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FF, just curious; why is your Charlie (I have a "Charlie", too) having to be on prescription food? What were his symptoms? I have a reason for asking....
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Cats that refuse food in my house tend to get a little hungry. When we had the farm and several cats everyone gulped their dish down before someone else took it. No leaving some for later. My current cat has never refused anything either, guess that comes from spending time in the SPCA.
Kidney failure is very common in older cats in fact my Vet daughter says most get it sooner or later.
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Oh FF, that's going to be tricky. Poor Charlie.  That's the problem with the kidneys, is they have to go low protein....which is probably why wet food is out.   Tricky for cats, too, since they are obligate carnivores.  The only other option is probably to make his meals yourself....which is a lot of work!

My best guy friend faithfully feeds Royal Canin from the time they are kittens. His cats now are only 4 (siblings), so it's too soon to tell.....but the two he had before them lived to 19 and 21, respectively. I'm skeptical of prescription diets, but there must be something good in the Royal Canin! That is, if Charlie will eat it......

Edit:  I have a bunch of canned food my cats have done the exact same thing with!  I was thinking I would take them to the SPCA next week, along with the 2 lovely, soft, not-so-cheap beds I bought just before I brought Bruce home, that neither of them will use.  Or I might take them to the pet food bank....they just opened up last year.  You might have a pet food bank in your area, too.  Or even the regular food banks will accept and distribute pet food.  (I think you call them food pantries in the US?) 
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Well, this is going to be interesting, "Charlie" really needs to be on a special kidney diet. Oh great, I remember trying special diet prescription with him last year and he would try to cover it up... yep, that was his opinion of THAT food.

Yesterday the Vet gave me Royal Canin to try as I hadn't tried that brand before. Say what? Charlie was actually eating the wet food. I hope tomorrow he does the same thing... you know how cats can be.... you find something they like to eat, order a case of it, and they totally ignore the 2nd can.... [sign].
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I have a 2 yr old female that NEVER makes a sound (unless her brother has her in a headlock, tho it's usually the other way 'round), and a deaf from birth white female who never meows, but will shriek while she plays by herself (at night; sure is a jolt from a sound sleep!). Sometimes the shriek turns to a noise like she's afraid; I think she suddenly feels lost or alone, because if I turn on the light, she quits. She's 12 1/2 now, still looks like a kitten, and such a character! People who don't like cats have no idea....
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You know what's funny....I don't actively encourage my cats to talk. George, the feline love of my life, hardly ever spoke a "word," and when he did, it was a short, sharp "MEH," usually blasted in complaint of being picked up or something. And I adored him for his silence - he talked to me with his eyes and his body language and his rumbling purr, and that worked for me! Carmella became a pretty quiet girl along the way, too.

Now Bruce, he may be a talker. He has a few sounds....the cutest one is the "chirp." Which he uses when he's feeling kittenish and lovey-dovey and is about to jump on me. I am not sure if I want to encourage this, though.

I dated this guy once....it lasted MAYBE two months. And his cats....they never, ever, EVER shut up! After it was over, I realized they were a product of his way of being....because HE never, ever, EVER shut up either! Drove me mad! It was like he constantly had to fill up any peaceful, silent space with the noise of his own voice.  Even when we weren't hanging out together, he'd be texting me all day. (I was working on a friend's ranch then, and didn't have free hands for that nonsense, never mind time to stop and reply. "Don't you have work to do?" I'd eventually text. "I'm doing it!" he'd text back from the comfort of his desk.) (Yeah, that was never gonna work out.)

My point....I realized my cats' silence is a product of my own lifestyle, which is to enjoy a lot of quiet time at home. (As a musician, I like to be able to hear the music in my head.) So I dunno if Bruce will ever become a chatty fellow.

I read somewhere that cats are actually pretty silent creatures once they become adults (except for their mating rituals), and that they developed their vocalizations solely for the purpose of communicating with humans, rather than other cats!  Which is kind of neat!
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Dorianne, if Bruce can make a variety of different sounds, instead of the normal "meow" sounds that most cats make, you may have a talker on your hands.

Back in the 1970's I had a Siamese mix "Alex" that had a variety of sounds, so I tried word association with him. Just a couple of words to see if he would parrot them and understand the word usage. I used the "one word" only technique as that was easier. Like the words "Mom", "Out", "No", etc.

