------------snipped for brevity-----------------------------------

You might want to give this some more analysis to crack your dilemma.

Can you find out what it is about Science Diet c/d that your cat needs?
1. Is it its low pH, acidic, around 6.2 to 6.4 for this particular
item.
2. Does your cat need a higher water intake?
3. Is it low phosphorus with calcium proporionate, usually 1.0 to
1.1/1.2.
4. Is it low ash that is the goal?
5. How about low protein along with low phosphorus and acidic too?

See? There are many possibilities. Different companies, different
brands.
It's tedious to look this up. There are some old web sites which have a
listing.
One lady for her two beloved cats made a list up. It's old but still
good listing just about all known wet and dry foods sorted by protein,
phosphorus, sat and fat. It's a great web site.

Here are her selections for Friskies for wet or canned food.

You can also mix 1/2 and 1/2 which I am sure you have tried?

Friskies used to have a vet on their staff. Maybe you could call and
explain your dilemma. Generally Friskies is very high in protein and
phosphorus but they are not all created equal. Try to see if Friskies
can come up with an equivalent for c/d or what they say. Did you see
their show with the trained cats? Strange, cute, but a little
stressful. Trained cats seems inappropriate although teaching a few
tricks can be like playing with the cat.

This is Noreen Boles, the one I talked about above, in regards to renal
failure but the analyses are helpful for all and the items below, also
dry food analysis is available here, are from this URL:
http://webpages.charter.net/katkarma/canfood.htm

Some additional urls which lists simply some important items:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/cat_food_nutrition_dry.htm
http://www.felinediabetes.com/cat_food_nutrition_canned.htm

VETERINARY LOW-PROTEIN DIETS     %Protein    % Phosphorus    % Sodium    % FAT

Friskies Beef Stew*    45.11    1.11    0.47    37.45
Friskies Carved Chicken & Tuna*    50.24    1.00    1.47    16.59
Friskies Carved With Beef*    49.77    1.08    1.46    16.43
Friskies Classic Seafood Entrée*    47.39    1.24    0.52    34.54
Friskies Country Style Dinner*    44.35    1.46    0.59    41.84
Friskies Elegant Entrée*    45.45    1.86    0.50    37.60
Friskies Flaked With Tuna & Egg*    58.98    1.48    0.51    19.92
Friskies Flaked With Tuna*    60.08    1.57    0.44    18.15
Friskies Kitten Mixed Grill Formula*    51.27    1.27    0.59    34.32
Friskies Kitten Ocean Whitefish Formula*    58.30    1.54    0.61    24.70
Friskies Kitten Turkey Formula*    50.20    1.85    0.48    34.94
Friskies Liver & Chicken Dinner*    47.30    1.16    1.00    36.51
Friskies Mariner's Catch*    49.17    1.38    0.54    32.50
Friskies Mixed Grill*    48.12    1.34    0.67    38.49
Friskies Mixed Grill*    50.21    1.14    0.51    37.13
Friskies Ocean Whitefish & Tuna*    49.79    1.29    0.54    32.37
Friskies Prime Entrée*    46.38    1.36    0.72    38.30
Friskies Prime Filets Turkey Dinner in Gravy*    58.54    0.81    1.42    11.38
Friskies Prime Filets with Beef in Gravy*    57.26    0.85    1.41    12.10
Friskies Salmon Dinner*    48.03    1.50    0.43    35.43
Friskies Sea Captain's Choice*    48.13    1.33    0.54    34.85
Friskies Senior Ocean Whitefish & Rice in Sauce*    50.21    1.28    0.51    26.81
Friskies Senior Pacific Salmon in Sauce*    49.79    1.73    0.42    27.85
Friskies Senior Savory Beef in Sauce*    46.96    1.26    0.74    31.74
Friskies Senior Tender Cuts Chicken & Tuna*    49.12    1.06    0.27    18.58
Friskies Senior Turkey & Giblets in Gravy*    52.66    1.59    0.48    30.43
Friskies Senior With Sliced Lamb & Rice*    46.70    1.27    0.25    16.75
Friskies Shredded Chicken & Salmon*    52.74    0.90    0.30    18.41
Friskies Shredded Turkey & Cheese*    52.00    1.10    0.55    18.00
Friskies Sliced Chicken in Gravy*    52.42    1.10    0.35    19.82
Friskies Sliced Gourmet Grill*    54.02    0.80    0.36    15.63
Friskies Sliced With Beef in Gravy*    55.84    0.84    1.56    12.34
Friskies Special Diet Beef & Chicken Dinner*    47.21    1.03    0.56    36.05
Friskies Special Diet Beef & Liver Dinner*    49.15    0.98    0.47    30.77
Friskies Special Diet Ocean Whitefish Dinner*    49.79    1.09    0.46    33.05
Friskies Special Diet Sliced Chicken in Gravy*    53.77    0.80    0.42    19.81
Friskies Special Diet Turkey & Giblets Dinner*    52.04    0.95    1.00    36.20
Friskies Special Diet Turkey & Giblets*    48.66    0.94    0.98    34.38
Friskies Tender Cuts Chicken & Salmon in Gravy*    49.54    1.16    0.42    18.98
Friskies Tender Cuts Ocean Whitefish in Sauce*    50.23    1.13    0.42    16.90
Friskies Tender Cuts Turkey & Liver in Gravy*    49.06    1.18    0.38    16.04
Friskies Turkey & Giblets Dinner*    48.95    1.52    0.84    36.71
Friskies Turkey & Giblets*    48.74    1.85    0.92    36.98
Whew, that's a long response. Helpful?

