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Cat with lymphoma is picky. Are there healthier Fancy Feast options?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Female | spayed | 11 years and 9 months old | 11.5 lbs

Trix just started treatment for small cell lymphoma(Leukeran & prednisolone).Since treatment & in the weeks b4 her diagnosis, she became very picky about food, no longer wanting her Rx novel protein foods. I’ve tried several other Rx digestive and GI foods(Royal Canin and hills) with no luck and I’m disappointed to say I can only get her to eat fancy feast. Is there another store bought brand, a healthier alternative to FF maybe? FF has not irritated her IBD but I prefer she eats a better food.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 7th, 2019

Hello sorry to hear about Trixie. If her small cell lymphoma is in her intestines, it’s likely that her IBD has become the lymphoma. There’s a few studies describing this process. However, given that she is being treated with pred, this will often also suppress any flare ups of IBD. Often as pets begin to respond to treatment they may regain their normal appetite, and occasionally we can make use of appetite stimulants to achieve this sooner. Given that she has been on a novel protein diet, it is likely best to continue this same food, but if she is not eating anything other than fancy feast this may also be acceptable for now. I would recommend speaking with your veterinarian about Trixies diet to determine if you need to worry about feeding her something other than fancy feast or if she needs appetite stimulants to go back to eating her regular diet. Hope this helps and best of luck.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Ana M, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 5th, 2019

    Thank you for submitting your question regarding Trixie. You will want to feed a prescription diet as over-the-counter formulas are notoriously contaminated with protein sources not listed on the label. If you are having trouble finding a palatable protein, then I would recommend feeding a hydrolyzed diet. The protein sources in these prescription diets are hydrolyzed or chopped into tiny pieces do the body's immune system cannot recognize them. This is ideal for a patient with IBD. I find Royal Canin Veterinary Diets Ultamino very palatable to cats. Another option would Purina Proplan Veterinary Diets HA. I hope this information helps!

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