Anyone hear have advice for a cat who won't eat vet prescribed foods? [View all]

Last edited Wed Feb 18, 2026, 11:27 AM - Edit history (1)

The older of our two cats adopted earlier this year, Kiki, who has proved to be a pedigreed cat, as I noted in this forum recently, It appears that one of the cats we adopted from a shelter is a pedigree breed began to show blood in her urine and displaying difficulty urinating.

We took her, of course, to the vet, who diagnosed bladder stones. The vet gave her a long acting antibiotic shot, and prescribed Hill's Urinary Special food, which is alleged to serve to dissolve these stones.

My wife blames herself for this outcome, because in order to control Kiki's weight, she put her on a commercial high protein food. (Kidney/Bladder stones are generally crystalized urea, similar to gout in humans. High protein does result in urea biosynthesis.)

The problem is that Kiki, who is overweight, pretty much hates the food; she won't really eat it, and if she does, it's just a few bites.

She is obese and can afford to lose weight, but she does have to eat, I think.

She's a sweet lady, with imploring eyes, and I hate making her unhappy.

We have never had a cat this young with major health problems.

Have any cat owners here have any experience with this sort of thing? The food is very expensive, close to $100/bag, and we're already in, between vet bills and follow ups around $700 into this. We can afford it, I guess, but we're not extremely wealthy; it is somewhat painful.

Interestingly, her son, Harry, wants to eat her special food, and she wants his. We have to watch them carefully during feeding.

Advice would be appreciated.

Update in post 20.