Kidney Failure

[sidliz31]

When I was in high school, many many years ago I brought home a little Manx kitten. After begging and begging my parents gave in and let me keep him. I named him bun because of his little sweet tail and because he would hop around like a bunny. As I have moved out of my parents house he remained with them and has lived  a very happy and healthy life until today. We noticed he wasn't drinking much water this week so we took him to the vet. The blood tests came back and we were told he has kidney failure. The Vet said there wasn't much that could be done and recommended we change his diet. He prescribed a brand called KD I believe. We are going to give it a try and hope for the best. I still consider Bun my baby even though he is 17. I know that eventually old age will  kick in and one day I will have to say goodbye but I'm not ready yet. Does anyone know of anything else we could do? 

 

[cprcheetah]

I would recommend a 2nd opinion, while you can't reverse the kidney failure you can help the cat be more comfortable and help prolong their life.  Here are a couple of websites with information about Kidney Failure in cats.  http://www.felinecrf.com/   or http://www.felinecrf.org/   There are medications you can give, as well as supplements to help the workload on the kidneys.  A lot of people do subcutaneous fluids at home a few times a week to help keep the kidneys flushed and the cat hydrated.  If your cat isn't drinking normally this is something you should be doing.  Please talk to your vet about it, or find a different vet who is more knowledgable about Kidney failure.. My dad (who is a retired vet) had a cat who had kidney failure, and luckily for him the only thing he did was give him a canned food diet like 6 or 7 times a day (he wouldn't eat the K/d so he got fancy feast) Cooney lived 3 years with kidney failure.  He was 22 years old when he died. 

 

[sidliz31]

Thank you for the information. They gave him subcutaneous fluids while he was at the vet but didn't mention anything about doing this at home. I also specifically asked about supplements and was told there were none to help with this specific problem. That makes me so mad and concerned for others that are going to him to treat their animals. Bun did eat the KD canned tonight so we're going to keep an eye and see how he is tomorrow. If he isn't drinking tomorrow then I will get a second opinion. 

 

[betsygee]

I don't want to give you false hope, but my beloved Skittles lived almost 2 years after the vet told me there was "nothing they could do".  Every situation's different but I agree with cprcheetah.  I changed Skittles' diet and the last several months, I put her food in a blender with water so she could lap it up--that way she got more nutrients and fluids during times she didn't want to eat much.  And we gave her sub-q fluids at home during the last months, too.  

I'm very sorry--it's a frightening diagnosis.  :-(

 

[barbh]

Sorry for the diagnoisis that you got for your cat. The second site that cprcheetah gave I have found to be very helpful http://www.felinecrf.org/ A few of the main things to focus on is feeding a diet that is low in phosphorus, the prescription Hills kd is very low in phosphorus. If your cat starts not wanting to eat the prescription food there are other can foods that you can find that are lower in phosphorus. On Tanya's site there are food charts that are available to help in choosing different foods. A lot of people whose kidney cats tend not to want to eat the prescription diets tend to use phosphorus binders with regular food.

If your cat has been having issues with excessive stomach acid there are things that can be done for that. Excessive stomach acid tends to be a common issue with kidney cats.

For increasing water intake a few things you can try is adding some water to the canned food. Also people have had good results with using water fountains, the moving water tends to encourage cats to drink more.

I also have found that raising the food bowls up for my ckd cat has helped and encourages him to eat more. I also offer him several meals through out the day, since he tends to only eat a little bit at a time.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I also have a kidney cat, and had another one who died from it last year after being diagnosed 3 years prior to his death. 

Your new "bible" will probably become that website referenced above.  It is FULL of fabulous information from A - Z about kidney disease,

I'm really surprised that your cat isn't already drinking tons of water.  That is what usually happens with kidney cats.  They drinks a lot, which is what normally alerts us that something is wrong

.  Well, at least he is liking the K/D so far.  But as already mentioned, there are other foods that will work too, but the most important thing is that he eat, period.  Most kidney cats lose their appetites, so whatever happens, just make sure he eats.  And mixing extra water into his food is a great idea.  Luckily, my girl likes her food soupy, so even though she loves her water fountain too, I still add lots of water to her food

What are his blood values...BUN and Creatinine?  Did the Vet give you that information?  Those two items are helpful in watching the progression of the disease?  Also, did they do a Urine Specific Gravity Test?  That also tells you how well the kidney are filtering out the bad stuff (sorry, I'm not too technical

)

As far as giving sub-q fluids at home, most of us with kidney cats eventually need to do that.  It's much less stressful on the cats to do it home versus taking the cats to the Vet for the "treatment", not to mention much less stressful on the pocketbook.  It seems daunting at first, but once you've done it a couple of times, it's pretty easy.  You must have to remember, you are not hurting him, you are helping him.  Did they show you how to tell if he is dehydrated or not by pulling up on his skin and seeing if it immediately falls back down or takes a few seconds?  If it takes awhile to go back down, that's a sign of dehydration. 

