Cat kidney failure

GwylimT

savemoney wrote: »

Just an update

My cat is eating better today we are really at 11th hour with him and my partner wanted to have him put to sleep.

I went to pet at home on Sunday and got some lilys kitchen wet food and some Ava biscuits guy that works there who said he was trained dietician said its some of the best stuff and he seemed genuine and wanted to help.

Cat loves Lilys kitchen and mixed it with some Royal canine renal biscuits made sure food was wet and sprinkled on some Ipakitine Powder from vets which you can buy online. He ate a full bowl and definitely has more energy now but I can still see I got a long way to go

I'm glad he is eating better, thats a good sign, give him a head bump from me.

If he genuinely wanted to help he wouldn't be claiming dry food was any good, nevermind the best stuff. I would also be concerned that a member of P@H staff is claiming to be a dietician!

Redacted

My boy was PTS in March 16 as his CKD had deteriorated too far. This was approx 3 years after diagnosis and his decline was quick in the last couple of weeks before he was PTS. Up until that point, his illness had been pretty steady.

I tried him on all the renal foods available on Vet UK and have noted since his passing that there were further brands on Zooplus. He went through various preferences, and I found the key was rotation of product - when he went off one I would move to another. The only renal diet he wouldn't touch at all was Hills. His preference near the end was Royal Canin renal chicken pouches.

I would agree with other posters that dry food should be avoided if possible, but ultimately it's better than your cat starving. I would also echo that I found Tanya's website as previously linked to really useful. http://www.felinecrf.org/which_foods.ht

In the end, it was the phosphorous levels that got my boy. Despite feeding a renal diet with a binder, in the last couple of months his phosphate levels soared. If you do feed your cat a non-renal diet, you will probably need to add a phosphate binder to keep it under control.

Arthur had blood tests every 6 months to keep an eye on his creatinine, urea and phosphate levels, and was on an iv drip for 3 days after first diagnosis which really helped him rally initially. He was stage 4 from diagnosis, with creatinine numbers in the 500s. With the right support, CKD cats can live for years after diagnosis with good life quality but it can be quite expensive especially if uninsured.

Edited to add - one of the best bits of advice is not to introduce the renal food when your cat is feeling !!!! and off their food, as it creates a negative association. Introduce it when your cat is feeling perkier/eating and you'll have more chance of success. So, if he's loving the Lily's kitchen and tolerating the phosphate binder in it, that's a good start.

OldMotherTucker

Sad times indeed. Our 14 year old rescue is coming to the end now. She's been in failure for several years and it's starting to show. We put some money by to have her PTS at home but that got sucked into a huge vets bill for another old rescued old boy of ours on Sunday evening - he collapsed with an internal bleed after a succession of minor problems and we had to make the decision there and then . .

My crazy Black and White who was acting so strangely last year has also now been dx'd with kidney failure too . . . It's wet food with rice and veg for him from now on although the Vet thought he was in good condition and could go on for years . . . hopefully:(

I did get told off for feeding my possums tinned tuna (even though I never gave them the one in brine). Anyone else been told that?

GwylimT

OldMotherTucker wrote: »

Sad times indeed. Our 14 year old rescue is coming to the end now. She's been in failure for several years and it's starting to show. We put some money by to have her PTS at home but that got sucked into a huge vets bill for another old rescued old boy of ours on Sunday evening - he collapsed with an internal bleed after a succession of minor problems and we had to make the decision there and then . .

My crazy Black and White who was acting so strangely last year has also now been dx'd with kidney failure too . . . It's wet food with rice and veg for him from now on although the Vet thought he was in good condition and could go on for years . . . hopefully:(

I did get told off for feeding my possums tinned tuna (even though I never gave them the one in brine). Anyone else been told that?

Its because of the heavy metals and not nutritionally balanced, i never feed ours fish as she would probably end up addicted to it!

OldMotherTucker

Mine get a lot of raw chicken and fish but they go nuts for tinned tuna! Making packed lunches in our house can be pretty fraught sometimes if I want enough sandwich filler for the rest of us!

no1catman

Haven't read all the posts, but sorry to read about the OP's cat - getting CRF at such a young age.

