newbie with Q regarding newly diagnosed CRF

[ravynkat]

Hello cat lovers!

My 15 year old baby was recently diagnosed with renal disease. I've been struggling to find a more natural and wholesome way to treat her. So far, no symptoms but I want her to be well! I've gradually been changing her dry food and mixing in some canned for that "added moisture" and also adding some fish oil with D vitamin. Also, I've purchased some GNC chewable vitamin treats and she digs 'em. She won't finish all of her food in one sitting though and I'll have to ask her throughout the day if she's hungry. Usually she'll get in a little more food in the evening. (thank god)

I've given her a little nibble of raw chicken to see if she'll eat it because I've been considering the raw diet. I've gotten a few recipes but I just want to make sure she's getting all her nutrients.

There's so much conflicting info out there that I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed and helpless. Any help would be much appreciated!

Here are her numbers thus far:

bun 75 (high)

creatinine 2.2 (normal)

bun/crea ratio 34 (high)

phosphorus 3.9 (normal)

calcium 9.8 (normal)

potassium 3.9 (normal)

amylase 1548 (high)

all her other levels are normal and I'm grateful everything else seems fine so far.

Thanks guys =^. .^=

 

[vball91]

Did you have a urinalysis done? Kitties with CRF will have dilute urine. It does sound like she's in the early stages, if at all honestly.

I would recommend ditching the dry food entirely. Dry food is hard on kidneys. I would look for a low phosphorus (not low protein) high quality protein wet food. Cats are geared toward eating multiple small meals, so I would not push her to eat everything in one sitting.

Here are some good sites on feline nutrition and kidney disease.

www.catinfo.org

www.felinecrf.org

 

[ravynkat]

I didn't even ask about having the urinalysis done! I was in a frenzy.

What numbers do I look for exactly when it comes to phosphorus? 

I've been purchasing some natural and holistic canned food to mix in with her dry (because she's never been into the wet stuff) and I find she's not chowing down as she would before. Perhaps it's just her mouth not being used to all of this mush?

Thanks for the sites, though.

Is there anything else I can do for her right now as far as supplements or natural "treatments" like Standard Process or something?

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I use this chart http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPhosphorus9-22-12.pdf to look for canned food that is high in protein, high in fat, low in carbs and low in phos.  I try to keep it under 1.00% for phos.

For instance, look at Evo 95% Chicken and Turkey (about 1/2 way down the first page)  Looking at the Dry Matter Percentage, it shows Protein 41, fat 49, carbs 4 and phos .88.  This is a really good food for kidney cats, IMHO.

Adding the fish oil with D is good, as long as the fish oil is a good one, with good Omega 3s. 

As far as adding in some "treatments", I tried some renal supplements for my Callie, and she won't have anything to do with them

.  Not sure how much they work or don't.  Some people swear by them, others say they don't notice any different.  Guess it all depends on the situation.  Lots people swear by Azodyl, but I think the pills are HUGE

.  

So, what has your Vet recommended so far...anything?  Sub Qs, change in diet?  Shortly before our CRF guy, Sven, died, we decided to put everyone on raw, including Sven.  He was the first to convert, even though he was 16!  Sadly, it was too late for him.  Now, it's possible our 13 year old Callie has it, although the jury is still out.  (raised BUN and Crea, but nothing else out of the ordinary, including urinalysis, so we are in a wait and see mode for 90 days, however, she is actually refusing her raw diet right now, thus my using the above food chart)

for your old girl.  We're here to help, and, sadly, lots of us have  experience with CKD

 

[imbri]

You can always try adding a phosphorus binder like aluminum hydroxide to her food, it binds the phosphorus before it leaves the GI system and isn't absorbed either.  Everything just passes right through.

All canned food is the best way to go diet wise, but some cats never catch on.  The most important thing is that she eats a normal amount and drop weight.

From the numbers you've posted it looks like she is in Stage 2, or early, renal disease. 

Along with a urinalysis, have her blood pressure checked as this can be a contributing factor in CRF.  Ideally they will do this in the room with you with her laying sternally and using a front paw.  they should take 6 to 8 readings about 30 seconds apart to get a good average.  We usually expect a cat's BP to reflect how the cat feels about being the hospital, normal range is from the 80's (relaxed happy cat) to 170-180 (frightened cat).  From there 190 to 200 is a kind of grey area for the scardey cats, anything over 200 (unless the cat is screaming and fighting) is hypertension and should be treated. 

Sorry to hear about the diagnosis, you caught it early and that helps a great deal in managing it!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm pretty sure Imbri meant it's important that she  NOT drop weight in the above comments, since most kidney cats tend to lose weight. 

 

[dahlia]

My heart goes out to you because I know how hard it is to have a cat with renal disease.  I finally lost my cat a year ago after treating him for two years.  I took the route of bringing him to the vet for Sub Q's every ten days and there was some sort of oil the vet ordered that I gave to him.  My vet said that two years was a record for her with a cat with renal failure.  My cat had no interest in switching up the diet much but I did limit him to wet food.

 

[carylinpa]

felinecrf.org is a website with lots of info on chronic kidney disease in cats.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

My heart goes out to you because I know how hard it is to have a cat with renal disease.  I finally lost my cat a year ago after treating him for two years.  I took the route of bringing him to the vet for Sub Q's every ten days and there was some sort of oil the vet ordered that I gave to him.  My vet said that two years was a record for her with a cat with renal failure.  My cat had no interest in switching up the diet much but I did limit him to wet food.

Gosh, I really surprised that your Vet said two years was a record.  Many cats here on TCS have lived for much longer than that.  My own Sven lived for 3 years after being diagnosed, and what's really sad is that most cats aren't even diagnosed until their kidneys are already almost totally shot

About the last 6 months of Sven's life we were giving him sub-q fluids 3 times a week, at home, which is really pretty easy.  I think most people who need to give them give end up doing them themselves.  For one thing, our Vet charged $65 per "infusion", and to do it at home was probably less than $1, not to mention the stress of taking little Svennie to and from the Vet, although he did love his Vet, he still didn't like the car rides