Eventually Alex surprised me with one sentence "I want out" in cat accent. It was clear enough sounding that when we had friends over to visit, both of them said "did that cat say what I think he said 'I want out'?" Then we started talking about it, ignoring the cat, Alex was losing patience so he then said "I want out NOW !!" Oh my gosh, we were rolling on the floor laughing, and yes, Alex went outside.

So I have been doing the word association with Charlie for the past 17 years. He has an interesting vocabulary.  Charlie would be upstairs and I would be downstairs calling for him. I start laughing whenever he would say "what?" like he is annoyed.

Cats can be so interesting :))
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Hah, ff! I was in the back collecting Bruce's blankets when the thermometer incident happened. I had my back turned away from him, but he was only 6 feet away.  He YOWLED, and I swear he was saying, "JEEZ, mom, did you see that? Did you SEE what they just DID to me????" When the ladies handed him back, he grabbed onto my shoulder with all his claws and was not letting go, ever!

Bruce does NOT like the vet's office.

The up side is I'm the one who took him out of there after the thermometer incident, so he was extra lovey-dovey when we got back here, and still is. I think I'm his hero now!

Edit:  the funny thing is, everyone at the vet's office adores Bruce.  We are kind of in the "poorer" side of town.  The vet's office does a brisk business in doggies....but I think they mostly see cats when they're sick and/or at the end of life.  So even the vet himself giggles when he sees fluffy, shiny, healthy, curious Kitten-Bruce. 
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LOL.... my cat doesn't mind going to the Vet... I think he enjoys having all those young pretty girls having their hands all over him. It's just when he is taken to the back room and I am not there with him, he is yelling "Mom" [yes, he actually says that word with a cat accent]. The Vet and her helping will eventually bring Charlie back, smiling and giggling. Oh dear, I wonder what else he was saying. So far he doesn't parrot any bad words.
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Everyone knows that the temperature rectally may be one degree higher, just make the appropriate adjustments if you do go ff.

Since chocolate is poisonous for pets, just don't expect to come home with a chocolate treat from the vet.
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I dunno though....the vet takes your temperature via your bottom!

Bruce did NOT like that one little bit.
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lol
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FF I think you should go to the Vet. You will probably get better treatment and come out with some treats
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I have to chuckle, my cat got a postcard in the mail from his Vet. It is time for his "Senior Wellness Exam". It came at the same time my own doctor sent me a similar post card :)
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So....Bruce seems just fine and dandy. I got him a new feather fishing pole toy - the one that has a fishing lure weight to make it really seem to fly! These are the best ones. Anyway, I wish you guys could have seen him running and JUMPING on the weekend! You would NEVER have known he was ever sick!

He is better than any cat I've had about taking his medicine, too. Of course, I made them give me the liquid antibiotics, but still. Carmella would fight me every step of the way if it were her! And I'd definitely come out bleeding. But Bruce just accepts his fate, lol.

I think I might be a little under the weather now, though. Maybe I stressed myself out too much. When the vet first said licorice could kill a cat, I just about lost my s***! But yeah, it wasn't the licorice, and if I hadn't caught him with the licorice, this pancreatitis mightn't have been caught in time!

He doesn't seem TOO put out about the loss of people food. He always wants Temptations though....just giving him fewer.
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My husband was really bad about feeding my dog people food. He would make her a bologna sandwich cutting it up in small pieces while I was at work. He gave her other unhealthy things too. She became sick, vomiting, diarrhea, fever. She had mild pancreatitis. I had to feed her boiled chicken with rice and cottage cheese as well as give her meds. She recovered and is fine. Please be careful what you feed your pets.
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I always tell the vet what our chi eats.. she has an egg almost every day at our house, but we have cut off her bacon connection (mom). The vet told me at the last visit she has never seen a 9 yr old chi as slim and petite as Bella.. then told me NO People food because it can cause pancreatitis Now I have read in 2 dog magizines that eggs are great for dogs, high in protein and good things? So she is still getting her scrambled egg.. But we try to remember "no part of the hog is good for the dog".. We laughed over that one but it's easy to remember! Chloe the Chug has just discovered people food,, OMG she is an awful beggar! We need to use treats for her potty training...
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Dori, glad to hear Bruce is recovering! Our fur babies are special. My Tiger cat is pretty passive, but he is almost 15 now.
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Dorianne,
Glad Bruce is ok!
Be sure to check under the couch for some hidden licorice stash.

Hoping you also have recovered from the worry.
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CM,
One reading at 3:00 in the morning (awake since midnight) should not be laughing so much! How am I going to get to sleep now?
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Fossilised excreta are much treasured for what they reveal about diet, apparently, or so I gather from enthusiastic boffins on BBC4. But yes very expensive - also, I think the scent might have faded too much to be useful. Or at least to be recognisable to a squirrel: "oh my God! A velociraptor???? Run for your lives - !"

