can’t believe that after reading your blog that you would do anything else but cherish every second with all three, and Laurence as well.
Love to all our kitties
Wow! Fantastic! Through the years I’ve had cats (and dogs) that were recommended to be on one of the Hill’s prescription diets, and to a cat (or a dog), they all hated it! In years past though I would never have thought to ‘flavor it up’ as you are doing, but now I know for sure that will work. Thanks for the advice, and recipe!
My birthday is tomorrow and a girlfriend and I are going to the desert (Palm Springs area) for 2 days. I’ll look forward to catching up on The Vashti Saga when I return! So glad she’s snarfing down your recipe!
And what kind of wine are you serving with that gourmet meal ?? Reading all the fixings, I was starting to hungry myself !!
Bill
Ok Gwen, you have me laughing my butt off again. What ingenuity you have to come up with that receipe!!! Glad to hear that she is eating it!! And Homer and Scarlett get a new taste delite also…LOL Seriously, I am glad to hear that she has put on some weight and is interacting with both you and Laurence. Has Homer settle down with Vashti, or is he still hissing at her? My thoughts and prayers are with you guys always.
Hmm. Your cats eat better than I do. Just kidding. The grated Parmesan topping is inspired!
Heh. And I thought my people were the only ones who cooked for a pet when the dog was sick… Great idea on your part!
I guess you already tried mixing wet and dry k/d together? That’s how I got my cat to eat it. Some pet stores have special gravy to put on it also.
The things we do for our cats! I think all Hill’s prescription products require an acquired taste. Isn’t the nasty stuff better to us humans too? Healthy? who wants THAT?! I think getting Vashti to eat *something* is equally as important as low protein food. As long as it is not loaded, the percentage differences really seem small. My cat developed an intolerance for k/d due to the higher fat content, which is a trade off for the lower protein. It was like giving him kitty x-lax. So a food 2% higher in protein that agrees with his tummy is a much better option! I say do whatever it takes to strike that happy vs. healthy balance. Good job!
Hey, if it works GO FOR IT! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go Vashti, go! And go, Gwen!
Newt would scaling my leg if I made him that! Gwen, you are brilliant!
You know, if I overlook the brand names of those ingredients, they sound almost palatable! I got 2 free cans of Hills Science Diet culinary gourmet or something like that. Tried it tonight. Zorro sniffed his bowl, took 1 lick, then went to Saki’s bowl, took 1 lick & walked away. And this cat LIVES for dinner. Well, back to Whiskas pouches! In all seriousness, it is SO hard to change a cat’s food. You are going above & beyond. Someone in my house would have to be pretty pitiful to get me that creative in the kitchen…
I’d like to put in a plug for Velveeta cheese product. For both Scooter (our 21 year old who died of kidney disease and old age) and Sprite (who died of diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease) it was the last thing they were still eating at the end of their lives. We mixed it in with their food and used it to hide their pills and continued to offer it when they had given up on everything else. You might also consider cottage cheese or scrambled eggs. Those have also been popular additions.
I am only asking this as a question IN NO WAY other than that. Are dairy products hard on the kidneys? My reason to ask is there is a kitty milk on the cat shelf you can buy if you run out of gravy, or cheese. Please do not take my question any kind of judgement of what you are doing. I am like the lady laughing. What we do for our “kids”. I’ve tried bits of real tuna, sardines, pill pockets but even then cats are “finicky” those last so long and it is like find something else for supper.
I am so glad Vashti is responding and the others too. Mine can be totally knocked out upstairs asleep. I can be in the kitchen for hours doing dishes, fixing supper, opening cans, etc. but you let me pick up a can of cat food, or his bowl and he is under my feet. He weighs 22 lbs., so you hear him thumping down the steps”two at a time”….he is the second cat I’ve had that has done this. How he knows I don’t know but wet food is a treat for him. He has dry food out all the time. He only gets a can or a little packet once or twice a week.
Our kids are so precious and how you came up with that I don’t know but you do what works. Mine won’t eat any Science Diet out of the can but will eat dry. Does it come in dry? That still doesn’t solve the powder med. I have used peanut butter but they have to like that too.
SO glad to hear she’s scarfing it down! It’s so hard to get a cat with no appetite to eat…We had a 24 year old Maine Coon cat whose appetite waned quite a bit. I would go get him Arby’s roast beef, or a milkshake – whatever he would eat. Glad to hear Vashti is doing better!
I’m glad you found something that works well for Vashti. It sounds like a yummy combination! I wish I had thought about mixing foods with Velvet but I never did.
I’ve read that heating food for about 10 seconds, just long enough to take the chill off and release the odors, is supposed to help spark the appetite. I’ve tried it but really don’t think it was any more attractive to any of my cats than not heating it. It is one more thing you can try if you need options.
When Velvet wouldn’t eat the k/d, I switched her food to Wellness, which she ate pretty well. When she got really sick, I also gave her Arby’s roast beef. What is it about Arby’s? Some other foods that worked for her are Merrick canned food (Grammie’s Pot Pie has lots of liquid), and baby food (without onion or garlic). Velvet liked pees, green beans or chicken. She also liked very spicy Chinese food but I wouldn’t recommend that for Vashti. I found out on accident when I left my dinner unattended one time. HA!
There is a new canned food called Tiki Cat. My other two cats L-O-V-E Love it. Most of the varieties are fish, which cats shouldn’t have every day from what I understand. I recently learned they have a couple of chicken varieties but we haven’t tried that yet. Before Velvet died, Marina always let her, and now Tosca, eat first. Not with Tiki Cat. She gets right in there to make sure she gets her fair share and maybe a little more.
Hang in there.
Just back from a vacation and very happy to learn Vashti is better!
As our girl Puss angel got sicker with CRF, the eating did become much more difficult, and the vet in the end said that if we could get her to eat anything, then it wasn’t worth struggling with the perscription biscuits.
Somtimes I would soak the biscuits, as I think it was difficult for her to eat them, but the mixing sounds like a good plan too.
Icecream or yoghurt were good too, as they are high calorie foods.
Julie Q
This made me laugh so hard I had to read it to my husband! What lengths we go to! Our boys don’t like their wet food out of the fridge so we’ve taken to sticking it in the microwave for a few seconds to take off the chill and as someone said above, “release the odors.”
I am so glad Vashti is doing better.
Lots of love to you all!
xo
Caroline, Romeo and Pugsley
This makes me laugh! It’s excessive and completely normal at this same time…. this from someone who drove 13 hours to adopt a blind kitten! (And then later followed him around the house to clean his behind when he was sick.) As a vegetarian, I’m completely against cooking anything for my cats, even heating up their regular food is too much for me. But Wonder is going on a food trial (with venison as his protein), so I’m sure I’ll be buffing up the wet food to get Pixie to eat it. Our cats are so lucky to have such great moms who will bust out their culinary skills to make sure everyone gets what they need! Send Vashti some love from my crew!
Hello Gwen!
I just finished reading Homer’s Odyssey this morning and immediately went to the computer to find your website. I was worried about Homer near the end of the book, and relieved to learn that he’d recovered from his mystery anorexia, only to find that now Vashti isn’t well. Those stupid kidneys…been there, done that with my Penny. hugs and best wishes to Vashti, hoping for continued improvement. I loved the book, btw!