Cat not eating (CRF)

madamemoxxi

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Hello everyone. I need some major help here...
My cat is 8 years old and has chronic renal failure. This past week she became very lethargic and what not. Took her to the vet and am doing at home sub q fluids every day/other day. After many tries with different foods (wet and moist) plus sardines, salmon, tuna etc. She finally began to eat again when we tried Friskies. But now. After two days, she isn't eating again.
I am waiting for the vet to call so I can ask him about appetite stimulants.
I am so desperate I'm syringing liquid food into her mouth.
Other than not eating , she is sinking and peeing. She has become less lethargic and walking a bit (to her litter) but her hind legs are wabbly (which happens with CRF)
Is there anything I can do to help her want to eat? (I have heated up her food and whatnot ) has anyone tried the appetite stimulants before?? She is 3lbs and we really need her to gain AT LEAST 2 more lbs. please help. I'm desperate.
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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I have a kidney cat who also has lost a lot of weight (very common in kidney cats) and has a bad appetite.  My Callie IS on appetite stimulants, and has been now for several months.  She is on mirtazapine transdermal gel, as she is impossible to pill.  It works pretty well for her, better than nothing anyway


What I find works well for my little one is to feed her very small meals several times a day, with water added, then I feed her Temptations throughout the night.  She wakes me up when she wants her treats and even though she may only eat 6 at a time, thats 12 more calories, so I am happy to oblige. (I keep them under my pillow)   Now, when I say "small meals", I mean perhaps .45 to .75 oz at a time, with 1 - 2 teaspoons of water mixed in.   PLUS, one meal may consist of 3 difference platefuls of different types of food, each between .45 and .75 oz.  Doing that, I can usually get her to eat maybe 3 oz per day of wet food.  Sad, but since she only weighs a little over 4 pounds, at least she is maintaining
.  And, actually, ever since I started doing this, her backbone is no longer standing out so much even though she isn't gaining weight.  So something is improving.    What I find she will eat is Fancy Feast Classics (although these are really too high in phosphorus for a kidney cat so i try to feed this sparingly), Sheba Pate, and Natures Variety Instinct Pride.   But, of course, only certain flavors.  Luckily I have other cats who sometimes eat the cans she doesn't like. 

You can try using toppers like FortiFlora, crushed treats, parmesan cheese, tuna juice, anything she typically likes.  Have you tried the 100% pure meat freeze dried treats like WholeLife or Purebites?  They are great treats as well as toppers, although they are not 100% nutritionally complete.

Her wobbly back legs might be a sign that her potassium is low.  Have you had her checked recently?  Since you just had her at the Vet, did they do a blood test on her to check all her levels?  

Have you seen this website?  http://www.felinecrf.org/potassium.htm  I happened to direct you to the potassium page of the website, but it has information about everything kidney related.  I use it as my "go to" anytime pretty much anything comes up with my girl.  There is an entire section devoted to diet and whatnot.  Here's the page on persuading your cat to eat:  http://www.felinecrf.org/persuading_cat_to_eat.htm 

Hopefully some of these hints will help you out. 
Believe me, I know your frustration (and fear
)
 

artfullofheart

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Hi,

I'm so sorry your cat isn't feeling well. I know how you feel. I made a list of Carrageenan free canned cat food (there's

even a few Fancy Feast cans that are Carrageenan free!) hoping that Carrageenan free food would help and it did a certain amount.

But the vet said to try some Vitamin B as CKD cats are prone to having a Vitamin B deficiency and that REALLY helped!

My 2 CKD cats Muffy and Daisy, (both 18 years old) eat best about an hour or two after a Sub Q.
Also their appetites were MUCH better after the vet suggested giving them Aventi which is a white powder
consisting of probiotics

which helps the digestion and makes it much easier to eat as it will help any stomach ache. It also has B Vitamins.

My one cat Daisy especially also eats better an hour or two after I give her a Sub Q as it hydrates her

and makes her feel well enough to be interested in food.

After I gave Muffy and Daisy Aventi, I read in a few places that some vets and owners use

Aventi instead of Azodyl which seems to have some side effects like vomiting.

Aventi is much cheaper (thankfully!) and is easy on the cat with no side effects.
 
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mrsgreenjeens

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the vet said to try some Vitamin B as CKD cats are prone to having a Vitamin B deficiency and that REALLY helped!

Also their appetites were MUCH better after the vet suggested giving them Aventi which is a white powder consisting of probiotics

which helps the digestion and makes it much easier to eat as it will help any stomach ache. It also has B Vitamins.
Is the Aventi the ONLY way your cats are getting extra Vitamin B, or does your Vet give them Vit. B shots?  Also, I see that the Aventi is a powder...if your cat isn't eating, as in the original poster's case, how can you get the powder into the cat?  Does it come in a pill form also?  In MY cat's case, I have tried giving her almost every kidney supplement known to man, and she can smell them a mile way
and refuses her food if they are in there.  Right now she's supposed to be getting Vit. E for her liver, and I can actually put ONE drop mixed into her food and get away with it, but if a 2nd drop accidentally falls into it before I can stop it, she will refuse to eat even one lick
, even though I stir it in like crazy.  It drives me crazy
.  AND, my other cats get probiotics, but if I happen to stir their food and then stir hers with the same spoon that had the probiotics on the spoon, she will refuse her food....can you believe it?  For an old cat (15), her smeller still works really well
(I guess she's just too used to my trying to hide stuff in her food.) 
 
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