what is the best foods to give Lucy my cat who has kidney problems?

Lucy who is 17, and my first and oldest cat, took a turn for the worse when I changed her catfood and she began to eat a brand called "natures variety" that had MORE protein than her regular diet. I think her kidneys couldn't process it sufficiently, it took too much out of her.

I had been feeding her orally all week and she's gotten better..but she's weak. She can still walk around and feed herself. Last Sunday is when it hit her bigtime, and she wouldn't eat so I had to orally feed her. I have her on K/D canned catfood, and just began to feed her some kibble again.

I believe that she began to have kidney problems when I lived in my old apartment. There was a bacteria in the pipes called "giardia" and it infected everyone as we were drinking the tap water. All my cats (and I have quite a brood) had diarrhea and the antidote was a yellow medicine that is an antibiotic, it is very bitter and they hate taking it, but it clears the giardia up. Ever since then Lucy has lost weight, and never really went back to her own self. That was 3 yrs ago. In my online research I discovered one way that the kidneys are damaged is through bacteria.. and thats what she had. I had been giving her yogurt from time to time to give back the good bacteria that resides in her stomach.

I guess I just want to know what is best for stimulating her appetite when a cat has renal problems, and what will help her the best. I read cod liver oil, Ive been giving her some of that. Any advice you can give me will be appreciated. She's been my friend all her life, and has even defended me once from someone else! She has the manners of a lady and the soul of a saint. She's the best cat of all my cats, never complains and is so loving.

I only recently realized that she loves to hear me sing. Many times when Im at the computer and she was sleeping on the monitor, I would casually sing outloud and she would whirl around and lie her chin on her paw and listen to me ever so intently. The most "interested" look would be in her eyes. I guess she must have always felt this way, but I never really noticed it till about at least a year or two ago! Ive never seen a cat look at a human like that because they were singing, but it catches her interest and she loves it!

She is just a special cat..and her soul has been in my family for longer than this life of hers. I am a hypnotist and have done past life regressions. As a side note, the first subject I ever had to hypnotise was my baby sister when she was 13. When I asked her if there was anyone she knew then that she knew now, she replied "yes, Lucy". I asked her who was Lucy then, and to my surprise she matter of factly replied "My donkey, pepe"... In that lifetime my little sister was a man who had many kids, and a donkey that worked with her..very loyal and hardworking, who helped carry his supplies, and that he himself had helped give birth to.

I know my cat has been in my family thanks to that revealing experience, and then she came back to be with me. I know she will always be with me now, because of the love and bond we have for each other.

One thing about the "rainbow bridge" story.. I find it very depressing. No offense, but its bad enough I feel so miserable, then I have to read that story and feel worse. It always makes me sadder, not better, and I have to avoid it like crazy. I KNOW that my cat will survive her body, as she is not her body but a soul, and I KNOW there is an afterlife..but that doesn't help me when it comes to the process of dying, and having my cat leave me the way I presently know her to be, as a soul having a cat experience, in a cats body. I will miss her and it will be not because of the saint that she is alone, but because she was the first animal I ever picked out.

17 yrs ago I was in a new relationship and wanted to have a cat. I wanted one immediately. I always had a terrible fondness for cats, but our family always had dogs. Well, I was living in Burbank at the time and looked in the paper for cats. I knew she had to be female, but beyond that I wasn't sure of the coloring or any such thing. I called a few places and couldnt find a female..and was very disappointed. I just remember having a "Strong Urge" to finally have my own cat. I had to wait a whole week which killed me, for the next wkend to see if female cats were up for sale in the paper. I waited, and I learned that a man in Van Nuys had a new litter that was ready to be given new homes. I went there in person and saw Lucys brother, and then Lucys sister.. they didnt look like the right cat. Something didnt add up. Then he said that some of the kittens hid inside the sofa, and he reached his arm into the sofa and pulled out "the runt" as he called it. I held her in my hands and looked at her face closely. She had such a pretty tiny face but most of all I felt the connection. This was the one! I was so excited to have her, so I paid and left. From that moment on I experienced the nobility and gentility of that cat. She has been an angel disguised as an animal...

