Have a 15 yr old, neutered short hair, "Mal." Until ~ 1 mo ago, quite healthy, active, played, good eater. Canned and home made diet w/ a little extra water, so rarely drank from bowl. Had FLUTD since young, but always easily managed. (Another cat on same home made diet - doing fine).
Mal's recent main symptoms were:
loss of appetite (very recently & pretty rapidly);
going to water bowl several times / day, but not drinking excessively long or large amounts at once.
going to litter box more than usual - but not highly excessive urination amounts (could've been from UTI or mild flare up of FLUTD).
Lethargy.
Saw vet Thurs 4/28/16. He did urinalysis using test strips. Ruled out diabetes. Said he thought they were "pretty accurate" vs. a meter or lab tests.
A few of those results (I have them) made him suspect Mal might have UTI. Gave him a shot of long acting penicillin & drew blood to send out.
Vet called this afternoon - 4/29 - w/ blood work results. Apparently not good.
He called it "obviously in renal failure." Though only 2 test results were out of range. I know little about assessing lab results for renal failure.
Didn't comment much on other blood results, so I don't know the values - yet. Potassium was "normal" & phosphorous "slightly elevated." He was supposed to send a copy of the lab results.
Cat's BUN (blood urea nitrogen ?) was 146 mg/dl - normal range = 10 to 35 mg/dl (vet's stated ranges);
and Creatinine was 9.5 mg/dl - normal range = 0.1 to 2.1 mg/dl.
Phosphorous was 8.4 mg/dl (some sources show normal range 3.3 - 7.8 mg/dl).
I wonder if the "Sentry calming collar" someone suggested, temporarily affected his kidneys, that might reverse? http://www.petsmart.com/food-health...d36-13558/cat-36-catid-200050?var_id=36-13558 That's when he really 1st lost his appetite (became picky) & seemed lethargic. He ate some - less than usual, with MUCH coaxing & different offerings. He got it back after several days - we left the collar on less than 24 hrs. We couldn't stand the strong smell & could have overwhelmed his sense of smell or caused other issues.
Before the calming collar, he had a mild FLUTD flare up, but didn't lose his appetite & wasn't lethargic.
It was sometime around applying the collar that he started going to water bowl more - I think. Maybe a bit before the collar; possibly just after. (let that be a lesson - if notice unusual behavior in kids or pets, immediately write down date & any data you can think of).
And / or, if the Bach's Rescue Remedy affected his kidneys - possibly temporarily affected kidney function After dermally applying 1/2 recommended dose (2 drops) on 4/24, he threw up in ~ 30 min. - 1 hr (could easily be coincidence). But, was quite lethargic that evening & again lost appetite. Washed it off after several hrs, but he never regained appetite. But his behavior did improve a good bit after ~ 2 days. I began force feeding him after 1 day.
Tonight (4 days after the drops) , he ate ~ 1.5 Tbsp of fresh chicken + juice on his own - 1st substantial amount on his own since the Bach's Remedy. This morning, he only ate a few nibbles, so I force fed a normal meal.
But, http://zimmer-foundation.org/sch/ajf.html - Overview of Feline Bloodwork
says,
"BUN and creatinine, are key values to indicate kidney function and glomerular filtration rate (GFR)."
"BUN and creatinine are cleared by the kidney. If they are high, the patient is azotemic. Azotemia (accumulation of abnormally large amounts of nitrogenous waste products in the blood) means BUN and creatinine are high,..."
"Azotemia does not necessarily mean primary renal failure, however. Azotemic patients are not clearing BUN and creatinine for one of three reasons: pre-renal, renal, or post-renal."
Pre-renal azotemia means that the patient is dehydrated. Dehydration leads to decreased blood volume, which results in decreased blood flow to the kidney, and therefore decreased GFR. Pre-renal azotemia is corrected by giving the patient fluids.
"In post-renal azotemia, the problem is between the kidney and the final excretion of urine, such as a ruptured bladder or ureters. In post-renal azotemia, potassium is also usually elevated [his wasn't] because it is trapped in the body, even though the kidneys are functioning normally. In order to diagnose primary renal azotemia (kidney failure), pre and post renal azotemia must be ruled out."
