Told by our Vet today my 9yr female cat has an enlarged kidney... Sudden panic and heart ache. She's healthy w/good blood work. but I started seeing signs of weight loss, other cats coming around more in the yard and she's been sleeping more in the house or up high outside. I had a feeling something was wrong but not to this extent.... We've started her on holistic herbs, more can food rather than dry and we go back to see our vet in 2 months. I trust my vet, she's taken care of our babies 10+ years. We lost our 14yr old terrier 2yrs ago, we still have our 2nd terrier she's 15 and our MamaCat! She's been a wonderful addition to our family, I don't want to loose her to soon. Any words of wisdom would be very appreciated, can food recommendation, herbs, etc. Thank you very much!
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Enlarged Kidney
- Thread starter mymamacat
- Start Date
Did they discover the enlarged kidney with an x-ray? There's so many things that an enlarged kidney can be a sign of, and not all of it is dire. Was her other kidney smaller by any chance? Sometimes in early kidney disease, before there are any symptoms or evidence in blood work, one kidney may be not working as much, so the other picks up the slack. It's also possible it could be an infection. I'm not sure if a kidney infection is something that would come up in the blood work though or a urinalysis - did she have a urinalysis as well? Unfortunately though, for the most part, it is a "wait and see" thing with this.
As far as cat food recommendations, you're right with going for more wet food. I'd also aim for lower phosphorus. Not necessarily lower protein at this point, that is a topic of debate when it comes to kidneys, but they'd discovered it's really the phosphorus (not the protein) that causes the kidneys to have more issues. Anything under 1% phosphorus based on a dry matter analysis, with 0.7% or less being the recommendation. Even if it's not kidney disease, having lower phos at her age is not a bad thing. Assuming she has no other problems of course.
Give them bottled or filtered water if you don't already do so. Even the best tap water has SOME chemicals in it, so any little thing you can do to lessen the work on the kidneys will help.
I would of course let your vet know what you are feeding her as well. I'd also talk to your vet before giving her any herbs/supplements, as they may cause the kidneys to work harder than they have to.
Edit: Giving you a link to a site that has a list of cat foods in order by their phosphorus % - http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm. And then this one is another one I like, it has quite a few others on here than the other does not; it's in alphabetical order - http://www.catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm.
As far as cat food recommendations, you're right with going for more wet food. I'd also aim for lower phosphorus. Not necessarily lower protein at this point, that is a topic of debate when it comes to kidneys, but they'd discovered it's really the phosphorus (not the protein) that causes the kidneys to have more issues. Anything under 1% phosphorus based on a dry matter analysis, with 0.7% or less being the recommendation. Even if it's not kidney disease, having lower phos at her age is not a bad thing. Assuming she has no other problems of course.
Give them bottled or filtered water if you don't already do so. Even the best tap water has SOME chemicals in it, so any little thing you can do to lessen the work on the kidneys will help.
I would of course let your vet know what you are feeding her as well. I'd also talk to your vet before giving her any herbs/supplements, as they may cause the kidneys to work harder than they have to.
Edit: Giving you a link to a site that has a list of cat foods in order by their phosphorus % - http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_usa.htm. And then this one is another one I like, it has quite a few others on here than the other does not; it's in alphabetical order - http://www.catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm.
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Good Morning, thank you so much for your reply. No Xray yet. Herbs are from vet, we'll monitor MamaCat for 2 months then go to the next step. Your site recommendations on wet foods are great! good to educate myself. First time cat owner, no excuses, thought she eats birds, mice, etc, dry food (BB Healthy Living) we feed her is added extra, only started mixing can food (turkey, fish, etc.) w/dry for about a yr. Moving forward, keep educating myself and keep MamaCat on a healthy track! Thank you!!
Just curious how they knew the kidney was enlarged - by feeling I'm guessing? It might be worthwhile to get an x-ray at the follow-up visit in two months, that way you'll have more information to work with. Glad to hear the vet is all good with the herbs (seeing as they are the ones that gave them to you!). I know there are some herbs that are commonly used with cats that have kidney issues, but usually that's when they are having symptoms.
You are definitely on a good track with MamaCat from the sounds of it
