Encouraging Eating

Quick Answer: Poor appetite is one of the most common problems in cats with CKD, and it is manageable in the vast majority of cases. Start by addressing any underlying cause, such as nausea, then work through simple, low effort changes like raised bowls, warmed food, and feeding location before moving to more involved options like assisted feeding, appetite stimulants, or a feeding tube. Getting a cat to eat something is more urgent than getting them to eat something ideal, because prolonged poor intake carries a real risk of liver failure.

Appetite loss is one of the most common symptoms of CKD, and it can come and go throughout the course of the disease. It does not automatically mean a cat is dying, and most cats who go through a period of poor appetite recover their interest in food once the underlying cause is addressed. That said, it is not something to wait out passively.

The specific risk is a condition called hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease, where the liver begins to malfunction after a period of inadequate food intake. This can start to develop after as little as one to two days without eating, and it can become life threatening. It is not limited to cats who eat nothing at all. A cat eating only half to three quarters of their normal intake for an extended period is also at risk. This is why veterinary guidance is generally to contact your vet if a cat has gone one to two days without eating, rather than waiting to see if things improve on their own.

None of this is a reason to panic every time your cat skips a meal. It is a reason to take a genuine, sustained drop in appetite seriously and to act on it rather than hope it resolves by itself.

Before working through the tips below, it is worth trying to identify why your cat is not eating, because treating the underlying cause is often more effective than any feeding technique. Common causes in CKD cats include nausea, gastric hyperacidity, dehydration, anemia, mouth ulcers, and constipation. The Symptoms and Treatments section covers each of these in detail, and treating them directly frequently resolves the appetite problem on its own.

Vitamin B is worth mentioning specifically here, since it is inexpensive, low risk, and commonly recommended for CKD cats regardless of appetite status. Beyond its other roles, it appears to act as a mild appetite support for many cats, and many vets prescribe both a B complex and a separate B12 supplement as a matter of course. See the Vitamin B page for more detail.

If your cat’s appetite loss is sudden, severe, or accompanied by other symptoms such as vomiting, lethargy, or hiding, this is a reason to contact your vet promptly rather than working through home strategies first.

It helps to have a concrete target in mind rather than judging by whether the bowl looks empty. A reasonable estimate is roughly 30 to 35 calories per pound of body weight per day, though older cats and those who are underweight may need more, particularly from protein. For a 9 pound cat, that works out to roughly 270 to 315 calories a day, which is considerably more than a few tablespoons of food.

When appetite is a struggle, calorie density matters. A small amount of a calorie dense food gets more nutrition into a cat than the same volume of a more dilute one, which is part of why some of the specific foods below are useful in the short term even though they are not a cat’s ideal everyday diet.

These take little effort and are worth trying before anything more involved. None of them work for every cat, but each takes only a few seconds to attempt, and small presentation changes genuinely do make a measurable difference for some cats.

Raise the food bowl. A thick book, an upturned flower pot, or a purpose made raised bowl can make eating more comfortable, particularly for cats with joint pain or nausea, and many owners notice increased interest in food once they try this.

Move the bowl. A cat who ignores food in one room may accept the exact same bowl somewhere else. It is worth having food available in more than one location, especially near a cat’s favorite resting spot if they are weak or reluctant to move.

Warm the food slightly. Food straight from the refrigerator is colder than what a cat would encounter naturally, and research on aging cats specifically found that warmed food increased consumption, particularly in cats who had already lost some interest in eating. A few seconds in the microwave, stirred thoroughly afterward to avoid hot spots, or a small amount of warm water mixed in, is usually enough. Always check the temperature before offering it.

Try a flat plate instead of a deep bowl. Some cats dislike their whiskers touching the sides of a bowl while eating. Not every cat is bothered by this, but it costs nothing to try.

Offer food when your cat wakes up. Some cats will eat semi-automatically right after waking from a deep sleep, even if they showed no interest in food shortly before.

Change the texture. Cats who reject solid or lumpy food will sometimes accept the same food pureed smooth, or the opposite, since a small number of cats respond better to a firmer texture than a very wet one. This is worth experimenting with in either direction.

Offer smaller amounts more often. Cats naturally eat many small meals a day rather than one or two large ones. Frequent small offerings can add up to a reasonable daily intake even when a single sitting looks unsuccessful, and eating more frequently may also help reduce gastric hyperacidity, which itself contributes to poor appetite.

None of the following are meant as a long term complete diet, but they can be genuinely useful for getting calories and nutrition into a cat during a rough patch, or as a topper to make a more appropriate food acceptable.

Egg whites. Eggs have one of the highest quality proteins available, and the white specifically provides protein with very little phosphorus, since nearly all of an egg’s phosphorus is in the yolk. Egg whites must be cooked thoroughly before feeding, since raw egg white contains a compound that interferes with biotin absorption. One to two cooked egg whites a day is a reasonable amount alongside a regular diet, though egg whites alone are too low in calories to serve as a meal replacement.

