Kidney Disease In Senior Cat

Hi! My cat, Turbo, has been with me for 14 going on 15 years. We grew up together and he is my best friend (-: A couple of months ago we went to a new vet (moved to a new area) because he was having trouble pooping. After some ran blood work and an exam, everything came back normal and the vet concluded it was probably just stress related. As I was there, the vet recommended that Turbo get a dental cleaning because he had some tarter and buildup on his teeth. A couple of months after that visit, I decided to find a different vet (did not like the previous one) and scheduled a dental cleaning with them. This morning I brought Turbo in at 7:30 a.m. worried like crazy about him being under anesthesia due to his age. At 10:00 a.m. the doctor called me and explained that his blood work came in and that he was concerned about some uneven levels associated with his kidney's. He said that we should probably hold off on the dental cleaning since his teeth aren't bad and anesthesia may do more harm than good in this situation. Now, we are trying to collect a urine sample, which may not even be possible because he is very shy about those things. Being the worried mom I am, I have been googling frantically all morning in with much emotion. There are so many questions that I have and I don't want to annoy Turbo's doctor too much about it but I feel so lost. Some websites say that cats with kidney disease have months, some have years. The doctor explained that with what he knows right now, Turbo's kidney disease is very early on. Has anyone had a similar situation happen with them? I want to do the best that I can for him, and not let this keep him from being happy living a long life. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, I'm very glad you are here!
Many of us have been through dealing with kidney cats.
I hope you can develop a stronger relationship with your vet
Every cat is different, which could explain the range of time you're seeing.
There is a website www.felinecrf.org if you haven't seen it yet which is very helpful and there is also a support group there.

Hi. In addition to Furballsmom wonderful suggestion, other members on this site will hopefully soon see your post and offer their firsthand experiences. However, for the best help/tips, knowing more about the specific kidney issues Turbo is experiencing, you will need that urine testing.

Perhaps you can try the pellet type (I think they are plastic) litter in a litter box that allows you to collect the urine from it and take it to the vet without a vet visit - most vets will accept a urine sample this way. That will only work, of course, if your cat would accept a different kind of litter for a day or so. I know you can find the pellets at Petco, but I am sure there are other places you can get them as well. You could also ask for some from your vet, but when I did that it was not nearly enough pellets to accomplish much of anything.

The urine sample will be essential in helping your vet determine more about your kitty's specific kidney disease and progression. And, then you will be in a better position to know what to look into and what to ask about.

I have a 15 year old cat in an early stage of CKD. So far it's just a prescription food and frequent blood work to keep an eye on things. The prescription food has helped a lot with her kidney numbers. So far the vet has been able to express a urine sample each time she has been in. She probably has a kidney or bladder stone because they continue to find blood in her urine. So far it isn't bothering her and given her age there won't be aggressive treatment done for it. The vet did tell me that if she tried to pass it it would be a serious situation which means probably euthanasia.

She was diagnosed almost a year ago and still doing well. Some cats live with CKD for years others not as long. We do what we can and hope for the best.

I had a cat with CKD. He passed just a few months ago at the ripe old age of 20.
He was diagnosed with CKD when he was already in stage 3 (there are 4) and lasted an additional 3 years, by simply changing his food and doing sub-Q fluids at home. And there are other means of managing CKD with medications as well depending on your cat's needs. While all cats are different and the disease progresses differently for all. The fact that you caught it early is a great thing. A change in food (low phosphorus), preferably an all wet diet, is probably all that will be needed right now.
If you would like some awesome info on CKD cats go to Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease as Furballsmom posted. It is an amazing and informative site that I referenced on several occasions when I went thru CKD with my kitty.
But please keep coming back and keep us posted on your kitties progress!!! We have amazing support and first hand experience that can be really helpful. It helped me a lot.

Jem said:

I had a cat with CKD. He passed just a few months ago at the ripe old age of 20.
He was diagnosed with CKD when he was already in stage 3 (there are 4) and lasted an additional 3 years, by simply changing his food and doing sub-Q fluids at home. And there are other means of managing CKD with medications as well depending on your cat's needs. While all cats are different and the disease progresses differently for all. The fact that you caught it early is a great thing. A change in food (low phosphorus), preferably an all wet diet, is probably all that will be needed right now.
If you would like some awesome info on CKD cats go to Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease as Furballsmom posted. It is an amazing and informative site that I referenced on several occasions when I went thru CKD with my kitty.
But please keep coming back and keep us posted on your kitties progress!!! We have amazing support and first hand experience that can be really helpful. It helped me a lot.

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Thank you so much! We have started Turbo's process towards treatment. The vet gave me medication that he will takes twice a day (pill form, so much fun), and we changed his food to the Hill's K/D formula. We are doing a mixture of dry and wet food. He is already used to a mixed diet so we didn't want to change this, and I think it's good for him to have dry food as well since it helps clean his teeth. I add water to his wet food, and I ordered the Cat Mate water fountain because he loves running water and it filters it as well so I'm excited to try it. I bring him back to the vet in a month to see if the medicine has (hopefully) either halted or slowed down the CKD progression. I will continue to update the page. Love the support!

I hope the meds help!! If you have trouble getting him to take them, you can try pill pockets, pill shooter - or, if they can be crushed, you can sprinkle it over a small about of his wet food to see if he will take it that way. If not, you can always try different foods, like Gerber's baby meat food or tuna, salmon, mackerel, even pouch gravies, etc. - a little bit of one of these with his pill might help and not be as stressful if you find pilling him becomes an issue for the both of you.

Worse case scenario, you can ask the vet about options for compounding the meds into flavored liquids, like chicken or tuna.

Good luck - and yes, definitely keep us posted!!

A dietary change is the single biggest thing you can do to help Turbo. I hope that helps him and he feels better soon!