Heya,

My Merlin was diagnosed with CRF and we had her for 2 more years before it got too bad. She was prescribed specific pills for this, which were a bit of a problem as she wouldn't eat them straight, crushed, mixed with food or hidden in chunks of meat. In the end we had to just force them into her mouth each night (not as cruel as it sounds and you get the hang of it quickly when you have to!)
In terms of food, they are much better than they used to be, but I think most cats will probably get in a bit of a mood about the change in diet. We tried Hills K/D (pouches seemed more popular than cans) and Royal Canin pouches. The latter definitely were more successful. As she was losing weight fast, our vet did say that it was better to get her to eat something, even if not the specific diet, than nothing at all. Her favorite was chunks of cooked chicken, and we also mixed this with canned pumpkin to help her stay regular. Water is also very important. We bought her a water fountain which went down very well.

If he is eating and drinking as usual than this has got to be a good sign. I switched Merlin to the pills and renal diet when I first found out, but like you, did not want to go down the road of treating to keep her alive just for me. I would say that she was 'ok' for the first year, a little worse for the next 6 months but stopped going outside, then we had about 4 months where she was just peeing all over the house and we had to get 4 litter trays. The last 2 months she couldn't even make it to them, she barely ate, she got stupidly thin and was wobbly on her legs. I had her pts on Jan 21st of this year after the vet suggested IV treatment that may only prolong her life for days. That was when I knew it was her time. She was 14 almost 15 years old.

To answer your question, cats *can* live with CRF, but it's not going to get better. Personally I would try out the specific diets as this could help the problem getting worse quickly. If your vet has also recommended pills, I would follow their advice, altho bear in mind the long-term costs of doing this (about £30 a month for us in pills) You can buy the specific diets cheaper online, but don't buy more than a month's worth to start with. I bough about 4 month's worth after she got on with the food for a week. Then she stopped eating it. Consequently I have about 20 cans sat in my cupboard that I don't know what to do with. I can send you some to try with your kitty if you want?

Hope some of this is useful..