Meat based baby food. Plain, single ingredient meat baby foods without vegetables, pasta, or fillers can be useful in the short term, particularly for cats recovering from dental work or a period of poor appetite. Always check the ingredient list carefully for onion or garlic, which are sometimes hidden in broth or gravy components. Baby food is not a balanced diet for a cat and lacks taurine, so it should not be fed exclusively for more than a few days without a taurine supplement, and ideally alongside your vet’s guidance.

Warm chicken broth. Homemade broth from a whole chicken, simmered in water with no added onion, garlic, or seasoning, can make other foods more appealing and support fluid intake. It is not calorie dense on its own, but it works well mixed into a food your cat needs to be eating anyway.

A calorie dense convalescent food during a crisis. Vets sometimes prescribe a specific high calorie, highly palatable recovery food for short term use following a hospital stay or acute illness. These foods are generally too high in phosphorus for long term feeding but can be genuinely useful, and sometimes life saving, in the short window right after a crisis when getting any food in is the priority.

Tempting toppers in small amounts. A small amount of a strong smelling topper, such as a little of the water tuna is packed in, or a fish or meat based treat, sprinkled over a food you want your cat to actually eat, can be enough to tip the balance. Because the amount used is small, the usual cautions about feeding fish or tuna as a primary food generally do not apply here. See Which Foods to Feed for more detail on those cautions.

If simple changes are not enough, more hands on approaches are the next step.

Sit with your cat while they eat. Some cats eat better with company and quiet encouragement nearby. Pretending to eat the food yourself, with audible enjoyment, sounds unlikely but does work for some cats, possibly because it signals to the cat that the food is safe.

Hand feed. Offering small amounts of food from your finger or a spoon is slower and messier than a bowl, but it works for many cats who will not approach a bowl on their own. This can be a genuinely effective bridge back to normal eating for a cat who has lost the habit rather than the desire.

Assisted (syringe) feeding. When a cat is not eating enough on their own, syringe feeding a blended, water thinned version of an appropriate food can maintain calorie intake. This takes practice for both you and your cat, and it is worth learning the technique properly, insert the syringe along the side of the mouth rather than straight in, go slowly, and let your cat swallow each small amount before offering more, to reduce the risk of aspiration. Spreading feeding across several smaller sessions through the day is generally easier than attempting one large session. One important caution, avoid using assisted feeding to introduce a brand new food you want your cat to accept long term, since some cats develop a lasting aversion to a food they associate with feeling unwell or being handled while sick.

Assisted feeding at home can feel discouraging, and some owners worry it means giving up on their cat eating normally again. In most cases it is a temporary bridge, not a permanent state, and many cats return to eating on their own once whatever caused the initial appetite loss has resolved.

For cats with a prolonged or severe appetite problem, a feeding tube is a legitimate and often underused option, not a last resort reserved only for end stage disease. Current veterinary guidance specifically recommends considering a feeding tube for cats in advanced CKD stages, and research on outcomes has found that tubes are generally well tolerated, with most complications being minor.

There are three main types. An esophageal tube is placed at the neck and can usually be inserted with sedation alone. A gastrostomy tube goes directly into the stomach through the cat’s side and requires general anesthesia to place, but tends to interfere least with normal swallowing. A nasogastric tube, placed through the nose, avoids anesthesia entirely but is narrow, limited to liquid food, and only suitable for short term use of about five days.

Feeding tubes offer real practical benefits beyond just calories. They allow reliable delivery of food, water, and oral medications, and can reduce or eliminate the need for separate subcutaneous fluids in some cats, since water can be given directly through the tube. Most cats tolerate them well once past the initial adjustment period, and tubes can typically remain in place for months if needed, though many cats only need one until they are eating enough on their own to maintain weight for a couple of weeks.

If your vet raises the idea of a feeding tube, it is worth taking seriously rather than viewing it as a sign that things have reached a hopeless point. For many cats it meaningfully improves quality of life by removing the daily stress of forced feeding attempts.

Appetite stimulants can help, but they work best as one part of a broader plan rather than a first response. A cat who is nauseated or in discomfort may not eat even with a stimulant on board, so treating the underlying cause of poor appetite generally matters more than reaching for medication. Stimulants also tend to work better on a cat who is eating a little but not enough, rather than a cat who has stopped eating entirely.

Mirtazapine is the most commonly used option currently, available as an oral tablet or as a transdermal ointment applied to the ear. It affects serotonin activity in the brain and appears to have some anti-nausea effect alongside its appetite effect. Because CKD cats clear the drug more slowly than healthy cats, dosing is generally lower and less frequent than in a healthy cat, and it is important to start at the low end of the dose range under veterinary guidance. The main risk to watch for is serotonin syndrome, a rare but serious reaction with symptoms including a fast heart rate, dilated pupils, and unusual vocalization or agitation. This has historically resolved within a day or two once identified, but it warrants contacting your vet promptly if you see these signs.

