Blue can't lift his head

[littleone]

I know it's been a long time since you posted about Blue. My Kitty woke up today with the same neck pull that doesn't allow her to lift her head. She has chronic kidney failure and has been on sub-q fluids for almost six years. Can you tell me (if you remember) was their any merit to the low-potassium hypothesis? Did Blue's neck function return to normal?

thanks! 

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Littleone, the original poster hasn't been back since 2008, so it's very likely that you will not get a response from them.  In the meantime, here is a link regarding cats with kidney disease and effects of low potassium:  http://www.felinecrf.org/potassium.htm  (symptoms start about 1/3 down the page)

Does any of this, other than not being about to hold her head up, seem to be happening?  Regardless, you should probably take your little one in to have her levels checked as soon as possible and hope if that's what it is, a simple potassium supplement will "fix" the problem.

 

[littleone]

Thanks so much for your reply! I actually found that url with a little more digging. Little One (that's my girl) is 12 yrs old and has had chronic kidney disease for 6 years. Thank you Iams for buying cheap wheat from China, but that is for another post. I administer SubQ IV treatments 2-3/week for which she is a wonderful patient and even purrs during the process. I did not know until now that low potassium is a common side effect of the disease. Based on all of my research, I decided to buy potassium gluconate supplements and gave her a small amount in her food twice a day. 4 doses and 48 hours later, she is able to get her head almost all the way up. She's back to begging for table scraps and jumping up on her favorite perches. What a trooper, as pathetic as she looked, she still purred and ate wet food for me.

Below is a shot of Little One yesterday and another of her today with her big brothers.

Thanks for all of your support!

L1.jpeg

• littleone
• Jan 29, 2013

L1_2.jpg

• littleone
• Jan 29, 2013

Mel

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm so glad she is doing better

. 

Very nice looking cat family you have there