Possible kidney issues

Hi,

Sorry in advance for the long post, 

I'm not an expert on CKD but creatinine levels can be elevated from dehydration or a high protein diet. It seems like, from what I can tell, his levels are normal. Take a look through this site, which is basically considered the "bible" for CKD. His SDMA and creatinine are in normal range according to her site, so it doesn't look like he has any kidney issues at present, which it seems like is was your vet thinks too?

www.felinecrf.org

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.  I've had a look at that site and have it bookmarked so will definitely refer back to if i need to. 

The vet did mention dehydration when the high levels came up, and that may be the case seeing as they seemed to have dropped.  The SDMA is still in the upper range of normal, so I guess that's what was on my mind.  Whether it's possible to quantify the likelihood of it developing based on that.   I feel terrible thinking dietary choices I made may cause something like that. 

I have to speak with the vet again in more detail, but no they didn't seem overly concerned at the moment.

hawaii500 said:

 
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.  I've had a look at that site and have it bookmarked so will definitely refer back to if i need to. 

The vet did mention dehydration when the high levels came up, and that may be the case seeing as they seemed to have dropped.  The SDMA is still in the upper range of normal, so I guess that's what was on my mind.  Whether it's possible to quantify the likelihood of it developing based on that.   I feel terrible thinking dietary choices I made may cause something like that. 

I have to speak with the vet again in more detail, but no they didn't seem overly concerned at the moment.

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I feel you. I fed my senior kibble his whole life up until a year and half ago, and when i tried to transition him to wet food he wouldn't have any of it. We settled on mostly raw with a little kibble as a snack. I've been lucky that his only medical issue up to this point was hyperthyroidism, which was treated with radioiodine and (fingers crossed) so far his kidneys look good. 

If you have a facebook you might want to join this CKD group. The people there are amazing and smart. I'm part of the community just to keep up and interact with other smart cat owners and prepare info in case my guy goes into kidney failure. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/felinecrf/

  I just got off the phone with the vet and as far as currents levels are concerned they could very well be just normal deterioration for an older cat (he's 12). I  asked her the relative chances of developing kidney disease and she seemed to feel it wouldn't be unlikely, though she the added that most older cats have kidney disease, even if they don't necessarily die from that.  I know that kidney function decreases as they get older but I didn't think kidney disease itself was the prevalent.  So I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. 

The food is a tricky at the moment because I have to keep his weight up, and he doesn't eat enough of the ziwipeak.  Hopefully feeding raw will have more bulk so I can cut anything else out.  There are fewer options here in Australia so I've done a ton of research and still feel like Im treading water a bit. 

Thanks for the link missmimz,  I just noticed the the number of cats in your sig.  That's quite a family.  Feeding time must be interesting.

Hi there, I'm in Australia too. I'm so sorry to hear about the possible kidney issues with your lovely cat. You mentioned Ziwipeak as a food, and thought I may also suggest Holistic Select canned food. It's more pate style but could be another option too add in as a bit of a change.. It's available at most pet stores and online pet stores, just a suggestion if you wanted to check it out

Rose2015 said:

Hi there, I'm in Australia too. I'm so sorry to hear about the possible kidney issues with your lovely cat. You mentioned Ziwipeak as a food, and thought I may also suggest Holistic Select canned food. It's more pate style but could be another option too add in as a bit of a change.. It's available at most pet stores and online pet stores, just a suggestion if you wanted to check it out

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Thanks.  I actually bought some of the grain free holistic select the other day and have yet to try it.   Is that what you feed?  I had a quick look at the ingredients and it contained xantham gum, and cassa gum.   I don't really know much about either so wanted to do a quick research.

