Not horrible news but not great either

luvmy2cats

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Well Popsie was just at the vet for an enema and all is fine in the poop area now. While he was there I had them do a senoir panel and thyroid check. His liver count is sorta high but the vet said that could be from stress. His kidney counts are showing the very start of kidney failure.
She told me to put him on a diet of kidney function food. I asked the vet how long it would be before his kidney function got real bad and she said she doesn't like to guess because they can just crash without warning. OK there's more. His calcium level was slightly elevated which the vet said could be dehydration or cancer. He goes back in a month to get it checked again. In six months he gets his kidneys checked again. Also he's borderline hyperthyroid. Basically the vet told me if he lives another five years he will have hyperthyroidism.
 

mews2much

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When Stripe had Crf the Vet said she has about a year. i can tell you all the Treatments we did with Stripe if you want to know. Her Kidneys were very bad when we found out though. prayers for your Cat.
 
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luvmy2cats

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Originally Posted by sharky

THis is a very LONG thread but so worth it

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=119727

for you and Popsie
That is a good thread. Hopefully since it was caught early and by starting Popsie on a low pho. low protien diet I won't have anything to worry about. The vet said it's the very earliest stages of CRF. He will be getting checked again in six months. Unless of course he becomes ill sooner. Right now I'm concerned with the elevated calcium. I pray it's not cancer. Would he show other signs if it was. The vet was going over his weights and in 2004 he weighed close to ten pounds. Today he weighed only 7.7
I asked the vet about it and she said it's most likely old age.
 

cloud_shade

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I'd get a second opinion. When a cat is borderline hyperthyroid and shows symptoms of hyperthyroidism, such as the weight loss and the liver values, it is worth trying to treat it to control the symptoms. That much weight loss is NOT due to old age--old age is not a disease!--and the actual cause should be treated.
 

tab

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i'm so sorry to hear about popsie's news. but it is good that you have found out about his kidneys at such an early stage. i have known many, including my own, cats that have lived many years after diagnosis.

cloud_shade is right about the second opinion too. it never hurts to get more information.

for popsie and
for you.
 

rang_27

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The slightly elevated calcium can have something to do with CRF also. How elevated? Last June Jordans blood calcium spiked (I think it was like 12.4), and I was told he might have cancer. In July the vet told me it was most likely lymphoma, and if I did nothing for him he would live a few months at most, 7-9 months on chemo. In Augus he went on Pred to control the blood calcium, it worked, he has had a couple of spikes, but is doing great over all. It's been almost a year since all of this started and he is showing no outward signs of cancer. His weight is stable, his appitite is great, and he is back to playing with the other cats. I haven't gone into all the details of the last year, but certainly if you want to know more about the his blood calcium levels just P.M. me. I just wanted to tell you this to let you know that elevated blood calcium isn't always a result of cancer.
 

twstychik

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Aww... Well, I hope it's all managable and it's VERY good that you took him in and caught this early. I hope the calcium levels were just dehyrdration. And like all the cats on TCS, Popsie is very lucky to have such a loving and caring meowmy as you.
 
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luvmy2cats

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Originally Posted by Persi & Alley

How old is Popsie now? May he live a long and happy life.
Popsie will be 17 in July.
 

blaise

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Originally Posted by luvmycat1

That is a good thread. Hopefully since it was caught early and by starting Popsie on a low pho. low protien diet I won't have anything to worry about. The vet said it's the very earliest stages of CRF. He will be getting checked again in six months. Unless of course he becomes ill sooner. Right now I'm concerned with the elevated calcium. I pray it's not cancer. Would he show other signs if it was. The vet was going over his weights and in 2004 he weighed close to ten pounds. Today he weighed only 7.7
I asked the vet about it and she said it's most likely old age.
This was the quirky thing that caught my eye:
Right now I'm concerned with the elevated calcium.
I went looking through your previous posts and found that you had been using lactulose for his constipation.

There's a superb website devoted to treating and dealing with kidney insufficiency/failure. It is also mentioned in the thread that Sharky provided.

I'll copy just a little from it here:

Lactulose Cautions
Some people have found that their cats developed hypercalcaemia (high calcium levels) after using lactulose regularly, which then improved when they stopped using lactulose. You may therefore wish to avoid lactulose if your cat is already hypercalcaemic. A possible alternative would be Miralax.
http://felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#lactulose_cautions

Normally, I would say "Perhaps you should discuss this with your Vet"....but, I'm having second thoughts...
You also said
...His calcium level was slightly elevated which the vet said could be dehydration or cancer. He goes back in a month to get it checked again...
So, you've been sent home without any treatment or further diagnostics...and told to wait a month...what on earth for, I wonder? There is medication for the high calcium level...there are diagnostics that could be run for cancer...but, you just have to wait...for what?

Also, "early CRF" is diagnosed...but, all you get is "kidney diet" and come back in 6 months? And, this is with a "possibly" dehydrated cat?

There's more...Popsie's been diagnosed as "borderline hyperthryoid" and, as cloud_shade said, showing signs of hyperthyroidism (weight loss etc), and all you're given is a "return in 6 months appointment"....well, if it were me, I'd be looking for another Vet......if, for nothing else, a second opinion. Sorry, "old age" isn't a diagnosis I'd be likely to swallow.

There is often a connection between CRF and Hyperthryoidism, as well.

Many Vets simply do not have the direct experience in treating many of the chronic conditions and illnesses. As well, it is difficult for them to keep up with all of the emerging treatments. They have busy practices to run, and those are their livlihoods. I happen to have a somewhat cynical take on part of this, too. It's much easier - and more lucrative - to spend one's time on the run-of-the-mill type cases, rather than spend hours in researching the intracacies of complex cases.
 

rang_27

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Originally Posted by BLAISE

Lactulose Cautions
Some people have found that their cats developed hypercalcaemia (high calcium levels) after using lactulose regularly, which then improved when they stopped using lactulose. You may therefore wish to avoid lactulose if your cat is already hypercalcaemic. A possible alternative would be Miralax.
http://felinecrf.org/treatments.htm#lactulose_cautions
Having a cat that his Hypercalcimic, I have talked to other people about this same thing. Jordan's Hypercalcimia developed a couple months after I began using the Lactulose. The only caution I have about this is that there is no science behind this theory. This seems to be anticdotal (SP?). I would caution against stoping the lactulose because constipation can be life threatening. Which is why I did not mention this previously. Jordan now only gets the lactulose as needed and has been doing well. He is on a almost 100% wet food diet which seems to help his constipation. He will be going back in June to have his calcium rechecked. I am curious to see if it is better now. In addition I did read somewhere that hypercalcimia can cause, or make constipation worse.
 
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