HELP...cat not eating...

No, I've heard of others using it with their kitties as an appetite stimulant

I'm not sure if my kitty's going to make it to her next appointment this friday for follow-up bloodwork...

She's lost her appetite again. She's not eating the renal food that she ate SO well yesterday. And after getting 200cc of fluid into her about 10-12 hours ago, I believe she's only peed once. I'm afraid maybe her kidney's are starting to fail completely...

I don't know...maybe I'm over reacting. Maybe I'm not. I have no clue...I'm just freaking out...

I'm so sorry you and your kitty are going through this Maybe check in with your vet tomorrow?

Originally Posted by celerystalksme

I'm not sure if my kitty's going to make it to her next appointment this friday for follow-up bloodwork...

She's lost her appetite again. She's not eating the renal food that she ate SO well yesterday. And after getting 200cc of fluid into her about 10-12 hours ago, I believe she's only peed once. I'm afraid maybe her kidney's are starting to fail completely...

I don't know...maybe I'm over reacting. Maybe I'm not. I have no clue...I'm just freaking out...

Click to expand...

It really is an off and on thing with their appetite, especially as you initially get them stablized. Try some plain baby food, just to get something in to her today, it's something you can gently put inside her cheek or a bit on her mouth so she'll lick it off - if she won't eat it out of a bowl.
I agree, if her urinary output is decreased that much, you need to call in the am...and watch her closely tonight, you may decide it's best to take her to your local emergency vet if she's really struggling tonight.

wishing you all the best, I know how difficult this can be

Well, my cat perked up last night...started eating, started peeing...I think she seems ok right now. I hope. Though I swear she's getting weaker...

I have a question....about the amount of sub-q fluid administered...

I was giving my cat 200cc's of fluid daily. Yesterday, I noticed there was a squishy/crackling sound under her skin. I found out from one of those CRF sites that it can either be air or over-hydration. The squishy/crackling sound lasted for upwards of 10+ hours before it finally went away.

Is that air or over-hydration? How can I tell? What are the dangers of air getting underneath her skin? What are the dangers of overhydration?

I gave her 150cc's this morning. Should I give her the other 50cc's later today? Or not?

Thanks!

Hi my name's Cynthia,
Yes I can understand your concern about you poor moggie!
Cat can live to a ripe old age, the longest I've know a cat to live is around 20 years.
I had a cat who lived up to 14 years.
However, moggie not eating? well it could be a fur ball, or dental problems.
It is best to take your cat to the vet, who can rule out any other illnesses that cats get.
Any cat wont poo much, if they're not eating and drinking and may become dehydrated because of this, so it's important to see a vet before Christmas!
Hope this is of some help, only I've had cats for years and have experienced all kind of problems.
I would like to know what the vet diagnoised.
With kind regards and good luck,
Cynthia.

Originally Posted by celerystalksme

Well, my cat perked up last night...started eating, started peeing...I think she seems ok right now. I hope. Though I swear she's getting weaker...

I have a question....about the amount of sub-q fluid administered...

I was giving my cat 200cc's of fluid daily. Yesterday, I noticed there was a squishy/crackling sound under her skin. I found out from one of those CRF sites that it can either be air or over-hydration. The squishy/crackling sound lasted for upwards of 10+ hours before it finally went away.

Is that air or over-hydration? How can I tell? What are the dangers of air getting underneath her skin? What are the dangers of overhydration?

I gave her 150cc's this morning. Should I give her the other 50cc's later today? Or not?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I am so glad that she picked up! It will take some time to get her stabilized and keeping her hydrated is so important.

When I was giving sub-q fluids to Kirsty the fluids would make a great big squishy swelling under the skin which would sort of 'roll' around to her side and even behind her front leg eventually until it was absorbed. You are not going to overhydrate her on 200 cc's. The sound may be related to air, I don't know, and you may wish to give the vet a call and just ask them about that. The squishy sound could just be the water between the skin and her musculature. See if you can move the needle site over a bit so that the fluids go into the other side of the neck skin. I would give her the rest of her fluids later on today. You got the 150ccs into her this morning and that will keep her hydrated for a while. I know that getting air into a syringe that injects a substance just under the skin is not harmful except that it might interfere with providing the correct dosage, and I am pretty sure that if a small amount of air became trapped under the skin during the process of giving her the sub-q fluids it shouldn't be a problem either and will eventually be absorbed. One of the vet techs or your own vet should be able to verify that for you.

