Renal Failure Questions!

I just found out that my lovely little elderly cat, Isadora, is in the beginning stages of renal failure (my suspicions were correct). I feel like I'm on information overload and want to get some things sorted out.

Supposedly, her renal failure isn't that bad yet. Her BUN and creatinine were elevated, but her phosphorus is WNL. The vet recommended Purina NF, but that's the only food that they sell there and I want to look at some more options. I've been poking around the internet, but it seems like there's a lot out there and I'd just like to hear from others who have personal experience. Also, I'm a self proclaimed pet food snob and when I hear "Purina" I think low quality....though I don't know much about their prescription food. I feed her Origen right now, but I need to get her off that because I know it's super high protein.

I'm going back in tomorrow to learn how to give SQ fluids. I was given the option of having her stay overnight at the vet's, but she's more comfortable at home and I'm a nurse, so I figure if I can give SQ fluids to a human, I can probably give them to a cat.

The good news is you've probably caught it early. Purina is actually a fairly good renal food. You want to watch the phosphorus in the food and try to feed something fairly low in phosphorus. After receiving sub-qs your kitty may not want to eat much, so don't be alarmed, but keep an eye on her. Be sure she's drinking plenty of water and maybe add extra into wet food to keep her hydrated on her own.

Be sure to read the CRF sticky at the top of this forum. There's lots of good info in that. http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=119727

Tanya's CRF site is awesome and invaluable for CRF owners. http://www.felinecrf.org/

Lastly, you'll get lots of support, help, tried & true tips, and good advise from the CRF Yahoo group. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/F...guid=353539644

My old guy, Sven, is kind of like your Isadora. His BUN is elevated, but his creatine and phosphorus are within normal ranges. I HATE the ingredients in all the kidney diet dry foods, and when he was first diagnosed, dry was all he ate. Now, to make matters worse, we also have an overweight cat, Darko, and were told to put him on a high protein, low carb diet. Since Sven is very underweight, we want to have food available for him to nibble on at all times, and since Darko is overweight, if we have food available, we want it to be high protein, low carb! After discussing with the Vet, we decided to go with high protein, low carb for everyone and see what happens. (I know, I know, this goes against everything you ever see on CRF kitties!!). We also started Sven on weekly Sub-Qs at the same time. Guess what happened. His numbers stayed the same! (and it's been about 6 months now) I don't know if it's because his only his BUN was elevated, or what, but the food isn't making a difference. (his BUN is in the high 50s). I'm certainly not advocating that you NOT feed her K/D, just giving you my experience.

Also, I know Stephanie mentioned that Isadora might not eat much after Sub-qs. We don't have that issue with Sven. As a matter of fact, we always give him a bunch of treats right afterwards and he gobbles them up.

Thank you both for your input! I did skim over the CRF stickie, but I'm trying to process so much information that I need to pace myself!

I'm doing some exhaustive research on food for renal failure, and I think I'll probably go with the Purina that the vet recommended. I just have one concern about the low fat content. I noticed that the fat content is pretty low compared to other prescription foods and my kitty is only 9 pounds! Does anyone have any input on that? Should I be concerned about her maintaining her weight if I put her on this food?

I think weight loss is always an issue with CRF kitties. My Sven is now just about 1/2 what he weighed in his prime ('course, he's also almost 16 years old now, too) I think they just don't feel well alot of the time, therefore don't eat as much. (He lost his weight long before he started eating the high protein/low carb food...he's actually maintained his weight since he started eating that food! )

One of the common side effects of CRF is constipation, so keep an eye on your kitty's poop output. Often, if my Callie needed to have a good BM, she wouldn't eat. That caused her weight to go down some, but overall, we were able to maintain her weight. Honestly, we fed her what she would eat. We fed her Science Diet k/d dry and a combination of EVO & Wellness canned. We also gave her a phosphorus binder and canned pumpkin in her wet food concoction twice a day.

Purina NF used to be a great renal food (my Cleo ate it for years.) Unfortunately, about a year and a half ago, they changed the formulation. Cleo won''t touch it anymore (I still have a full case of it, and try to feed it occasionally....nope, not gonna eat it meowmy!)