I have many other questions - about vet's (only) suggested treatment - subcutaneously giving 100 - 150 ml of ringers lactated solution, 2 - 3x / wk or so; ? possibly ? use weak saline solution; and others. But maybe should put that in a separate post, or it can get very long.
Mal's recent main symptoms were:
loss of appetite (very recently & pretty rapidly);
going to water bowl several times / day, but not drinking excessively long or large amounts at once.
going to litter box more than usual - but not highly excessive urination amounts (could've been from UTI or mild flare up of FLUTD).
Lethargy.
Saw vet Thurs 4/28/16. He did urinalysis using test strips. Ruled out diabetes. Said he thought they were "pretty accurate" vs. a meter or lab tests.
A few of those results (I have them) made him suspect Mal might have UTI. Gave him a shot of long acting penicillin & drew blood to send out.
Vet called this afternoon - 4/29 - w/ blood work results. Apparently not good.
He called it "obviously in renal failure." Though only 2 test results were out of range. I know little about assessing lab results for renal failure.
Didn't comment much on other blood results, so I don't know the values - yet. Potassium was "normal" & phosphorous "slightly elevated." He was supposed to send a copy of the lab results.
Cat's BUN (blood urea nitrogen ?) was 146 mg/dl - normal range = 10 to 35 mg/dl (vet's stated ranges);
and Creatinine was 9.5 mg/dl - normal range = 0.1 to 2.1 mg/dl.
Phosphorous was 8.4 mg/dl (some sources show normal range 3.3 - 7.8 mg/dl).
I wonder if the "Sentry calming collar" someone suggested, temporarily affected his kidneys, that might reverse? http://www.petsmart.com/food-health...d36-13558/cat-36-catid-200050?var_id=36-13558 That's when he really 1st lost his appetite (became picky) & seemed lethargic. He ate some - less than usual, with MUCH coaxing & different offerings. He got it back after several days - we left the collar on less than 24 hrs. We couldn't stand the strong smell & could have overwhelmed his sense of smell or caused other issues.
Before the calming collar, he had a mild FLUTD flare up, but didn't lose his appetite & wasn't lethargic.
It was sometime around applying the collar that he started going to water bowl more - I think. Maybe a bit before the collar; possibly just after. (let that be a lesson - if notice unusual behavior in kids or pets, immediately write down date & any data you can think of).
And / or, if the Bach's Rescue Remedy affected his kidneys - possibly temporarily affected kidney function After dermally applying 1/2 recommended dose (2 drops) on 4/24, he threw up in ~ 30 min. - 1 hr (could easily be coincidence). But, was quite lethargic that evening & again lost appetite. Washed it off after several hrs, but he never regained appetite. But his behavior did improve a good bit after ~ 2 days. I began force feeding him after 1 day.
Tonight (4 days after the drops) , he ate ~ 1.5 Tbsp of fresh chicken + juice on his own - 1st substantial amount on his own since the Bach's Remedy. This morning, he only ate a few nibbles, so I force fed a normal meal.
But, http://zimmer-foundation.org/sch/ajf.html - Overview of Feline Bloodwork
says,
"BUN and creatinine, are key values to indicate kidney function and glomerular filtration rate (GFR)."
"BUN and creatinine are cleared by the kidney. If they are high, the patient is azotemic. Azotemia (accumulation of abnormally large amounts of nitrogenous waste products in the blood) means BUN and creatinine are high,..."
"Azotemia does not necessarily mean primary renal failure, however. Azotemic patients are not clearing BUN and creatinine for one of three reasons: pre-renal, renal, or post-renal."
Pre-renal azotemia means that the patient is dehydrated. Dehydration leads to decreased blood volume, which results in decreased blood flow to the kidney, and therefore decreased GFR. Pre-renal azotemia is corrected by giving the patient fluids.
"In post-renal azotemia, the problem is between the kidney and the final excretion of urine, such as a ruptured bladder or ureters. In post-renal azotemia, potassium is also usually elevated [his wasn't] because it is trapped in the body, even though the kidneys are functioning normally. In order to diagnose primary renal azotemia (kidney failure), pre and post renal azotemia must be ruled out."
I have many other questions - about vet's (only) suggested treatment - subcutaneously giving 100 - 150 ml of ringers lactated solution, 2 - 3x / wk or so; ? possibly ? use weak saline solution; and others. But maybe should put that in a separate post, or it can get very long.
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