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Cat with kidney disease and diabetes.
- Thread starter tom74
- Start Date
@Tom74 -- hi and welcome to TCS (the cat site)!
i can share about my snick and when she was started on sub-q fluids -- snick has chronic kidney disease, though not diabetes. snick was diagnosed with "the beginnings of kidney issues" about 3 years ago or so. we had an ultrasound done (snick has IBD), and it was noticed that her kidneys were unusually small even for a cat her age (12 years old then). a urine sample was obtained and tests run, which gave us the diagnosis of the beginnings of kidney issues. at that time, our vet recommended starting snick on fluids.
since snick has been given fluids starting very early, before she was considered to have chronic kidney disease, we've been able to slow down the progression of her CKD. snick is currently in stage 2 chronic kidney disease, and is given fluids (by me, at home) every other day.
based on my experience, i feel it's important to start fluids early. but i know nothing about how (or if) your boy's diabetes may be effected by sub-q fluids being given. so my suggestion would be to discuss this with your vet. your vet is the one who manages your boy's treatment.
may i ask -- when was your boy diagnosed with CKD? and, when was he diagnosed with diabetes? if these diagnoses were recent, then it may be that your vet is focusing on getting your boy's diabetes under control/treated effectively first and then will start treating the CKD.
i'm a very proactive person, so i've worked closely with my vet to make sure my snick is receiving the best treatment for her CKD.
even though my snick is given fluids every other day now, she still drinks a good amount of water. but since she is given the fluids, she doesn't lay next to her water bowl with her chin resting on the rim of the bowl drinking water for periods of time -- like she did before being started on sub-q fluids.
i can share about my snick and when she was started on sub-q fluids -- snick has chronic kidney disease, though not diabetes. snick was diagnosed with "the beginnings of kidney issues" about 3 years ago or so. we had an ultrasound done (snick has IBD), and it was noticed that her kidneys were unusually small even for a cat her age (12 years old then). a urine sample was obtained and tests run, which gave us the diagnosis of the beginnings of kidney issues. at that time, our vet recommended starting snick on fluids.
since snick has been given fluids starting very early, before she was considered to have chronic kidney disease, we've been able to slow down the progression of her CKD. snick is currently in stage 2 chronic kidney disease, and is given fluids (by me, at home) every other day.
based on my experience, i feel it's important to start fluids early. but i know nothing about how (or if) your boy's diabetes may be effected by sub-q fluids being given. so my suggestion would be to discuss this with your vet. your vet is the one who manages your boy's treatment.
may i ask -- when was your boy diagnosed with CKD? and, when was he diagnosed with diabetes? if these diagnoses were recent, then it may be that your vet is focusing on getting your boy's diabetes under control/treated effectively first and then will start treating the CKD.
i'm a very proactive person, so i've worked closely with my vet to make sure my snick is receiving the best treatment for her CKD.
even though my snick is given fluids every other day now, she still drinks a good amount of water. but since she is given the fluids, she doesn't lay next to her water bowl with her chin resting on the rim of the bowl drinking water for periods of time -- like she did before being started on sub-q fluids.
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I highly recommend that you check out the FelineDiabetes.com message board
There are members there who have cats with both diabetes and CRF or other kdiney issues. They can advise you on the best ways to manage both health conditions. Generally the excessive drinking of water will be reduced as the diabetes is more under control with insulin treatment and the right diet. I'm not sure how kidney issues and sub q fluids affects this.
Do you have the results of your cats bloodwork? If not ask the vet for a copy of them. This site is very helpful for kidney disease: http://felinecrf.org/how_bad_is_it.htm will tell you what stage your cat is at. I have a cat in stage 2, we don't give fluids yet, we will when she reaches stage 3. I have her blood checked every 3-4 months.
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- #5
Thank you all for your responses. He was diagnosed with kidney disease in September, then diabetes in December, we right now are trying to get his glucose levels under control. I just hate to see him so thirsty all the time and want to help so much it breaks my heart for him.