My vet special orders Royal Canin Low Protein for me. The large can (6 oz.) is a pate style and the small can (2.5 oz.) is a slices in gravy style. Cleo will also eat the Hills k/d canned. Purina didn't change the formulation of their dry (as far as I know) but my vet didn't recommend it because the fat content is so low that it's difficult to keep the weight on CRF cats. I use the k/d dry as treats for my girls, as I prefer to keep them on a predominately wet diet.

Cleo's CRF has been extremely stable while feeding Royal Canin (her BUN & Creatinine and serum Phosphorus have been rock solid for the entire 1.5 years that I've fed it.) Maggie is borderline CRF, and her numbers have remained stable (high side of normal) on the Royal Canin.

I've been dealing with CRF for 10+ years with Cleo, and about 6 years with Maggie. My parent's cat Samson and my Angel Spooky were also CRF. Please feel free to PM me if there's anything I can help you with! Good luck! You and your sweet Isadora are in my prayers.

My opinion isn't going to be very popular. My Dusty was diagnosed with CRF about 3 years ago. She's a picky eater and just won't eat the prescription food, and I tried several. She eats mostly wet food - Friskies and 9 Lives, along with a little tuna on occasion. It may not be the best formula for CRF cats, but she likes it and will eat. She is now only 8.5 yrs. old, but she is happy and mostly healthy. I'm not going to do anything that will stress her just so I can squeeze out a few more months or years. When her time comes, she will pass peacefully on her terms and on her schedule, not mine. I believe that the quality of her life is far more important than how long she lives, especially if the length of time involves needles and pills. JMHO

Thank you all so much! The last few days have been a bit of a stressful change, hopefully things will somewhat return to normal soon. I'm now battling feeding our two cats separately. Other cat does not have renal failure and is still eating the same food, have to feed Isadora her special prescription food and try to keep them apart while eating.

Isadora is STILL peeing on our kitchen floor, which is driving me batty, but the vet found blood in her urine, so she's on abx for a week.....fingers crossed she stops when the UTI is gone! She did perk up a bit on Saturday after her dose of SQ fluids...hoping that will continue. I don't like to see her so lethargic.

Originally Posted by Dusty's Mom

My opinion isn't going to be very popular. My Dusty was diagnosed with CRF about 3 years ago. She's a picky eater and just won't eat the prescription food, and I tried several. She eats mostly wet food - Friskies and 9 Lives, along with a little tuna on occasion. It may not be the best formula for CRF cats, but she likes it and will eat. She is now only 8.5 yrs. old, but she is happy and mostly healthy. I'm not going to do anything that will stress her just so I can squeeze out a few more months or years. When her time comes, she will pass peacefully on her terms and on her schedule, not mine. I believe that the quality of her life is far more important than how long she lives, especially if the length of time involves needles and pills. JMHO

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Well...since we're feeding high protein DRY food to our CRF cat, I guess we're in your court! We (us and our Vet) all agreed that it's best to have him eat whatever he'll eat rather than have him starve. (I TRY to feed him some canned food also, with his arthritis and constipation meds in it, put he's a tough nut to crack on finding wet food that he likes. One day he'll seem to really like something, then the next he runs from the same food as if it's the worse thing on the planet ) Plus, we aren't going to pill him anymore because that's just too stressful on him, but he doesn't seem to mind his weekly sub-qs. I totally agree that it's quality versus quantity.

Originally Posted by mrsgreenjeens

Well...since we're feeding high protein DRY food to our CRF cat, I guess we're in your court! We (us and our Vet) all agreed that it's best to have him eat whatever he'll eat rather than have him starve. (I TRY to feed him some canned food also, with his arthritis and constipation meds in it, put he's a tough nut to crack on finding wet food that he likes. One day he'll seem to really like something, then the next he runs from the same food as if it's the worse thing on the planet

) Plus, we aren't going to pill him anymore because that's just too stressful on him, but he doesn't seem to mind his weekly sub-qs. I totally agree that it's quality versus quantity.

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Cats can be strange eaters. I recently bought some 9 Lives on sale, and Dusty loves it! Everything that is except the chicken bits in gravy. She is especially fond of the salmon and fish flavors. Last night we brought home fish & chips for us and she went nuts until we shared our fish with her.

I agree. No food = no cat so any food they will eat is better than having them refuse the special diet food.

Good luck with your boy.