My sweet Toby (\~10yrs old) was diagnosed with stage 3 CKD this summer (Chronic Kidney Disease) and he’s currently under the care of a urologist, an internist, and his primary care veterinarian. I also have a pending consult with a cardiologist. Sufficient to say, he has many providers that are monitoring his condition. We are currently medicating him with Varenzin-CA1, Telmisartan, Mirtazapine, Porous One and Catney One. However, he’s not able to keep weight on and that’s where I’m hoping to get some advice. 

He has been prescribed all the renal diets (Purina/Hills/Canin) and he’ll eat them… he just doesn’t really like them. For background, he had a brief stint of GI that resulted in me cooking novel protein diets for him (Kangaroo, Scallops, Alligator, Ostrich, etc.) under the care of a pet nutritionist out of Cornell. He now tolerates less novel proteins well, thankfully, but he is a spoiled prince. 

I’ve tried supplementing the renal diet with Gerber baby food (chicken and turkey). I’ve noticed that his current fixation is anything salmon flavored. So I’ve got salmon bonito flakes, broths, purées, churus.. if it exists for cats in salmon we’ve got it. 

A lot of redditors with cats extremely ill talked about rotisserie chicken saving their lives. I’ve considered it, but commercial rotisserie chicken is usually basted with sodium and other flavors.. so that gives me pause in giving it to him on a regular basis. 

His multiple providers gave me the okay to branch outside of the renal diets to ensure he gains weight. Adding lbs is more important than keeping to a restrictive diet. 

What have y’all found help put weight on your kittens? I’m open to just about anything. Salmon is definitely his favorite but he’s starting to get bored with it. I bake him a piece of salmon once a week or so for him to snack on and we’re incrementally adding *some* weight. 

He also has a couple of bad teeth at the moment. We can’t extract them because his kidney levels and a heart murmur make him a poor candidate for anesthesia. His quality of life is still good. He’s alert, plays, is enthusiastic about food and treats, wants his outdoor time, etc. I know when to watch for when *we’re there*, but I want to give him a fighting chance until we are. 

Greatly appreciate any advice or tips y’all have to share. He’s my soul animal, so nothing is out of question. I even heard about some Canadian food made from whole mice that I’m considering but it has very few nutritional facts and I’m worried about phosphorous content for obvious reasons. 

Thank you in advance!

Need help putting on weight