There ARE no "medications" to cure the kidneys, but there are definitely supplements to help the cats along with the disease.  Vitamin B's are useful as they get depleted, Pepcid A/C is useful as they tend to over over acidity in their tummies, and their ARE some renal support things (cannot think of the names at the moment), plus phosphorus binders as mentioned above.  I'm sure I am forgetting a bunch of things, that's why you should start reading that other website, then come back with your questions. 

 

[sidliz31]

So far so good! Bun is eating the KD food as long as we mix the dry and canned together. We have also seen him drinking water more than he was previously. We are still keeping an eye but he was less lethargic today! He got back into his normal daily routine. I spoke to the vet and he was very reassuring and mentioned some of the great ideas you all have given. I'm feeling more hopeful! Thank you for helping me get through this! I very much appreciate it! 

 

[tailzzz24]

I had a cat who was diagnosed with kidney failure at the age of 3 - wasn't eating or drinking, lethargic. The vet told me he had something like 3-6 months to live. He pulled through only when he started drinking, as I was still feeding him dry food (K/D) as I didn't realize the benefit of canned back then.

He started going downhill again maybe 4 years later. That vet told me they usually don't pull through the second time around. But again, he started drinking again and pulled through once again. He drank a lot, peed a lot, but otherwise was his happy, affectionate self.

Third time around he didn't make it, but he was at least 10 or so. I still consider him a miracle. But getting as much fluid into your cat is THE most important thing.

Also, low-protein K/D may not be the best choice. Here's a good article on that. Hope your kitty continues to improve.

http://www.allthebestpetcare.com/kidney-failure-in-cats/

Also, I personally would avoid the distemper vaccine like the plague with this cat and future cats. Most cats will eventually develop kidney failure by old age because the vaccine is grown in kidney cells, and basically by old age the immune system begins to attack and destroy the cat's own kidney cells.

 

[betsygee]

 
So far so good! Bun is eating the KD food as long as we mix the dry and canned together. We have also seen him drinking water more than he was previously. We are still keeping an eye but he was less lethargic today! He got back into his normal daily routine. I spoke to the vet and he was very reassuring and mentioned some of the great ideas you all have given. I'm feeling more hopeful! Thank you for helping me get through this! I very much appreciate it! 

Glad to hear it!  Hopefully you can get him stabilized.  

 

[ktm3]

I'm so sorry to hear that your kitty has CRF.    I lost my baby Simba to it in 2007.  I opted not to do SQ fluids because he did not respond to them when they did the initial treatment at the vet based on lab results.  I got a lot of crap from other kitty owners on the messageboards about it, but not all kitties are the same, you know?   Simba lasted several months after diagnosis before I had to put him down.  It was such a sad time (and makes me want to cry thinking about it even now). 

Good luck with everything.  My best advice is to try to not let how bun is doing on a daily basis get you too down or too up.  I really struggled with that.  It's a long journey.  Take care.

 

[sidliz31]

 
I'm so sorry to hear that your kitty has CRF.    I lost my baby Simba to it in 2007.  I opted not to do SQ fluids because he did not respond to them when they did the initial treatment at the vet based on lab results.  I got a lot of crap from other kitty owners on the messageboards about it, but not all kitties are the same, you know?   Simba lasted several months after diagnosis before I had to put him down.  It was such a sad time (and makes me want to cry thinking about it even now). 

Good luck with everything.  My best advice is to try to not let how bun is doing on a daily basis get you too down or too up.  I really struggled with that.  It's a long journey.  Take care.

I'm sorry you were given a hard time for your decision to not give SQ fluids.  We just have to make the decision that we feel is best for our little ones! 

Bun has been doing well on the KD food. Another vet said not to worry because he was in good health otherwise and he could live many more happy years with us with the right treatment. I asked about giving SQ fluids at home but she said there was absolutely no need for that and if a time came to do so it wasn't necissarly in the best interest of the cat. Like you said "not all kitties are the same". 

Thanks for the advice!

 

[stephanietx]

This is one of the hardest diagnosis to hear about your cat.  I had a kidney kitty who lived 5 wonderful, love-filled years after her diagnosis, but it did require constant monitoring and making some dietary changes.  We chose not to give sub-q fluids due to our cat's temperament and her inability to tolerate being held or anything like that.  There's an excellent Yahoo group for owners of kitties with CRF.  Folks there are very knowledgeable and helpful.  http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Feline-CRF-Support/conversations/messages