This is a personal record of my life with my cat, Mickey, who lives with a chronic illness.
The English version is translated with the help of AI tools, with care and love.
This post was originally published on May 20, 2025.
The Challenge of Finding the Right Food
The problem of a cat not wanting to eat — whether healthy or sick — is something every cat owner has faced at least once. Since Mickey was diagnosed with kidney disease, we learned about what a therapeutic diet is and how important it can be.
For cats with kidney disease, it’s often necessary to lower phosphorus intake to help their bodies. That means switching to foods specially formulated for that purpose. But honestly? Those foods can be very hard to love. Even when we think, “This one might work!” and feel hopeful, Mickey often refuses it.
Trying Many Different Foods
We’ve tried many options…
- The wet food Mickey once seemed to enjoy — as soon as we bought several cans at once, he suddenly stopped eating it.
- When we offered another food, he walked away after just smelling it.
- When we put out dry food, Mickey might eat it at first — only to get bored and leave it untouched soon after.
So now our home has more and more open bags and cans of food sitting around.
Even though Mickey must be hungry, he often stands in front of his bowl and looks disappointed, almost as if to say, “No, this isn’t it…” That sight makes our hearts ache. Perhaps Mickey wants to eat, but his illness and dehydration make him feel uncomfortable. If we force him to eat, he might end up vomiting, and that only makes things harder.
What Matters Most Now
Right now, eating anything at all is what matters most for Mickey. Medicine needs to be given with food, and if he won’t eat, giving the medicine becomes even harder. Lately, we’ve been less strict about only using therapeutic-food brands. We’re also trying foods for senior cats and options with relatively low phosphorus — anything that might help him eat.
For the past couple of days, Mickey has taken to the jelly type of Churu. It seems soft textures are what he prefers right now. We even tried soaking dry food in warm water, but that didn’t excite him much either. We’re now planning to try topping the softened dry food with Churu jelly next, hoping the combination might appeal to him more.
The Endless Food Journey Begins
Every grocery store’s cat-food aisle feels like a small power spot for us these days. We walk down those aisles, hoping to find something Mickey will love. Today, tomorrow, and the day after — this food-searching journey continues. That’s not a sign of giving up hope, but a sign that we still believe there is something out there that Mickey will enjoy.
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