Good luck and I will keep you both in my prayers for a quick return to good health.

Kathryn

I am so glad to hear she's peeing and eating. I would go ahead and call the vets and let them know you decreased the fluids and why...they may just tell you to keep it at 150cc, it doesn't hurt to ask.

Are able to get the phos binder into her? How much is she eating? Is she also anemic (the two values are Hct and Hgb if you want to check over the lab results - if you have a copy).

How was her potassium level - if this is low, if she's anemic, these are two things that can go along with weakness.

I'd honestly give the vet a buzz and update them on what you are seeing, and see if they want to see her...ask about the fluid amount, and if you don't have a copy of her lab results, ask about her Hbg (hemaglobin) and Hct (Hematocrit) results, and her potassium level as well.

Re the squishy hump, it's not unusual to see it take some time for the fluids to absorb.

One last note - per the felinecrf.org site, if you see the squishy collection of fluid consistently it may mean your kitty is now being overhydrated.

So..my bottom line...call your vet and let them advise you

Yup, the phosphorous-binders are getting into her fine (though I swear she acts as if she'd rather die). Her eating...she at real well Fri/Sat...not so well on Sun...and so far, not so great today. Over the past 1-2 weeks I've started to notice things, her appetite really does seem to come and go. So I hope it returns. I don't believe she's anemic. But I dont have the numbers.

I'll have to call...

Alright...new problem...

I can't administer anything orally anymore. She has been getting better and better at resisting forced feedings and forced medication. Now she's to the point where it's nearly impossible. She's goes into crazy feral cat mode...girates uncontrollably. And when I do manage to get a little of anything in her mouth...she's learned to hold her breath, not swallow anything, and just little slowly dribble out of her mouth.

I don't know what to do...I'm almost at my wits end...

Maybe you can try a compounding pharmacy, where they can make the medication into a treat or liquid that actually tastes good like beef, salmon etc.

Here is a list of them.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...harmacies.html

I remember when I first saw ChiChi's leg all squishy like a big balloon I freaked out. But later learned its normal, that it is the fluids that just happened to fall into her leg. It all gets absorbed anyway so its fine.. but I have never heard a crackling sound

Just wanted to send some thoughts and prayers to your baby. Your doing a wonderful job taking care of her and hopefully she will feel better and still be able to enjoy time with you.

My vet just called to give the results of Angel's follow-up bloodwork...where she was and where she is now. She only mentioned two sets of values on the phone.

Angel was BUN 67, Creatine 4.1

Now she's at BUN 33 and Creatine 2.7 after a week of fluids, low protein diet, and phosporous binding stuff.

I have no idea what these numbers mean...the vet says she's doing pretty well. How well? How much quality life does my kitty have? A month? 6 months? 2 years?

Thanks for any insight you guys can lend me!

Originally Posted by celerystalksme

My vet just called to give the results of Angel's follow-up bloodwork...where she was and where she is now. She only mentioned two sets of values on the phone.

Angel was BUN 67, Creatine 4.1

Now she's at BUN 33 and Creatine 2.7 after a week of fluids, low protein diet, and phosporous binding stuff.

I have no idea what these numbers mean...the vet says she's doing pretty well. How well? How much quality life does my kitty have? A month? 6 months? 2 years?

Thanks for any insight you guys can lend me!

Click to expand...

Congratulations, very nice improvements! One thing you need is a printed copy of your results, as it will show you what the lab used has for it's normal range of values (these do vary from lab to lab).
For comparison, my vet's lab has this for the range of normal for BUN:10-35, and for Creatinine:1.0-2.0
Patrick has been holding stable at 2.9 Creatinine and a BUN of 53, he was diagnosed in May of 2002, so he is coming up on 3 years

The best advice I can give, and I hate to sound like a broken record, is to thoroughly read over both the sites that have been listed here for crf information, especially Tanya's site (the UK site). I'd consider it wonderful to see those numbers, creatinine is especially a number you want as close to norm as possible....other values you want to know about and to track are the potassium level (some crf kitties become low on their potassium), and of course, the phosphorous level, as well as the calcium level and their hemaglobin (Hgb) and Hematocrit (Hct) the last two will tell you if your kitty is becoming anemic or not, which eventually happens with a certain per centage of CRF kitties (it has happened with Patrick after his 2 year mark).

