Cat kidney failure

savemoney

Our 9 year old male outdoors cat been diagnosed with kidney failure he has had urine and blood test. Prognosis by vet isnt good he said he can give him a boost again like he did yesterday.

But we dont want to give up although today i said i take him in in morning to be put to sleep.

he has perked up today, he drinks a lot, wee's a lot and make a odd sound and when we go near his back he doesn't like being touched.

Obviously dont want him to live in pain But I also heard food can help like this

http://www.bitiba.co.uk/shop/cats/dry_cat_food/royal_canin_feline_vet_diet/renal/359889#more

I normally give him Iams wet food or Gourmet wet food but want to try above at least for a short while, to see if it helps.

I also given him spring water hopefully doesn't contain nasties like Chlorine.

He does still eat and drink but not much food. I currently giving him Royal Canine Urinal food cant get the renal food from pets at home and dont have that many pet shops

He also for first time that we seen cleaning himself which must be a good sign obviously there is damage in his liver

UKTigerlily

I am so sorry, I lost my 18 year old to this back in July. Firstly, she lived for 10 months after diagnosis (& had had it maybe 18/19 months before, and was 18), and was totally well, no pain, not uncomfortable etc during that time, so it probably will be a while before you need to consider this

Secondly, I didn't bother with the food. My thoughts were it's better that the life she had, be happy & she enjoy her food than be on that (which gave her diarrhoea, all of them!) & having diarrhoea etc all the time, but this is down to how the cat takes it & many do well on these foods.

I wanted mine to have quality, not quantity. My Vet said at some point she may turn the corner & go downhill fast, she was doing well, had a blood test which showed a 20% decrease in kidney function in the 10 months since diagnosis & had just started to be incontinent to the point of cleaning her back end up, but not drenched in it.

Then she got what was probably Cystitis & was obviously uncomfortable & I had to take her in at midnight, and the Vet gave PTS as the second option. I thought that as her kidney function had dropped, she was obviously starting to get things going downhill & would probably get more & more infections etc & had started to lose bladder control & was 18, that it wasn't fair to let her experience any true suffering so let her go

Tanya's do a fab website all about everything to do with CKD, you can find it all there: http://www.felinecrf.org/

I would say love him, spoil him & if you need anyone to talk to, don't hesitate to PM x

savemoney

Thanks for your help. I agree its all about quality of life and he has had that with us and love. I would never want him to live in pain and unhappy.

I just feel I want to give him a chance for a few weeks if it gets worse then yes I go and get him put down. He is still young this is 2nd time we lost a cat this way and our last cat was a lot worse he got to point he couldn't walk and died at night Sunday we were going to vets on Monday for a blood transfusion to see if that works.

Least my new cat is eating abet a little and still walking even running a bit and looking out of window.

Torry_Quine

My first cat had kidney disease. We were told to give her as low protein food as we could so checked all the tins in the supermarket, the food was mixed with cooked white rice.

UKTigerlily

It's an awful thing to go through, I miss mine so much even though I have two new kittens. I would keep a close eye on him & while he is living as normal, other than drinking like a fish, spoil him rotten. So sorry this is the second time for u also x

savemoney

Thanks all he's been asleep and now eating some biscuits and now cleaning himself.

One thing he does do is sleep and sit on our ironing board on our landing he like sit there made it comfy for him

I am keeping a close eye on him and take each day as it comes I hope after advice tomorrow from vet and possible a boost from injection they did say they could dont want to drag it out if there is no hope

I miss my last boy he was around 12 and we got other cat within a week of him passing away. I miss him so much every day in think of him as i do with family that have passed away

Ilona

I have an oldie boy who I suspect has kidney problems, he is 20, been to the vet, but not had the tests yet. He has had a couple of injections to give him a boost. He goes off his food, then he wants to eat. He is camped out on the table next to the desk I am sitting at, his bed, food tray, and litter box, he never gets off. This has been going on for six months. He is comfortable, has everything he needs. I don't get special food for him, he can have whatever he likes, tuna fish, cooked chicken, all kinds of cat food, he soon moans when it isn't right. I am expecting him to go downhill at any time, I will get the vet to come to the house because he doesn't like travelling in the cat box.

OP, don't give up just yet, pamper him, love him, watch him, do your best for him. If you could see me now, my Bugsy is standing right in front of me over the keyboard, wanting attention. When he stops doing that, stops moaning at me, stops chuntering like a miserable old man, I will know that's the time.

Best wishes,
Ilona

savemoney

Thanks I dont want to give up but he is priority over what I want but I think I should give him a little time

My daughter feed her cats with Royal Canine and am surprised just how cheap it costs her, she says it costs for 2 cats £70 for 6 months. I spend around £8-£10 a week on wet food like Iams, Gourmet and always buy them on offer wont spend £4.50+ for a box of 12 sackets

gettingready

I lost my ginger boy Tiger to kidney disease.
When he was first diagnosed the vet gave him 3 months - he held on for over a year.
I did try renal food but he hated it and I did not want to make him miserable on top of him being not well so h was eating whatever he enjoyed eating.
As long as he was eating, drinking, going to the toilet and enjoying his favourite cushion - we were fine.
Eventually he started peeing under himself and then calling me so I would change his cushion for him - he was still eating/drinking/using tray for the poo.
When he stopped eating and started looking very unwell - THEN I called a vet to come home to put him to sleep. At home, in his favourite place with me, my daughter and Zara the dog with him.
I had him individually cremated and he was sitting on a shelf in the old flat an now is here with us in the new one.
Tiger was such a good boy
You will do what is right and when it is right for your cat xxx

Iams is not the best food to be honest, very unethical as they test on animals xx

GwylimT

Please don't give an ill cat poor quality dry food, the dehydration alone would speed up the progression of his illness.

Low protein diets haven't actually been proven to be beneficial for cats with ckd, using a phosphate binder has though.

savemoney

He looks a bit better today he came off his usually place a ironing board and slept on bed. Later he has been on patrol looking out of the window and is currently sat on radiator. He ate most of his biscuits and drinking spring water he looks lively.