CRF cat, near the end...?

jackbombay

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Our cat Jack has taken a notable turn for the worse. He was diagnosed with CRF 1 month ago, the vet ran a LOT of IV fluid through him for 2 days, that really perked him up, but...

We brought him home and switched his food to kidney friendly wet food, he didn't like it much so we switched that to kidney friendly dry food which given the choice he will eat before his regular food of the last 8 years, but he is still losing weight.

We started sub-qs a little over a week ago, but we were out of town for 4 days so he had 2 sub-qs, then none for 4 days and we have done 2 (today and 2 days ago) since we have been back, so not very consistent with the sub-qs.

His behavior is WAY off from normal, he normally loves to be held, but not now, when you pick him up he keeps all his legs straight against your chest, normally he hugs you right away and rubs his face on your nose/chin.

The last week or so he's just been hanging out on the windowsill in the sun, in "bun" position, not interactive at all really.

We've also been giving him enalapril (you wipe it inside his ears) which helps red blood cell production, and some phosphors binder, although we have not been consistent with that as he doesn't particularly like it, and I hate for him to feel like every time I pick him up its to poke him/give him medicine.

He used to be 15-16 pounds, all muscle, a month ago at the vets he was 9.8 pounds, his blood numbers were, BUN:120 Creatinin:6.5 which are not nearly as bad as some I have read about, after 2 days of flushing the numbers were about half, 60 and 3.5.

Jack is 11 years old.


I've read of many cats older than Jack that had worse blood numbers that lived decently for several years once diagnosed with CRF, but at the rate Jack is going I doubt he'll be around another month

I feel like we are "doing something wrong" or missing something. I've read quite a bit about various CRF cats and to a large degree I'm confused, I see many that are getting steroids, but then our vet said that steroids are hard on the kidneys.

Then there are such a huge array of drugs that can help certain CRF ailments, but he isn't puking at all, and he's drinking plenty of water (plus sub-qs).


If anyone has any insight I'd love to hear from you.
 
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jackbombay

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BUN:120 Creatinin:6.5 which are not nearly as bad as some I have read about, after 2 days of flushing the numbers were about half, 60 and 3.5.

Jack is 11 years old.

I'm going to joint he yahoo group right now, the format there is a little confusing to me though.
 

sharky

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What did the vet tell you>>??

What is kitty eating >???

Have you read the Crf sticky??

A wise women on here ( no me
) told me on several occasions :Treat the cat NOT the numbers.... that is the best advice I can give to you and a
 
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jackbombay

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http://www.felinecrf.org/the_final_h...x%20of%20signs

Jack has many of the symptoms on that list, a new one that has developed today is what seem to be mouth ulcers, his lips are somewhat swollen and painful, he keeps adjusting his tongue in an attempt to ease the pain I assume.

I'm going to call the on call vet, uhhggg, I wish it wasn't a Saturday.
 

xocats

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I am so sorry that you are having this difficult time with Jack.

Sending love and hope.
Jack
 

kittieshasme

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Try to be as consistant as possible with the sub-q's. Dehydration will make him feel lousy and off his food. Feed him what he will eat. See if the vet can give him something for his appetite.

Some cats respond well to the prescription food, the sub-q's and phosphorus binders even with high numbers. Others don't respond, even with lower numbers.

I'm so sorry for you and for Jack. I and several others on this forum know how hard this is. I lost my Furrari eight days ago to CRF. His numbers were not high but in the end his body just couldn't go on. He made it nearly one year from his initial diagnosis of CRF. He was sixteen.
 
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jackbombay

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Thanks for the prayers thoughts and vibes :-)

Originally Posted by KittiesHasMe

I lost my Furrari eight days ago to CRF.

Well, I was reading here and unfortunately Jack that list is just about a punch list for how Jack has been the last day or so. The "mouth ulcers" had me worried as he has been "adjusting his tongue" (smacking his lips sort of) a bunch today, I noticed some swelling around his mouth and decided to take him to the vet.

The mouth swelling is due to an infection, so at least he doesn'/didn't have the mouth ulcers that would have meant he was in really bad shape.

