Furrari and early CRF

Well, I took Furrari and Freya back to the vet's this morning. They had finished the antibiotics they were on and I wanted to make sure that the problems had been cleared up.

Freya will be on Clavimox another week to clear up her intestinal infection.

However, Furrari's BUN is still slightly high at 46 and his creatinine is 2.7 so the vet wants to start him on a CRF diet now. I'm also giving him 125 ml fluids every other day sub-q. His bladder and kidney infection are cleared up so at least he's off the antibiotics now.

I read through the CRF stickey and have checked out several of the CRF support websites. After seeing the horribly high numbers on some of the other cats, I'm encouraged that we've caught his kidney disease early and with treatment I'll have him for several more years.

Kandies BUN stayed in the 40-55 range for 4 yrs ... her creatine was in the 4 /...

with some diet changes ( read the RXs and DISCUSS with vet)... and the fluids may you have LOT S of happy yrs left together

I know from reading about other cats and just how sick they were when they were first diagnosed with CRF that Furrari isn't that bad, but this is just so hard! I hate seeing him not feeling well.

Furrari will be sixteen this October. He came to me as a week old kitten with his eyes still shut. He was so tiny and so fragile. I hand fed him on a goats milk formula. He grew up to be a gorgeous MLH red tabby (actually he's a beautiful gold) with white trim. Think tuxedo cat, only gold and white instead of black and white.

Whenever I have had rescued feral kittens, Furrari is the one to gently play with them and keep them out of trouble. He teaches them to play nice and to always use the litter box. I couldn't ask for a better baby sitter.

Today at the vet's when they showed me how to give him the sub-q fluids he just lay on the table and purred. I give all my cats and dogs their vaccinations (except rabies) so the needle part didn't bother me. I was more worried that he wouldn't lie still, but he was great! I just hope he continues to be so good about the whole thing.

I have to take him back to the vet's next week to recheck his BUN and his creatinine. We'll also do a renal panel then to check phosphorus and calcium levels. I hate that with CRF there's no cure, you can only manage it.

Oh but it sounds like you are managing it so well! Keep up the good work! Its very stressfull having a sick kitty, but at least this one is managable, even if it feels like its the end of the world! (thats how I feel when ANYTHING happens to my kids or cats!) So keep your chin up! You're a wonderful Meowmy!

You sound like you've got a really good handle on this, and Furrari sounds like Patrick was...so good about his sub-q's - he knew I'd give him a bit of a treat once he was done, and it never took much time to do.

I wish you both many more years together. Patrick lived with his crf for almost 4 years, and did not pass on due to the crf but a different issue.

I did lose Stripe to Crf but she lasted longer then expected. Her Kidneys were real bad by the time we found out she had it. Your Cat can live for a long time. If you ahve any questions you can ask me about Crf. We did everything for Stripe.

Oh and dont worry about the Sub Q Fluids! You'll get the hang of it! I have always given my sick kitties theirs! I use to work at the Humane society so I had alot of practice! It gets easier with time. Try to remember to rub on it after you give it to him to get the knott out. Did they show you the different spots you could give it to him at??? Good Headed your way!

Originally Posted by KittiesHasMe

After seeing the horribly high numbers on some of the other cats, I'm encouraged that we've caught his kidney disease early and with treatment I'll have him for several more years.

Click to expand...

May you have him for many more years.

BTW, being a Porsche owner, I absolutely love your cat's name of Furrari. That is absolutely brilliant!

Thank you all for all the kind words and encouragement. Yeaterday I gave him his sub-qs and he did great. Lay on a towel and purred. he's such a sweet boy.

He seems to feel alot better now that he's hydrated and the bladder infection is cleared up. However, he really doesn't like the Science Diet KD. He won't touch the dry, even with a little canned KD mixed in and just picks at the canned by itself. My vet also has Royal Canine's version of KD so I think I pick up some of that and see if he will eat that better.

Has anyone else fed the Royal Canine 'KD'? Did your cat like it? I'm alittle concerned since he's eating so little compared to what he ate before he got sick.

To be honest, Patrick would never eat any of the prescription dry or wet foods, so I used the Katkarma lists and those by JMpeerson to try and find lower phosphorous content foods ( concentrated more on the phos level than the protein).

Tyler when he did eat dry, did actually like Hills K/D, to my great surprise.

Thank you. I'll check out those lists and see what I can find.

By the way, Furrari was a speed demon as a kitten - thus his name.