Hi there! I've just started as have just switched brands from Wellness after hearing about the urinary issues they've caused. The grain free in Holistic Select contains the Xanthum but I don't believe their standard one does. My kitty gets constipated on grain free, so I've been using their non grain-fee which actually only has a little bit of complex grains such as rolled oats (helps my kitty to avoid constipation). However I've noticed the various canned styles list carageenan at different levels on their ingredients list so it may vary from each type. Unfortunately most of the canned foods here have carageenan (apart from Ziwipeak) but Holistic Select seems to put it lower down. (Hopefully that made sense). I've also got a box of Big Dog Food for Cats in Kanga from Pet stock. It's a barf style patty which I'm yet to try. You could also try that, their kangaroo does not have sulphur dioxide added and is human grade. However the kangaroo could be too rich for potential kidney issues So perhaps look at the turkey (there is also fish, but I stay away from that). They have also added in garlic to the parties but have reassured me that it is in a very very small dose so as to give a little bit of nutrional benefit. By the way if you have questions about Holistic Select, their Australian Facebook page is very responsive to questions, although they are slow on email. I've popped in a whole stack of questions to their Facebook contact who has forwarded to their vet team the USA and will get back to me asap.
It's hard here isn't it, trying to get decent wet food. I have been considering raw but don't know enough about balancing the nutrients etc and don't want to take the risk of long term damage (made by me!). Sigh! Would love to know if you have any other suggestions as well

Hi!  It's definitely a minefield sorting through all the information.  And it seems like we have limited options here.  We should for sure compare notes if we get any useful information. 



I'll going to keep searching for can food, but there's not too many options left.  I don't think my cat needs any dietary changes for now (and hopefully won't), I'm just trying to feed as much fresh as possible. 

The barf diets I'm a little skeptical about, although maybe they are better than some canned options.  There's a discussion here form a while back:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/252759/raw-feeding-or-barf-in-australia-need-some-food-advice.

For instance, I've been told garlic is bad in any amount, so I don't know.

I've been trying to searching along the same lines in these threads, if you want to follow my frustration.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/318751/cooked-vs-raw

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/318881/australian-raw-feeders

 It's hard here is t it, trying to get decent wet food. I have been considering raw but don't know enough about balancing the nutrients etc and don't want to take the risk of long term damage (made by me!). Sigh! Would love to know if you have any other suggestions as well

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I share your same concerns, and don't really feel I can do the total homemade raw until I know exactly what I'm doing. There isn't any balanced complete raw (aside from the barf) that is available overseas, but its seems using a supplement with your own meats is a good alternative. Of course, there's not much available here either.  I've had a look into it over the past few days and it seems most companies won't ship due to stricter import restrictions here in Australia.  (great!)

I actually called up the department of agriculture yesterday and have since sent them an email with some of the recommended supplements to see exactly what might be able to be sent by mail and what the suspect ingredients might be.  The person I spoke to even mentioned the possibility of an import license, where you pay a fee, that might work.  At any rate,  I'll let you know how that goes if you're interested.

My cat since has been in and had some follow up results.  I'm still not sure what to make of them.  His creatinine is still in normal range and his sdma actually dropped a bit.  Although his urine is now more dilute and slightly out of the normal range.  Aside from the possibility of kidney disease, the vet said this could caused by the move to a wet diet, or also due to some damage in the kidney that was found a number of months ago. 

Any experience or thoughts on this are welcome.   Are there any 'just in case' type dietary changes for possible kidney disease?  My vet said it was just regular checkups and nothing to alter at this point.

hawaii500 said:

 
My cat since has been in and had some follow up results.  I'm still not sure what to make of them.  His creatinine is still in normal range and his sdma actually dropped a bit.  Although his urine is now more dilute and slightly out of the normal range.  Aside from the possibility of kidney disease, the vet said this could caused by the move to a wet diet, or also due to some damage in the kidney that was found a number of months ago. 

Any experience or thoughts on this are welcome.   Are there any 'just in case' type dietary changes for possible kidney disease?  My vet said it was just regular checkups and nothing to alter at this point.

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From what I understand SDMA is really the first and best indicator of kidney disease, so the fact his numbers went down is a great thing. Ultimately we don't really know what causes CKD other than feeding dry food. But sometimes it's just genetics and nothing can change that. The best thing you can do is feed all wet/raw food, offer lots of water sources (bowls or drinking fountains) to encourage drinking, and regular vet check ups. There's no evidence that low proteins diets help the kidneys at all, so I wouldn't go that route. It sounds like you're doing all the right things.