Kidneys

Hello, My 15 year old female cat has been going to the vet 2x a year for checkups. I just got a call that her blood work shows her BUN being 46 and creatine 2.6 which my vet says is a sign of failing kidneys.

Her history:
She is 15 years old but just a lively as ever and she eats well.
She has asthma (2 years now) and has been on flovent for about 2 years.
Her blood work has always been fine up until the one she got this week.
My old vet had my cat on Hill's Prescription CD cat food because of crystals in her urine.
She was eating that for 2 years.
My new vet said that CD was not good for my cat so I switched to dry Orijen, a high protein cat food and she has been eating that for 6 months (she will not eat soft food any time I try to switch her over).
Could switching form CD food to the Orijen have plaid a role in causing kidney trouble?

Does this blood results mean eventually kidney failure or could it is just an infection?
(i'm currently waiting 4 days to see the results of a urine culture/sensitivity test)

She shows know sign of illness and is happy and acting normal which is why the blood work shocks and scares me.
Does anyone have any words of advise/wisdom for me on this subject.
What I should do/expect next.
Thank you!

Kidneys are managable at least IMHO it is the easist of the illnesses I have dealt with....

You may want to re test in a few weeks ...

Also find out what is normal... your results by the test my vet uses would be insufficiency not failure

You might want to take her off the Orijen high protein food, though, has high protein is not good for cats with high BUN levels. My kidney cat, Sven, was just fine too, then we put him on Wellness Core, which is very high in protein, and the next thing we knew, when his Senior Panel came back, his BUN level showed the beginning stages of kidney disease. So, we immediately stopped feeding any of the cats Wellness Core, since Sven has access to all their food, and put Sven on a low protein kidney diet. Haven't been back for a re-check of his BUN yet.

Low Protein is usually not needed ... Many studies are finding High is okay as long as it is Digestable and Quality( dry food is not as digestable as wet , homemade and raw)...

RB Kandie was on raw and canned( mostly low grain) and her numbers went toward normal .... I agree High protein dry is not a good thing for a cat with kidney issues

I hope my switching to Orijen did not start the cause of kidney problems for my cat! She's only been on it 6 months. I am stopping by the vet to pick up Royal Canine that they recommended.

My cat has ate dry food her whole life as I did not know wet was recommended. I have bought the good wet food and she simply will not eat it and it sits there the whole day. Any recommendations on how to switch or should I just keep with the dry?

I hope this is not the start of kidney problems as she was fine 6 months ago. Hopefully this blood test is just showing a minor infection or something (I am waiting for results from a urine culture and sensitivity test in about 4 days).

Thank you for your responses!
All information is greatly appreciated and i will keep you posted on my sweet girl.

for wet I actually by a lower end... the one I get is low to no grain and by product heavy( my kitties love FF but the artificial stuff does not love them...

I would go to the store by different flavors and textures and see if any are well recieved

Sven will not eat wet food either...have tried many, many different varieties, textures, types (chicken, fish, beef, liver, shredded, pate, chunks, etc,) and he will occasionally sniff them, maybe take a lick or two, and that's it. Used to be he would at least lap up tuna juice when we opened a can of tuna for ourselves, but now he won't even do that!

Our ten year old female cat is the same way (except for the tuna juice...she LOVES that )

Try not to blame yourself if it does turn out to be kidney disease. I think it's pretty common in old cats, and you were feeding her a very good food, from what I understand. And if it IS kidney disease, at least you've got it at an early stage. Sven's BUN was 56 and creatinine 2.6 also, and he hasn't needed anything yet except a change in diet.

It is apparently very common as cats get older (I myself constantly wonder what is causing all of these ailments in young and old cats, BP problems, diabetes, I mean, geesh!) Do not blame yourself. I blamed myself and wondered if Boo's C/D had any role to play, because like your kitty, Boo has been on it for several years for struvite crystals too. His BUN when he first was diagnosed was 131, though, and I would ask the vet what his normal ranges for CRF are. I was thrilled to get my Boo's down to 77.

The one piece of advice I CAN give is do not panic. Go to the top of this health forum and check out the sticky about CRF and read up on the sites listed (I especially love Tanya's CRF Site, it is where I learned a lot about CRF and I am -still- reading it, bless the woman that did all that work!)

The more you know the more you can help your kitty and your vet in the treatment, IMHO. Your kitty's BUN is low (for beginning stages I would guess, I am only comparing to mine) and good on you for having your cat tested consistently. I wish I would have done that for Boo, I may have caught it sooner.

Boo liked his wet C/D, but he has always liked wet food, but was a big Cat Chow lower. The switch to C/D wasn't bad, but the switch to my vet's recommended K/D formula was an absolute no-go. not wet, not dry, he even hates the IAMS Renal formula. Make sure to keep with your vet about what to feed him. I actually switched Boo to primarily wet Hi Tor Neo (Which I personally get at PetFoodDirect.com for decent prices and get good discounts now and again) and he LOVES hi Tor neo. Smells like bland vienna sausages.

But since your kitty has low numbers I agree with other posters, does not sound like failure, only insuffiency, I don't know, I'm not a vet. All I can tell you is when I first learned about it I was heartbroken and terrified and thought it was all over and felt guilty. Now, three months later, I have much more hope and my cat is still doing well, though he's on fluid treatments, Hi Tor Neo and may have to start new meds soon. The big thing I have learned also is: Treat the cat, not the numbers. Every cat is different. Like mrsgreenjeens said, her cat has not needed anything but a change in diet.

Even at a BUN of 131 Boo was still trying to be playful with string and would chase the other kitten in the house. And now after going from 11 pounds down to 6, he still has lots of energy and is very strong (don't ask me how I know LOL ouch!)

From what I've read, the majority of what I am reading is saying a LOW PHOS is more important than Low protein, but with HI Tor neo I get both of those things. But Tanya's CRF Site discusses that in very good detail and has a list of dry and wet cat foods with phos levels listed, and protein levels too if I remember correctly.

I hope your kitty does only have perhaps a minor infection, please do keep us updated. If I can be of any help I will certainly try. Vibes for your kitty! And if you get a chance do post your lab result numbers!

UPDATE:

My vet called me with the results of the urine test. She said it showed bacteria in the urine and that I should come in and get another batch of antibiotics making 14 days in total. I just got back from vacation so will start the antibiotics tomorrow am.

Question: I did not get an explanation as to what bacteria in the urine means. Does anyone know?
Also, my cat's bladder was empty at the vet so I took a sample at home. I read online that taking a sample at home could cause bacteria to get in it so i hope giving my cat antibiotics if she has no bacteria is ok for her.
Then I go back in a month a do the blood work/urine test all over again.

I strongly hope that my sweet girl just has a minor infection and will be all good in a month. She has not been acting any differently.
Thanks again for all the words of advice and encouragement

I agree that doing it at home could easily cause bacteria to be in it. Did the Vet understand that's where the sample came from? (sometimes they get so busy they forget!!)

Yes the vet knows the sample came from home. I stopped in today to get another week's supply of the antibiotic Baytril. She said my cat will be in no harm if there is no bacteria. I also picked up some Royal Canin Renal food.

I will take my girl back in a month for another blood test/urine testing to see how she is. I really hope this is a minor blip and my girl will be declared healthy!