Cyproheptadine is an older antihistamine with an appetite stimulating side effect in cats. It tends to have a fairly unpredictable response from cat to cat, so dosing is generally started low and adjusted based on effect, under veterinary guidance.

Capromorelin is a newer option specifically approved for weight loss associated with CKD in cats. It works differently than the two options above, by mimicking a hormone that signals hunger. The research on how well it actually helps has been mixed, with some studies showing meaningful weight gain and others showing more modest results, and drowsiness and drooling are relatively common side effects.

Cetirizine, an antihistamine more commonly used for allergies, has an appetite stimulating effect in some cats, though this use is less well studied than the options above.

Corticosteroids are generally not a good choice as an appetite stimulant in cats with kidney disease, since they carry meaningful risks including worsened gastric acidity and fluid retention that can raise blood pressure, both of which work against CKD management. Diazepam is generally avoided as well, due to a small but serious risk of acute liver failure in cats.

Any of these medications should be used under veterinary guidance rather than started independently, both because dosing needs to account for reduced kidney clearance and because some interact with other medications commonly used in CKD cats.

My cat has not eaten in a day. Should I worry?

Contact your vet if a cat has gone one to two days without eating anything, since this is the window in which hepatic lipidosis can begin to develop. A cat eating noticeably less than usual for a week or more is also worth flagging even if they have not stopped entirely.

Is it okay to hand feed or assist feed my cat regularly?

Yes, for many cats this becomes a manageable routine rather than an emergency measure, and some owners do it long term with good results. If you find yourself assisting feeding daily for more than a week or two with no improvement, it is worth discussing a feeding tube with your vet, since it is often easier on both of you than ongoing manual feeding.

Are appetite stimulants safe for a cat with kidney disease?

Generally yes, when dosed appropriately and used under veterinary supervision, though CKD cats need lower and less frequent dosing than healthy cats for most of these medications because of reduced clearance. They are best used alongside treatment of any underlying cause of appetite loss, not as a substitute for it.

Should I be worried about giving my cat a feeding tube?

Most cats tolerate feeding tubes well, and research on outcomes has found complications are generally minor. A feeding tube is not typically a sign that a cat is in the final stage of life, it is a tool that can meaningfully reduce stress around eating for both cat and owner.

Is it my fault my cat won’t eat?

No. Appetite loss is a direct symptom of the disease itself, driven by nausea, altered smell and taste, and other physiological changes, not a reflection of anything you have done.

• Polzin D. 11 guidelines for conservatively treating chronic kidney disease. Veterinary Medicine, December 2007.
• American Animal Hospital Association. Guidance on hepatic lipidosis risk following reduced food intake.
• Wallace OP, Jablonski SA, Thomas JS, III JH, Langlois DK. Association of time to start of enteral nutrition and outcome in cats with hepatic lipidosis. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 38(6), 2024.
• Scherk M. In! Getting calories in: feeding the inappetent or anorectic cat. Presentation to the 73rd SCIVAC International Congress, 2012.
• Eyre R, Trehiou M, Marshall E, Carvell-Miller L, Goyon A, McGrane S. Aging cats prefer warm food. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 47, 2022.
• Agnew W, Korman R. Pharmacological appetite stimulation: rational choices in the inappetent cat. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 16(9), 2014.
• Quimby JM, Lunn KF. Mirtazapine as an appetite stimulant and anti-emetic in cats with chronic kidney disease: a masked placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial. Veterinary Journal 197(3), 2013.
• Ferguson LE, McLean MK, Bates JA, Quimby JM. Mirtazapine toxicity in cats: retrospective study of 84 cases. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 18(11), 2015.
• De Santis F, Boari A, Dondi F, Crisi PE. Drug-dosing adjustment in dogs and cats with chronic kidney disease. Animals (Basel) 12(3), 2022.
• Wofford JA, Milliken MacKinnon A, Heinen E. Capromorelin promotes weight gain in cats with unintended weight loss: a randomized, masked placebo-controlled clinical trial. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 27(11), 2025.
• Wofford JA, Zollers B, Rhodes L, Bell M, Heinen E. Evaluation of the safety of daily administration of capromorelin in cats. Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics 41(2), 2018.
• Center SA, Elston TH, Rowland PH, et al. Fulminant hepatic failure associated with oral administration of diazepam in 11 cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 209, 1996.
• Ross S. Utilization of feeding tubes in the management of chronic kidney disease. Veterinary Clinics of North America Small Animal Practice 46(6), 2016.
• Brunet A, Bouzouraa T, Cadore JL, Huggonard M. Use of feeding tubes in 112 cats in an internal medicine referral service. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2022.
• Dumont R, Lemetayer J, Desquilbet L, Darnis E. Tolerability of naso-oesophageal feeding tubes in dogs and cats at home. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 37(6), 2023.
• International Renal Interest Society. IRIS Treatment Recommendations for CKD in Cats (2023).