IMO, knock on wood no further crisies, you may have several more years with your sweetling.

Very good improvements.

Congratulations on Angel's improvement

! Just take it 1 day @ a time! There may be some ups & downs, but it certainly sounds like you're on the right track. You can always count on the folks @ TCS for support. I think Sicycat's suggestion of using a compounding pharmacy might just be the ticket to your medicating woes

. Best of luck, and give

a

for me!
Jody

If it isn't one thing, it's another...

Here's my cats silly problem now. Ok...so her appetite has gone way down again. Last 36 hrs, she has eaten VERY little. This is DESPITE the fact that I've given her cyproheptadine (the appetite meds). Even with the appetite meds...nothing. She'll come begging for food...I'll give her food...she'll sniff at it, maybe take a bite or two...then walk away.

So early this morning, I fed her a little with a syringe. And left out some more food for her to eat on her own. I've opened up four different renal foods now...trying to get her to eat. Funny thing is...she was eating these foods just fine for the last 1-2 weeks or so.

Just a couple minutes ago, I gave her some of her old dry food. Purina ONE Senior Protection Formula. SHE ATE IT!!! SHE WENT TO TOWN ON THAT JUNK!!!!! The canned renal that she at fine for the past week+? Nothing.

So what to do? Is the Purina ONE no good for a renal cat? Should I try some different renal foods? Or should I just give her what she wants? I don't know what's best for my kitty...

Chichi did the same thing. She ate some of the renal foods for a while and then wouldnt touch them. Honestly, though some may not agree, you should feed her what she will eat, whatever that may be. It is better she eat something rather than nothing.

Purina makes a renal diet - if she's going for the Purina One right now, maybe you can get a sample of the Purina renal diet for her from your vet. There are several different renal diets on the market - what I did with my girl was rotate them, so she maintained interest in them. And of course there is the great link Pat posted about foods for cats with kidney trouble.

Did your vet put Angel on anything for stomach acid? My girl had trouble with excess stomach acid with her kidney problems, and the vet gave her a stomach-acid controlling medication for it. The excess acid made her mouth & throat sore, and so giving her the medication helped her appetite by easing those symptoms. You might want to give your vet a call & ask about it.

Originally Posted by celerystalksme

If it isn't one thing, it's another...

Here's my cats silly problem now. Ok...so her appetite has gone way down again. Last 36 hrs, she has eaten VERY little. This is DESPITE the fact that I've given her cyproheptadine (the appetite meds). Even with the appetite meds...nothing. She'll come begging for food...I'll give her food...she'll sniff at it, maybe take a bite or two...then walk away.

So early this morning, I fed her a little with a syringe. And left out some more food for her to eat on her own. I've opened up four different renal foods now...trying to get her to eat. Funny thing is...she was eating these foods just fine for the last 1-2 weeks or so.

Just a couple minutes ago, I gave her some of her old dry food. Purina ONE Senior Protection Formula. SHE ATE IT!!! SHE WENT TO TOWN ON THAT JUNK!!!!! The canned renal that she at fine for the past week+? Nothing.

So what to do? Is the Purina ONE no good for a renal cat? Should I try some different renal foods? Or should I just give her what she wants? I don't know what's best for my kitty...

Click to expand...

You need to read the two sites I've mentioned, and you need to consult the katkarma foods lists, both links have also been given to you here and on the crf support list I believe. You will be able to compare prescription renal foods as well as non-prescription, to find those close to what your vet prescribed, that perhaps your kitty will like better.

This kind of "likes it one week and not another" behavior is very much a part of life with a crf kitty. It takes time and patience to figure out what will work best for your gal. If you have not read over the section on stomach acid and nausea in crf kitties, you need to do so, and if not yet on pepcid or slippery elm bark or another med for this, get this added to her meds (after discussing it with your vet of course). It is not something to give once in a while but daily as part of the daily regimen to keep stomach acid under control.

I know this is frustrating, and yes, bottom line is your kitty must eat something, and sometimes, you will just feed them anything they'll eat...but making better choices - letting them choose from foods more in line with what they should get, will help extend the life of your kitty and keep those kidneys' functioning as best they can at this poing.