My previous cat, used to howl, at odd hours during the night, would go out and drink any water she could find - it dilutes the taste of urine in the stomach. When the kidney losses function, not all urine is passed, it goes around again.

Took her to the vets for blood tests (her previous ones were ok), with the two readings 10 was high she had 30, the other was off the scale at 100+. Asked how will we now when, advised when she has problems with her legs, provided she eats.

What helped with the howling, was adding warm water to her (standard) pouch - became more of a soup - may not have eaten much, but she lapped it up. It's not too important what, but it is important, that the cat eats something. She loved a bit of liver-sausage, then we found her saviour - fish fingers. Used to microwave two, trim the coatings off - sometimes it was the only thing that kept her going.
Over the months she picked up, though still fragile, we had moved house, she enjoyed the summer in her new much bigger garden, with no cats to stress her out.
Then in the Autumn, she wasn't able to jump up on the bed, had to lift her - not a good sign, said good-bye (PTS) when she was twenty-and-a-third years old (1988 - 2008).

OldMotherTucker

no1catman wrote: »

Haven't read all the posts, but sorry to read about the OP's cat - getting CRF at such a young age.

My previous cat, used to howl, at odd hours during the night, would go out and drink any water she could find - it dilutes the taste of urine in the stomach. When the kidney losses function, not all urine is passed, it goes around again.

Took her to the vets for blood tests (her previous ones were ok), with the two readings 10 was high she had 30, the other was off the scale at 100+. Asked how will we now when, advised when she has problems with her legs, provided she eats.

What helped with the howling, was adding warm water to her (standard) pouch - became more of a soup - may not have eaten much, but she lapped it up. It's not too important what, but it is important, that the cat eats something. She loved a bit of liver-sausage, then we found her saviour - fish fingers. Used to microwave two, trim the coatings off - sometimes it was the only thing that kept her going.
Over the months she picked up, though still fragile, we had moved house, she enjoyed the summer in her new much bigger garden, with no cats to stress her out.
Then in the Autumn, she wasn't able to jump up on the bed, had to lift her - not a good sign, said good-bye (PTS) when she was twenty-and-a-third years old (1988 - 2008).

Adding water to the food really, really helps - what an amazing tip! Thank you for whoever suggested it! Zeb has improved immensely in just a week:T:T

He's stopped yowling and walling, and hasn't thrown up. Nor is he obsessively grooming his hind quarters.

I knew he wasn't right for a while but his blood and urine tests, though costly, were unremarkable!

I feel like I've got my old boy back again :T:T It's been caught early enough to make a difference . . He is such a happy loving boy and has a very special place in my heart as I rescued him for my, then very poorly teenage son.

Feeding time is a bit fraught - I can't open a cupboard without all 3 of them jumping on the side or trying to trip me up:rotfl: As well as mixing Zeb's food with water, Tully has to have his mixed with bisciuts so he doesn't just inhale it and barge Millie out of the way :rotfl::rotfl: They are worse than kids! But just as joyous!!:T:T:T

no1catman

OldMotherTucker - really pleased to read that my experience with adding warm water to a pouch of cat food helped your cat. I was quite 'touched' to read your cat's progress.

At that time, we were struggling to get her to eat at all, plus the howling in the middle of the night was enough to wake the dead!

Good luck.

ic

Looks like I'm joining the club. My 8 year old was in for a routine dental clean which was advised at the last annual checkup over Christmas, and during a pre-screen of his bloods prior to anaesthetic they've diagnosed him with CRF. I'm just hopeful we've caught this early enough before there were any visible signs that would have led us to check specifically for this, fortunately too he seems to love the new food he's on and wolfs it down.

savemoney

Fingers crossed for you. Our cat is at worse stage.

Hopefully you caught it early

ic wrote: »

Looks like I'm joining the club. My 8 year old was in for a routine dental clean which was advised at the last annual checkup over Christmas, and during a pre-screen of his bloods prior to anaesthetic they've diagnosed him with CRF. I'm just hopeful we've caught this early enough before there were any visible signs that would have led us to check specifically for this, fortunately too he seems to love the new food he's on and wolfs it down.