Our wonderful 17 year old Bodi started drinking about a quart of water a week a few weeks ago. We got her to the vet, suspecting diabetes. Yesterday, we found out that she's in chronic kidney failure. Her serum creatinine is 8.5 and she's lost weight because her appetite is very poor.
The vet gave us low-protein kidney diet food, which Bodi doesn't like very much, so, after spending over a month switching her from Fancy Feast to premium foods, we went out and bought her Fancy Feast again today to tempt her to eat. Thankfully, it seems to be working.
We'll be going to the vet this week to learn how to administer hydration with a large-bore needle, subcutaneously, every other day at home. The vet's hoping that the additional fluid will carry more toxins (BUN and creatinine) out with it and return the serum values to normal or near normal. She had a pt. survive a year this way. We hope that lower serum values will increase her appetite and then we can start her on the low-protein food.
Interestingly (or not) my husband and I just finished going through his kidney failure from diabetes, which ended with a transplant in September 2003. We feel like we know so much about this -- kitty reference ranges are close to human for both BUN and creatinine. The sort of funny thing is that as my husbands serum values climbed, the docs said that most patients feel a lot worse -- loss of appetite, fatigue, etc. -- than he did; Bodi is much better shape than many of the cats that her vet sees with an 8.5 creatinine value, so I say that Bodi must get her constitution from her daddy!
Please send prayers, good vibrations, or healing thoughts (whatever you're comfortable with) our way.
Thank you so much
Bodi's mommy
Here's an old pic of our girl
The vet gave us low-protein kidney diet food, which Bodi doesn't like very much, so, after spending over a month switching her from Fancy Feast to premium foods, we went out and bought her Fancy Feast again today to tempt her to eat. Thankfully, it seems to be working.
We'll be going to the vet this week to learn how to administer hydration with a large-bore needle, subcutaneously, every other day at home. The vet's hoping that the additional fluid will carry more toxins (BUN and creatinine) out with it and return the serum values to normal or near normal. She had a pt. survive a year this way. We hope that lower serum values will increase her appetite and then we can start her on the low-protein food.
Interestingly (or not) my husband and I just finished going through his kidney failure from diabetes, which ended with a transplant in September 2003. We feel like we know so much about this -- kitty reference ranges are close to human for both BUN and creatinine. The sort of funny thing is that as my husbands serum values climbed, the docs said that most patients feel a lot worse -- loss of appetite, fatigue, etc. -- than he did; Bodi is much better shape than many of the cats that her vet sees with an 8.5 creatinine value, so I say that Bodi must get her constitution from her daddy!
Please send prayers, good vibrations, or healing thoughts (whatever you're comfortable with) our way.
Thank you so much
Bodi's mommy
Here's an old pic of our girl
