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My senior cat won't eat kidney diet. What are good food alternatives?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 17 years and 7 months old | 9.5 lbs

Hello my 17 year old cat tony is on meds for hyperthyroidism and high blood pressure and doing well on both but my vet prefers he eat a senior diet that will not be taxing on his aging kidneys. He doesn't like prescription hills g/d or royal canin senior consult. He liked them at first but always falls back on and prefers my other cats canned royal canin selected protein rabbit and pea which is not for a geriatric! Any other suggestions for a senior diet , prescription or store bought? thanks!

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Stephanie Echols, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on August 27th, 2017

Great question! Prescription diet: Hills K/D, Purina NF, or Royal Canin renal diets- they make 3 canned versions and 3 dry versions for different cat preferences. Non-prescription: Hills Mature diets, Iams mature diets, or Purina One mature diets. Honestly, the most important thing your cat can do is eat! If it is between eating a recommended diet or eating anything, I choose eating anything. I hope that helps. Kisses to Tony!

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on January 28th, 2020

    Hello. You might want to try the Royal Canin diets. This company has introduced different flavors/textures/palatability options for cats that have a difficulty transitioning to a prescription food. It has been shown that some cats have better food intake & maintain body weight better if you intentionally rotate diets every 3 days or so. In addition, talk to your veterinarian about an appetite enhancer like mirtazapine or capromorelin to possible get Duffy over the hump of accepting a prescription diet. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    Answered By Stephanie Echols, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on August 27th, 2017

    A diet that is good for kidneys would be a kidney prescription diet. Kidney diets are formulated to be low protein so if you wanted something that wouldn't be taxing on the kidneys those would be the best. You can also compare protein content in the other diets that I recommended. Again, the most important thing Tony can do is eat. So while a low protein diet would be better for his kidneys, nutrients have a higher importance.

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