anyone have experience with Royal Canin prescription wet food?

[egret]

Hi everyone! 
Bridey (in icon) has food sensitivities, so the vet has prescribed Royal Canin alternate protein prescription foods. They use atypical meats that hopefully she won't have sensitivities to, and they are supposed to be easy to digest. The available flavors are venison, rabbit, and duck. They cost about $1/oz - $5 for a 5 oz can that lasts her a day and a half. I have to order them from chewy.com at $127/case. 

And then she barely eats them and I just throw them away when they crust over. She eats the kibble.

She *kind of* likes the rabbit. She hates the duck. I thought she hated the venison, but when I gave her some of that after a day of disgusting duck, she ate some of the venison. Otherwise only the rabbit got a very positive response but she gets bored of it easily. 

If I buy some Wellness brand turkey and put down, she eats it all. 

I am thinking of either buying two cases - one rabbit, one venison - and switching them up OR just giving up and going back to the Wellness. Only the Wellness does make her sinus issues flare up and she starts sneezing. 

My question is if anyone else has had experiences with the Royal Canin prescription and if cats got used to it or if you mixed it in or what? Thoughts or ideas welcome!

Note: There is no actual medicine in this food: it's just supposed to not trigger her sensitivities. Not sure why it's prescription as there's no drug in it. 

Comments

[lyorn]

My Big Monster got RC food for kidney problems. He did not eat much of it, because he was too sick to have much of an appetite. Little Monster, who was perfectly fine, ate it if he could get it, but then, Little Monster ate everything.

I got some crab cream from the vet to make it more appetizing.

If it's just to avoid sensitivities, I'd try the other brand (and inform the vet, just in case.)

[gwendraith]

Vets often prescribe Royal Canin but there are others on the market as good or better and inexpensive. One of my girls is sensitive to grains. I buy from Zooplus but most outlets carry a wide selection. I usually get Kattovit sensitive, James Wellbeloved or Greenwoods which is a supplementary food but I alternate other brand's complete food (wet and dry) which are grain free. I almost always buy easy to digest chicken or turkey and they both love rabbit. India has been so much happier since I changed them both to completely grain free. I ring the changes regularly and try other grain free brands from time to time and they eat everything I put down. It took me ages to find brands that fulfilled what was required but that weren't too expensive but now I know what suits them and me.

[krait]

As others have said: if the Royal Canin isn't getting eaten, try other brands. Royal Canin isn't the only one out there with good options, even if the vet has recommended it. (As someone who has been in pet-related industries for quite a while now, I will also say: vets are often paid to recommend foods! Take all vet recommendations with a grain of salt, and the same goes for other pet-professional recommendations. When I worked in a grooming salon, we were paid to recommend Eukanuba. I used to point at their decal on my smock and tell customers, 'I'm supposed to tell you that this is what I'd recommend. What I actually recommend is...')

Solid Gold, Natural Balance, Blue Buffalo, and probably a dozen others offer grain-free cat foods. Natural Balance has a line called "L.I.D." (Limited Ingredient Diet) for pets with food sensitivities. Blue Buffalo has something very similar, called Blue Basics.

When I worked in a pet store, I had a lot of (admittedly, dog owners rather than cat) swear by the Natural Balance food. I don't think the Blue Basics were around then, but if the labels sound similar they'd be worth trying as well.

Good luck!

[heartonsnow]

I may be a bit old school when it comes to cat food as I have not had my own cat for some years. I've always been under the impression that cats cannot eat grains and need an all meat diet, but maybe research changed.

I would also not trust the vet to recommend brand names if Bridey doesn't like it. Is there any way you could just cook meat for her to eat yourself? Probably chicken might be best but maybe the vet has some ideas of the best plain meats to feed her??

[egret]

Thank you. I may try branching out!

[egret]

I had not considered that it may be the grain additives instead of the meats that affect her. I will try some of the grain free brands and see if that helps. Thank you!

[egret]

Thank you for these recommendations. I had tried all these foods before but stopped when they made my other cat sick(er), but now it is just Bridey and now that I think of it she never had a problem eating these other foods -- I will try them again and see how she does. Thank you!

[egret]

Sometimes I split a can of sardines with her -- half for me and half for her!

Mostly though she doesn't like people food.

But next time I have some plain chicken breast I'll try it. Or maybe I could try some chicken human baby food.

Thank you for your suggestion!

[heartonsnow]

Is meat people food??!! x

[egret]

Sometimes it is! Sorry veggie people!

But I see your point. It's the food of whoever eats it. I am wondering if she could kill a chicken on her own, if she were in the wild, and I think she probably could but I don't know if she would. She is very bold with me but very scaredy cat with everything/everyone else. xox

[m_cobweb]

My elder Siamese loves his Royal Canin kidney food, and I have to keep the others out of his dish. (Luckily, the vet says it won't hurt them, so at least there's that.) But those contain pretty standard protein sources. I've had iffy success with venison and rabbit cat food, and no cat in this house will eat duck.

[egret]

Thank you for this. I have been giving her various supermarket things this week and the most liked seems to be Paul Newman's organic canned turkey and vegetables. I am going shopping again tomorrow. Once I figure out a few good brands I can order them by the case.