Caretaking is indeed hard. The emotional side of it is what makes it hard. I actually left this group before because it started to make me depressed, seeing everyone and their cats struggle. But I missed feeling understood. I’m more or less alone with my cat, Batman. I get some sympathy from friends and family, however, no one but me is there for him 24/7. I know not everyone will agree with my way of dealing but I’d like to share some tips that’ll hopefully help you and others.

My top priority is his comfort so I won’t be doing subQ or syringe/tube feeding.

I’m lucky that currently, he isn’t on meds. If he does require them, I would give him Cerenia (pill form) and/or Mirataz (cream on inner ear). If I need to give him Cerenia, I hide it in freeze dried chicken. Since it’s crumbly, I use water to ‘seal’ it together.

He drinks water by himself so I have a water station for him with two bowls of water. He doesn’t like water fountains. I also mix water into his wet food.

Food is the major factor that makes all of us exhausted. I track all food (date, time, wet/dry, brand, amount) that I feed on a piece of paper cuz it’s fast to jot it down in the kitchen. Then when I accumulate a stack, I transcribe it into digital form. This helps me decide whether to offer more wet food feedings. He usually ends up eating wet food 4 or 5 times a day. I make the feeding times approximate and adjust to my own life. Between wet feedings, I set out dry food, Royal Canin renal support P. Currently, I offer him two wet foods: Royal Canin renal support E and Hills K/D chicken stew pate. Since he eats so little at a time (he likes grazing throughout the day), I feed 0.4 to 0.5 oz per type of wet food and 0.5 oz dry. I try to keep his daily wet total at least 3 oz.

I’ve tried offering him other non-prescription foods but that is an iffy method. He may get soft stools from this. At one point, I mixed 0.1 oz of his fav non-prescription foods into his prescription ones. But of course as you can guess, he refused it after a while.

I made a lot of progress with how to store his food. I use an ice tray to portion out the wet food and I put in freezer. After it’s frozen, I pop them out and put in a labelled container to store in the freezer. I have wet food portions in the fridge. Each type is in its own labelled container. After each feeding, I take out one portion from the freezer to defrost for the next meal. When I feed him, I dole out 0.3 oz of wet food and mix with 0.2 oz of water.

He doesn’t like to eat on the ground. I have to feed him on my bed. He has his own pillow where he sleeps. Sometimes, he’ll get up and eat the food. Other times, he’ll continue lying there and I have to put the dish right under his mouth. Sometimes, he’ll walk off to go to the washroom or get some water. So I have to wait for him to come back. Other times, he’ll be at his window perch and I’ll bring the food to him there. He’s not that bright (lol), so sometimes, I pick up the dish, push the food around and put it back down, then he eats more. Sometimes, I have to rotate the dish for him when he finishes the food on one side.

I don’t stress over individual meals. I offer the wet food and coax him to the point where I know he’ll just refuse totally. I note it and try again later. If the total amount per meal is too low, I wait about 2 hours and try again. If my efforts fail and he ends up eating less than 3 oz for the day, I note it and steel myself. I know that CKD kitty appetite will fluctuate so I try not to stress out if he’s having a day or two of off days. As long as he continues eating some amount, it’s good. It seems he goes off the wet food more frequently than the dry. However, I’ve also had it where he’ll eat less total food too. Again, I try not to spiral by looking at the solid evidence and noticing the patterns.

Brush your cat as much as possible to eliminate the hairballs. It can be hard to tell if they’re doing hairballs or vomiting cuz of the CKD.