Most sane people agree that eating is the most important thing. Especially
at that age. I would do exactly the same thing. My vet even said that she
used to be in the "you must eat THIS" camp for renal cats, but finally came
to the realization that it was more important that they eat than what they
eat. SHe WANTS them to eat what is good for them, but if they won't, she'd
be the first to say try something else.

I'm with you - feed him what he'll eat.  My vet agrees with you.  When
Nanki-Poo wasn't eating, and when he just started eating again, she
said, "That he eats is much more important than what he eats."

Joy

I find this interesting.  TuTu always likes to eat, but she really gets
excited over people tuna and Friskies.  I normally feed her Iams but
occasionally buy a box of Friskies for a  before-bed treat.  MLB

Lots of purrs for Sabra to be healthy again,

<snip

When your animal is sick and won't eat, you have to make that decision,
shall I give her/him something that they *ought" to eat, or something that
they *will* eat.
I had a whippet called Minnie who I could not have loved more if she had
been my child.  As she reached 18 or so, her appetite got bad, and I knew
she had CRF.  For a while, she would eat the kidney diet, but towards the
end of her life she was very difficult to feed, to find something she would
like.
My vet said to me  "It doesn't matter now what's good for her or not, or
what might rot her teeth. Give her anything she might want."  So I did.  She
lived for a few days after her 19th birthday and I still miss her terribly.
<Confession>  When she got frail I used to take her up to bed with me, and
woe betide me if the electric blanket wasn't on!  Then I used to put her
under the duvet and we would snuggle up together until morning, like spoons.
I will never stop missing her.

Tweed
Sometimes you have one dog in your life that is very special.  I have had
two, but owned 12

.

Purrs that Sabra continues to improve. Yes, I agree that eating
something is more important than not eating at all. Give him his
Friskes, and maybe when he is feeling better, you could slowly switch to
some more senior-cat-friendly food?

Purrs that he'll continue to eat and you can figure out what he needs --
pardon me if you mentioned this already, does he have kidney disease and/or
dental trouble? Those conditions affected 2 of my RB cats and we definitely
had the vomiting with the kidney disease (sub-q fluids helped this a lot)
and the one cat had both kidney disease and a bad tooth which also caused
him to not want to eat.
Christine

<snip>

Continuing purrs for Sabra. I was just looking at your card, which
arrived today. Which one is Sabra?