17 yrs later Im here having to face the possiblity of her demise. Something I always dreaded and never wanted to see. I just want to allow her to feel good and get stronger and she has quite a survival streak and fighting spirit. She has no desire to be separated from me, and she has NEVER been jealous of any of the other cats. In fact she likes a full house and especially likes a lot of boisterous humans about! I live alone tho and now that isnt possible, but it was for a while when I lived at home with her.

I feel sad that I don't have a big house for her to explore, and great successes that she would be part of. She saw me through every relationship that I ever had. I want to give her so much more.. but as my state is, living alone, single, theres only so much more I can give her.

If anyone has any tips on what to feed and how to care for an older cat with renal problems please dish the advice out. Im always researching and very openminded.. as we all should be.

Thanks,

Linda

Linda
Welcome to TCS...

I dont have the links right at hand for kindey issues also known as CRF ... My 18 yr old Kandie has it and through diet( not the one from the vet), she has remained stable and had a bit of improvement... Today her diet is raw / homemade/ and canned

Linda,

Welcome. A number of us currently have or have had, kitties with CRF. My best suggestion is to read this website in it's entirety - drill down through every layer. www.felinecrf.org It is what helped me extend Patrick's life almost 4 years from his diagnosis when he was 15. It is helping me extend Tyler's and Frankie's lives now.

Depending on what stage of failure she is in, low protein may not be something you have to shoot for, as much as shooting for lower phosphorous. Hopefully you know her numbers - i.e. is her potassium low? If so, this contributes to muscle weakness, and it can be combatted with a supplement such as Tumil-K. If her phosphorous level is high, this can be combatted by using a phos binder at her meals.

The site discusses all of the above and truly everything else, imo, that you need to know.

Thank you for the link, I will peruse it. is it possible for me to give you her last two numbers, the last two times I took her to the vet, so that you can figure some estimation of whats going on.. I thought maybe you would be familiar with the numbers. I am not.

The K/D catfood is low in phosperous as well as protein, although of course it does have protein. Its just the "natures variety" she was eating had too much protein, that is what nearly killed her. I had mentioned to the store owner about my cat with kidney problems, and she knew that catfood was higher in protein (ie: more "pure") and she said nothing.

How long would a cat live if healthy and does not have CRF? I ask because it seems many cats who have CRF still live long live.. I wonder how much longer they would then live if they were not sick.

thank you.. how is your cat doing right now? how do you feed raw food? the fact that my cat got so sick from the natures variety, which is supposed to be so "pure" makes me fear giving her raw meat.She got sick from the pure protein no carbs, in natures variety.

The raw food has helped my CRF girl but it is vet suppervised ... and she gets regular adult and senior canned....Kandie is now 18 and was diagnoised with crf at 14 she is doing well .... You need a vet whom you can talk to ... Kandies number spiked when I didnt have a vet helping me keep her healthy ...

I saw an article that claimed 30 would be normal if aging diseases werent present

The link that I gave you goes over usual tests and what the results mean. It does help to write down or get a copy of all the labs drawn each time. I would certainly follow my vets advice re recommended protein levels, though I've come to believe if mild/early crf, the quality of the protein is more important (and the per centage of phosphorous). I do think even when restricting protein, it's important that the protein be of very good quality. Which may be one advantage for those who do feed raw.

Hope this isn't too choppy, running on very little sleep, and I'm not 20 anymore so it takes its toll!

Take your cat to the vet and ask them what food to feed your cat.

I had a cat that had CRF and she was on K/D Feline which I purchased from the vet.

here is a link to foods ratings wet and dry

http://webpages.charter.net/katkarma/canned.htm

Thanks for the advice.. what are the signs when a crf cat is getting better. When she was placed on the "natures variety" she grew thin FAST, and her hair got dull and began to fall off quickly. It was so alarming. The food was advertised to have more "pure protein" instead of "all the carbs" in regular store bought catfood, there were also many vegetables in it, but their special thing was the "raw food coating" that was "freeze dried" over the super protein "kibble".