They pulled some blood and his BUN was the worst it has ever been, 140+ (their machine does not read over 140) a month ago his BUN was 120, after the flush it was 60.

He was quite acidic too which is probably the reason he has not been eating.

Last time he was on the intensive IV to flush him out his numbers dropped quite a bit, I wanted to continue with sub-q fluid therapy at home, but the vet was fairly oppose to that, so we didn't, well his blood numbers went right downhill as a result.

The plan now is to get his blood cleaned up with the IV flush and then do sub-q's at home every other day and see how it goes (he is actually at a different vet now as his normal vet is closed on weekends), and we'll give him some sodium bicarbonate to keep his blood acidity down.

If the above plan doesn't work, there is really not a whole lot else we can do. I really hope he can make it till summer so he can sneak around in the sage and catch a few more mice. It will also be a lot easier to dig a grave for him when the ground isn't frozen 2' deep.


Originally Posted by KittiesHasMe

His numbers were not high but in the end his body just couldn't go on.
When the vet came back into the room with Jacks blood numbers jack was on my lap, he then jumped out of my lap, over the corner of the examination table and bolted out of the room, the vet commented that she couldn't believe how much strength/energy he had considering how bad his blood numbers were, not sure if thats a good or bad thing.
 
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jackbombay

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Originally Posted by mews2much

Has he been checked for high blood presure?
No, but I will call the vet tomorrow and ask her to check it.
 
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jackbombay

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I didn't look at them particularly close, but nothing stood out as odd. When we visit him at the vets tomorrow I'll look at them more closely.
 
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jackbombay

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Just talked to the vet, Jack is doing alright, she was able to flush out the abscess/infection in his mouth, and he has eaten a fair bit :-)

We are going to go and visit him at 11:00!

I asked about blood pressure, they have one device that can measure it, but it isn't a particularly good tool to measure a cats BP with. I live in a small town, quite rural, the vets here probably see more horses than cats. She mentioned a "doppler" BP measuring tool as the optimal one, but there is not one in the valley here :-/

The current vet got some strong recommendations from a friend of mine that had her help his older dog, and a younger dog that had a degenerative nerve disorder.
 

mews2much

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Do you have pics of Jack?
I would love to see what he looks like.
My vet is one of the few that has the bp machine.
How long they plan on keeping him at the vets?
 

jessiecat

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My heart goes out to your Jack and to you. I'm glad Jack is doing pretty good, all things considered. He'll be so happy to see you, I'm sure.

My Baby was diagnosed with CRF on 8/25/08 and so far so good for her. She is eating KD dry and Purina NF with Chicken (also dry). Her wet food is anything I can find that has lower phosphorus. I'm not so concerned about getting food low in protein. Some studies show low protein is not as critical as low phosphorus. I also feel she needs to be happy with what she eating and she does not care at all for prescription wet food. When she was first diagnosed she was 6 lbs 2 oz, down from 9 lbs the year before. She now weighs 8 lbs 4 oz. I weigh her once a week so the numbers can help me assess how she is doing. I was completely blindsided by the news. I knew she had lost weight, but it was summer and she normally looks thinner then.

I'm sending prayers and good vibes your way. Please continue to let us know how Jack is doing.
 
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jackbombay

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We are going to start with 2 days on the IV and see where his blood numbers are. She, the vet, will also pull some blood this afternoon (24 hours from the start of the IV) to see how much of a change there is.

The most recent pics I have are from his last trip to the vet, middle of december, since then his fur has gotten a little more dull and is not as healthy as it was :-/
 
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jackbombay

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Originally Posted by Jessiecat

When she was first diagnosed she was 6 lbs 2 oz, down from 9 lbs the year before. She now weighs 8 lbs 4 oz. I weigh her once a week so the numbers can help me assess how she is doing.
Similar to Jack, lost 1/3rd of his weight, 15 pounds to 9.8, if he could get back up to 13-14 that would be so great, he's never been fat though, hes just lots of muscle.

I like the weighing idea, what kind of scale do you use? A bathroom scale doesn't seem all that accurate for light weights.
 
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