Reminds me of a moment I'm sure the celeb in question would rather everyone had forgotten - I won't name her, I'll spare her blushes, if we can assume she ever did realise what she'd said wrong. She was asked for a comment after the gala première of Jurassic Park and said "oh amazing! Just AMAZING! You just couldn't tell where the special effects ended and the real dinosaurs began."
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We cleaned and washed the porch yesterday, and the squirrel did not show or make territorial markings.
All your suggestions were great about obtaining repellant, especially the wolf poop, with prices and everything.
On our day trip over the grapevine, we pulled up to buy ice, and next door was an antique mall of strange stuff.
On the window was painted this sale: Dinosaur Poop.

I found it, but did not go in, the price was likely prohibitive for use as
aversion excrement. o well.
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Found It! I really found it!
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Having observed at least one respected dietitian at close quarters over thirty years, I can tell you that the ability to contradict your own advice with unblinking conviction is a key requirement.

I admit to serious bias. Can't bear the woman. But it's still true - !
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I imagine the age of the dietitian makes a big difference in the advice they give, advice about the "ideal" diet has changed so much over the years. And of course everyone brings their own personal biases into it too, can you imagine the kind of advice you would get from a vegan dietitian (or doctor for that matter)?
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As someone who could probably eat Indian food 4 or 5 nights a week....I sympathize entirely with that cat! Lol.

My cats are indoor ones, so....yeah, I do believe the pancreatitis is entirely my fault with the people food and cat treats. It's not like I've never fed people food to cats, but Bruce must just be a little more susceptible to problems.  Plus after losing George only a year ago, I'm probably a little weaker in the parenting department.  ;-) 

Ha ha! I do think there are some good dieticians. With my mom's kidney disease, she managed to ward off dialysis for 10 years just by following the dieticians' nutrition system.

But then I think back to the 6-year old me (I look pretty normal in photos, maybe a very, very slightly bit rounded, like most of my father's side of the family)....mom took me to a dietician, who instructed me on how to count calories, and all the lovely things I must never, ever eat again. What kind of person with any ethics trains a 6-year old in obsessive diet management?  (Edit: and also, they would never have done that to a boy - by "they" I mean my mother as well as the dietician!  When I think of how "important" it was that I be small and thin.....I still smart at how long it took me to achieve normal eating habits.  Into my early 30s!)

And then there's everything wrong dieticians still keep telling diabetics over and over and over again....basically loading them up with sugar. 
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Oh gosh yes. And if they didn't make so much money from their pet food sales just think what annual vaccinations would cost!

The other thought that crossed my mind just now is that in any case owners of cats, unless they're confined indoor cats, who think they know what their cats eat are living in a bit of a dream world. We had one cat who liked lamb-flavoured Whiskas, but otherwise would nip round to the bins behind our local curry house for his dinner instead. It was the overpowering garlic breath that gave him away.

Don't start me on dietitians. It's personal. I'm sure of them are brilliant 😶
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Countrymouse - while I was reading different things tonight, I learned that vets basically get one class in nutrition. And then you have to consider how much they are wooed by corporate informationals after they leave vet school!

I have similar problems with dieticians....like my friend's mom is diabetic....so the dietician keeps telling her to eat all these carb-y foods like, say, she can have as much toast and Cheerios as she wants, and is told to stick to low fat products (like low fat salad dressings, yogurts, etc.).

But toast and Cheerios are refined carbs....which are basically sugar for a diabetic! And with the salad dressings and yogurts and other low fat stuff, they basically just replace the flavour you lose from fat....with sugar!

Same with the grain-heavy cat foods. It's basically giving a cat sugar, which they shouldn't even have in their diets.

Sugar is the worst.  I have been eating more of it than I should....probably why I have more pain issues than usual right now.  So yeah, Bruce and I are both gonna kick our carb-y sugar habits, lol.  
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I found this earlier tonight (last night???) after I brought Bruce home. I was researching foods just to make sure I knew what I was doing.  (Yay, my brand made the cut!)  Anyway, it's a useful, qualitative cat food review/analysis.

reviews.com/cat-food/

Edit:  I STILL have to wonder why no one makes mouse-flavoured cat food!?  It can't be an animal rights issue - what's the difference between slaughtering chickens and slaughtering mice? 
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