I’m so sorry, OP. You are a good cat parent.

I’m so sorry OP. You are a good cat parent.

OP here. We finally have a diagnosis. It's kidney stones. Diet is implicated, but not because the food we've been giving them has gone bad. Apparently, some cats are just genetically predisposed to stones. Regular food makes the problem worse.

Vet says we need a surgery costing $6,000 to $8,000 for full recovery. That's in addition to the almost $5,000 we've spent on supportive and emergency care. We're just not in a position to pay for that. We're hoping we can stabilize and then manage with a special diet and meds. Not sure how much time that will buy us. Pretty bummed.

In good news, our Tom seems to be recovering from whatever was bothering him. He's eating Purina Cat Chow with greens for now. We're probably going to try and get him on the special kidney diet too tho, since he's our sick cat's kitten and the stones run in families.

I’m SO sorry, OP. We have a 3 year old cat who is very ill at the moment, and it’s a struggle.

Just FYI, my two cats would never eat wet food, but we had only give them pates. We had also offered canned tuna, but they never ate much of that either. Then we bought the “cuts” style, in the perfect portions (double pkg that you break to make two little servings) package. They loved it.

They also like the Fancy Feast broths as a treat or over dry food. It’s especially nice for my sick cat as he will no longer eat dry food or drink from his water bowl ?? At least he is getting a little fluid.

I find that Merrick is a good brand for my cat. While she also likes having the lower end Friskee's brand I try to make sure she eats something with more substance. She enjoys both the wet and dry food.

OP again. Thanks to the folks who have given suggestions for finicky eaters. Our Tom has (happily) resumed eating and drinking. I bought eight brands of dry food and he agreed to eat one of them - Purina Cat Chow Indoor w/greens.

He's going in to the vet in the morning for evaluation no matter what.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Heard from vet. Our super-sick cat is in acute renal failure. Our less-sick cat, who we take in tomorrow morning, is probably experiencing the same. They are indoor-only, young cats (4 and 5) with no access to plants or poisons. (Plus, the male cat is so finicky he would not eat anything other than dry cat food anyway.) I'm left to conclude that there had to be some kind of contaminate in the kibble they've been eating. No active recalls on the brand but maybe we're the canary in the mineshaft.

I'm crushed. In shock.

What brand have they been eating so I can avoid buying it for my cat.

OP here. Vet called to update again. Kidneys appear to have completely shut down - no urine production at all. It's still possible it's something structural, like kidney stones. (This is our hope.) And since the cats are related (mother and offspring), they could have the same genetic defect or propensity to stones. If the ultrasound shows no structural problem, they'll aspirate to check for toxins, cancer, etc. If the food is implicated in that diagnostic, I will post the largest and biggest warning you've ever seen. Right now, that would not be responsible.

Oh my gosh I am so so sorry this is happening to you.

To answer your original question, my extremely picky cat will eat wet Tiki Cat Tuna with Crab food, and my extremely particular veterinarian recommended it when he wasn't eating well due to a health issue.

I'm so sorry again, what a sad thing to have happening.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Heard from vet. Our super-sick cat is in acute renal failure. Our less-sick cat, who we take in tomorrow morning, is probably experiencing the same. They are indoor-only, young cats (4 and 5) with no access to plants or poisons. (Plus, the male cat is so finicky he would not eat anything other than dry cat food anyway.) I'm left to conclude that there had to be some kind of contaminate in the kibble they've been eating. No active recalls on the brand but maybe we're the canary in the mineshaft.

I'm crushed. In shock.

What brand have they been eating so I can avoid buying it for my cat.

OP here. Heard from vet. Our super-sick cat is in acute renal failure. Our less-sick cat, who we take in tomorrow morning, is probably experiencing the same. They are indoor-only, young cats (4 and 5) with no access to plants or poisons. (Plus, the male cat is so finicky he would not eat anything other than dry cat food anyway.) I'm left to conclude that there had to be some kind of contaminate in the kibble they've been eating. No active recalls on the brand but maybe we're the canary in the mineshaft.

I'm crushed. In shock.

There's a duck and pea food that is supposed to be pretty hypoallergenic. https://www.chewy.com/natural-balance-lid-limited/dp/33224

I haven't personally tried it because my cats don't have allergies, but it worked for my friend's cat.

Buy some chicken liver and boil it with no salt or seasoning. The inside should be pink; don't boil it until it is "well done."

Let it cool but not get cold. Mash with a fork into his bowl.

My cat goes CRAZY for this treat. It is the only thing she'll eat when we go away (she gets traumatized when her people leave).

I got this idea from our vet.

OP here. Actually, the vet suspects that the prescription food we've been feeding them is bad or contaminated in some way. (We suspect we got a contaminated/bad bag.) We've removed that food while we figure out if that's the problem. But, gotta get them eating something.

He's probably sad about his missing friend.

Our cats seem to be having some weird GI issues. One is sick enough she needs to be in the hospital getting supportive care. She's at the vet now. The other cat is healthy enough to be home, but has begun refusing his usual hypoallergenic food.

What dry food is the Fancy Feast (e.g., cat crack) of dry cat kibble? The cat we've got at home won't eat wet food. I'd really like to see him each something, even if it is the McDonalds of cat food. I've already tried a different brand of hypoallergenic dry food. Our male cat needs the hypoallergenic food for skin issues, so it should not be a problem for him to be on junk food for a day or two. At this point, eating anything is the goal.