I'd never heard of this, but for a cat I assumed it would be healthy, so I bought two bags of it, now I want to return it. It gave my healthy boy diarrhea and my old girl almost DIED!!! It was the last thing from healthy!!!

Most meat in store bought catfood is ground digest (feces) roadkill, ground whole bodies, by products as they call it, and nothing all that healthy in the first place, on top of that they add the carbs and thats why cats get so fat if they aren't exercising and only sitting around. Many times I have bought Purina and when I get it home I smell it, and it smells like feces!! Its disturbing.

What do you all think of vegetarian food for cats. I heard they make vegetarian kibble, and I saw a livejournal site on it w/many members joining and their dogs are cats are thriving on these diets. I hear that the hardest thing to break through is the prejudice that most people have thinking that felines and dogs "need" meat. I will investigate it further. It sounds like a good thing to mix into the healthy ones food anyway.

Originally Posted by zurryskies

What do you all think of vegetarian food for cats. I heard they make vegetarian kibble, and I saw a livejournal site on it w/many members joining and their dogs are cats are thriving on these diets. I hear that the hardest thing to break through is the prejudice that most people have thinking that felines and dogs "need" meat. I will investigate it further. It sounds like a good thing to mix into the healthy ones food anyway.

Click to expand...

Cats are obligate carnivores (dogs are omnivores), they **need** meat protein, and can not do things we can, for instance they can absorb Beta Carotene but they can not convert it to Vitamin A.

I think the vegetarian diet for cats is a serious, serious, error.

Please check out these two sites: www.catinfo.org and this article which I think addresses several aspects of feeding a cat a vegetarian diet http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...vegetariancats

ok, I don't know enough about it to comment right now. I will hopefully get back to you! thanks

good 'kidney' diets include:
Hill's K/D
Medical Reduced Protein
Royal Canin/Waltham's Renal LP

I lost one of my cats in June to CRF. She had it for a little over two years. There isn't a set time span for a cat who has CRF because every case is different. The disease can't be cured but there are things that can be done to make it easier for the cat to cope and in some cases they continue to live a happy, active life for quite a while after being diagnosed. Midnight ate both the Purina N/F and also the Hills K/D in addition to receiving 150cc of sub-q fluids every other day. Best wishes to you and Lucy.

Bryan

Thanks so much for the web site.  A lot of information to go through but does give me hope.  I've already had to put down my old partner Rocky and now Max it pretty bad.  

Vegetarian diets for cats will inevitably lead to blindness and heart failure.  It is a horrid thing to let happen.  I personally met a cat that was so sadly completely blind because of her well meaning owner who fed her a deficient diet.  I also knew a man who was a print shop owner who felt it was wrong to feed his dog any meat because he felt he was feeding his friends to another friend.  I saw his dog suffer for this--he became diabetic and never thrived.  If you cannot accept the idea that your pet may need meat to survive and thrive, it might be better to get a pet that doesn't need to eat meat.  Cats absolutely need meat, and dogs too, but to a lesser degree.  Never, ever, buy into the silliness of people who don't know what they are talking about when it comes to the diets of obligate carnivores.

Oh, there is so much that can be done for senior CRF cats!  I have personally owned 7 different CRF cats over the years, and they can live to be quite old despite the issue.  Tanya's website was the key to getting the best information and it was truly life changing.  I learned to get lactated ringer, good Terumo or Nipro ultra thin walled needles, and do the fluids and other supplements at home.  It was easy once I was experienced and my vet gave me the first lesson.  I got better needles than what my vet provided, and better fluids from Costco!  I think the cost is minimal and so worth it.  I hope you will find this works for you.  Thank you for sharing your story about your kitty!