Renal & Urinary Disorders 

Strategies to Improve Renal Diet Acceptance in Cats

Hsiao-Wei (Vicky) Tu, PhD

Nestlé Purina PetCare

St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Q. Why are strategies needed to improve diet acceptance in cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD)?

A. Medical problems associated with feline CKD such as nausea often affect appetite, and strategies for diet acceptance are often needed for these cats.¹ To encourage cats’ food consumption and help owners adhere to the veterinary diet recommendations, we studied feeding strategies with the aim to enhance appetite and to provide cats with CKD a pleasurable eating experience.

Q. What are specific examples of feeding approaches we can take with these patients?

A. There are several different approaches that can be easily adopted at home to help increase daily calorie intake and improve cats’ mealtime enjoyment:

• Feeding wet food more frequently (e.g., 3 times a day vs. once a day) can increase wet food intake while maintaining dry food intake. Therefore, it is recommended to feed cats with CKD a small amount of wet food multiple times per day to keep the food fresh and more attractive.

• Feeding wet and dry food side by side (but not mixed together) may increase the amount of wet food consumed, compared to feeding wet and dry food separately at different times of the day.

• Presenting a variety of diets simultaneously, such as providing both wet and dry options, stimulates more food intake compared to offering one type of food at a time.

• Warming up wet food to room temperature (around 70 °F/21 °C) or slightly higher (up to 100 °F/38 °C) before feeding can help stimulate appetite. This feeding strategy is especially effective for classic pâté diets.

• Mixing pâté diets with warm water and stirring to ensure the texture is homogenous can elevate the temperature to increase food consumption, but also provide hydration.

• When warming the food or mixing with warm water, it is important to ensure that the temperature is not too hot and is evenly distributed throughout the portion (i.e., no “hot spots”), especially if using a microwave.

1. Polzin, D. J., Osborne, C. A., Ross, S., & Jacob, F. (2000). Dietary management of feline chronic renal failure: Where are we now? In what direction are we headed? Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2(2), 75-82.