CRF - How to prevent Kidney problems or Kidney failure in Cats.

[louloububu]

Can anyone tell me how to prevent Kidney problems or Kidney failure in Cats.
My Bam-Bam died of this on Jan 13th, he had a good diet and always drunk water. Was a bit fat and just before being diagnosed developed diabetes which then led to CRF. His brother Dizzy is well, but I would like to ensure this does not happen again. Does anyone have any ideas, please? Thank you.

 

[sharky]

AHHH this is a great question with no great answer... the best one I got was an old country vet that said as we age things where out ... oh and some are genetically predisposed ... I feed what I thought was a good diet but I learned it wasnt

Kandie eats a mix of wet cat wet dog homemade and raw ... She has remained stable at the same numbers since diagnois due to diet and the supplements... she is 18.5 and only gets fluids on occation at the vet .... she does get potasium now to help with that issue...

 

[calamintha]

I had one cat who developed kidney failure at the age of 15. For the next year and a half we had him on a special diet and also had to give him fluid injections which he did not like. He died at the age of 16 and a half.

After that, I decided I did not want to put a cat through that if I could help it so I had the vets check my other cat's kidney values each year. When one of my cats' showed a decline in kidney function at the age of 14 I put him on a food that was lower in phosphorous than regular food using the chart from the site below:

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

I did not use the prescription diet but just picked one from the list that was lower in phosphorous. He was able to maintain his kidney function for 5 years until the age of 19 when we started having to give him the fluid injections. Without the special diet I think we would have had to start giving the injections sooner. Anyway, you could discuss this with your vet.

 

[lorina]

My Sheba was diagnosed with CRF at 16, and did great on a prescription diet and eventually fluid treatments at home, first weekly, then twice weekly, and eventually every day. She didn't mind the fluids, and would often just lay there and purr, or even eat, while she got them. She died at a little over 18 years of heart failure, but her kidneys were functioning nearly normal.

 

[cloud_shade]

I don't think there are any preventatives, so the best you can do is catch it early. Have bloodwork done at least once a year, or more often if you notice any unusual signs (changes in appetite, thirst or litterbox habits). If you catch it early, CRF can sometimes be controlled by monitoring and adjusting phosphorus and potassium levels, and by giving fluids.

 

[urbantigers]

I think there's only so much you can do as CRF is mostly down to genetics and some will get it and some won't. But there are things you can do to slow down the onset or progression of the disease such as

- keep them hydrated by feeding wet food and/or providing plenty of water in a variety of containers, water fountains etc. getting them used to wet food when they're young is useful in case they get CRF later in life as it's often hard to switch them from dry to wet

- feed older cats a food that's not too high in phosphorus

- make sure senior cats have regular blood tests so that it can be picked up early and preferably before the cat shows any symptoms

 

[louloububu]

Thank you so very much for the info. It was a great help. Bless you.
I will definatley take the advise in your message. Thank you.