Cocos numbers are terrible They gave her 5-6 months to live

Originally Posted by mews2much

Thanks,
I am doing sub q's myself today for the firts time.
We will do it at the vets office.

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I'm needle phobic and I gave subq's to my RB cat Simon. I'm sure you'll do fine. Sending plenty of vibes to both you and Coco.

I'm sorry to hear about Coco's prognosis. I know cats that lived for awhile thanks to the help of sub-q fluids. You can call me if you want to talk.

Thanks,
We go at 2:40.

I'm so sorry about Coco. Here's lots of and prayers for you and coco.

:-(

Sorry to hear the news, those numbers are not that bad compared to Jack's, fwiw.

I hope Jack is better.

I did the sub q's for the first time today but she cried when I put the needle in. I did ask about phosphous binders and they will order that on monday.
Here are all the blood test numbers.
Bun 80 (15.0-32.0 mg/dl
Creatine 5.0 (0.8-1.8 mg/dl
Phosphorus 8.0 (2.6-6.0 mg/dl
Calcium 14.6 (8.8-11.5 mg/d/l
Total Protien 6.8 (6.0-8.0 g/dl
Albumin 2.9 (2.3-3.5 g/dl
Globulin 3.9 (2.8-4.8 g/dl
Urine Test
Specific Gravity =1.008 low (ref 1.015-1050)
ph =6.0 (5.5-7.0) Normal
Wbc/hpf =>100 high (0-3)
Rbc/hpf=4-10 high (0-3)
Bacteria 4+(cocci and rods appearance)
verified by wrights stain

Originally Posted by mews2much

I did the sub q's for the first time today but she cried when I put the needle in.

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Do you have "terumo" brand needles? They are really sharp and they have thinner walls so they are smaller in diameter than monojects, boxes of 100 are ~$6 online. Jack doesn't mind them as much as the monojects, I did get 18 gauge needles and should probably have gotten the 20 gauge.

There were quite a few posts about warming up the SubQ to close to 104 temperature, to make it more comfortable for them... apparently it helps a lot -

I hope she feels better with the fluids !!

I've read quite a few posts at the CRF-Support-Site about cats that don't tolerate the Normosol well. If Coco acts like it hurts her, ask your vet if you can switch to Lactated Ringers Solution. This is what I've used for years with Cleo, and I also used with Samson. Good luck....you and Coco are in my prayers.

I did sq fluids for several months with a diabetic cat....I used the ringers solution....I had a soft warming bed for him to sit in....he never cried once....I can't recall the size of the needles but they to me looked big but he tolerated them fine...It will get easier...and it does make them feel some what better...

I do feel for you, hon. I had a cat with renal failure a few years ago.
We did the whole 9 yards: subq's, etc.
I know this is a difficult time for you.

Thanks Everyone,
She has no thrown up from the fluids.
I must not have put the needle in very well.
When the techs do it she just sits there and is fine.
They did say I can but the bag of fluids in hot water so it warms up.
I do not know what size the needle is.
I was looking at Stripes numbers when we found out she had crf.
Her creatine was only 2 but all her other numbers were higher then coco.
I saved all the paperwork from then.

i'm so sorry to hear about coco, but as others have said, she is in the best possible hands.

Originally Posted by mews2much

I hope Jack is better.

I did the sub q's for the first time today but she cried when I put the needle in. I did ask about phosphous binders and they will order that on monday.
Here are all the blood test numbers.
Bun 80 (15.0-32.0 mg/dl
Creatine 5.0 (0.8-1.8 mg/dl
Phosphorus 8.0 (2.6-6.0 mg/dl
Calcium 14.6 (8.8-11.5 mg/d/l
Total Protien 6.8 (6.0-8.0 g/dl
Albumin 2.9 (2.3-3.5 g/dl
Globulin 3.9 (2.8-4.8 g/dl
Urine Test
Specific Gravity =1.008 low (ref 1.015-1050)
ph =6.0 (5.5-7.0) Normal
Wbc/hpf =>100 high (0-3)
Rbc/hpf=4-10 high (0-3)
Bacteria 4+(cocci and rods appearance)
verified by wrights stain

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Are the vets treating her for the urinary tract infection? UTI's can cause her renal numbers to be higher. You should aggressively treat the elevated Phosphorus, by adding Phosphorus binders to her food. It is imperative to keep her serum phosphorus at 6 or below. I buy my Phosphorus binders from Thriving Pets. http://www.thrivingpets.com/products...mStockId=749C2 Aluminum Hydroxide gel powder is a tasteless powder that you add right to the food. It is highly effective, and much less offensive to cats than the mint flavored liquid that most vets offer.
Good luck to you and Coco!

Thanks,
The urine infection is neg now.
I posted her last pos test.
We waited 2 weeks after she finished the baytril to see if it would grow bacteria to test her kidneys.
The vet told me infections can make the numbers higher.
Thanks for the links.
We will tell the vet when she calls.
She hardly eats anything.
What can I do to get her to eat more?
Poweder or a gl form would work well for Coco.
Pills are hard to give her.

Talk to your vet and see if cyproheptadine (Periactin) might work for Coco. Periactin is a human antihistamine, but works as an appetite stimulant for cats. It comes as a 4 mg pill, but most people on the CRF-Support-Site recommend starting low, 1/4 pill every 12 to 24 hours, and increasing until effect. My parents cat, Samson, only needed about 1/6 of a pill, twice a day. Too high a dose can cause either sleepiness/lethargy, or conversely, can cause agitation and vocalization. Both side effects will go away when the drug is metabolized out of the system. I have used it with Cleo and it also worked for her. Some people have said that it doesn't work for their cat, so I guess it might not work for all. Other people have had good luck with using Winstrol (a steroid) for appetite stimulation, but I'm not real fond of using steriods, unless the benefits outweigh the risks. Winstrol is also used for red blood cell production when cats become anemic from CRF. I have used Epogen for RBC production with great results. I would consider Winstrol for this indication, if Epogen didn't work.

Other methods for encouraging eating include: Warming the food to make it smell better, sprinkling Brewers Yeast on the food (some cats go crazy for it, Cleo was never affected by it.) Another trick is using Bonito flakes sprinkled on the food. Bonito is dried fish flakes (you can get this in oriental food stores.) Some pet food stores sell it as Kitty Kaviar.

I used Winstrol and Procrit with Stripe.
Coco can not have any fish she has reactions.
I will ask the vet about the other stuff.
You know Stripe was never tested for high bp and she had a stroke and when into a coma before she was pts.
Stripe had anemia also.She also took vitamins.