Cat Was Diagnosed With Early Stages Of Renal Failure

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analliecat

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my oldest cat, ginsy, will be ten on march 5th. i’ve had her since she was nine weeks. she was diagnosed with early stages of renal failure today.

i brought her to the vet to get her shots and i had them take blood. she recently had a bacterial infection that caused diarrhea. she’s doing much better but i started watching her drinking habits and i was worried she had diabetes so i had them do bloodwork. i feel terrible because i have five cats so i didnt notice she was peeing that much because i don’t see her actually pee. i assumed it was because i have so many. good thing is the doctor said that it’s in the very early stages and that they want to start off with prescription food and a diet change.

i guess i’m asking for advice. what’s it like to care for a cat with kidney failure? what’s the best prescription food? is there anything i can add to her diet to improve kidney health? she’s my first cat and i love her very much. i’m just very worried about losing her.
 
Moka

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I am so sorry. I just lost my 14 year old last year to chronic kidney failure. I don't have much advice about the disease in it's early stages as I took Reeses from my parents when she was end stage. But, what I can say is, it is not just getting them to eat the right things, but keep them eating at all. Cats can feel pretty "yucky" towards the end. Plus, cats can get very constipated in the later stages of CKD as well. When Reeses was diagnosed, I switched her to an all wet diet, even excluding dry treats. I had to start giving her daily miralax to help keep things moving. I would offer the miralax dissolved in watered down canned chicken or tuna juice. I also found an amazing product that made Reeses quality of life toward the end a lot better. It is HomeoPet Feline Digestive Upsets Cat Supplement. It was a big help in getting Reeses to eat when her tummy was upset. It even boosted her appetite. I normally don't put much faith in homeopathic remedies, but I love this product and even though Reeses has passed, will always keep a bottle on hand for my kitten.
Some cats, especially in advanced kidney failure need subcutaneous fluids administer under the skin at home. Some cats (and their owners) handle this well and some get so stressed that it destroys their quality of life. Even though those cats would live longer with the fluids, some owner choose to not put their kitty through that and just let nature take it's course. At some point you will have to decide how far you are willing to go to prolong your kitty's life and what measures are worth taking. You should obviously discuss it with you vet, but it comes down to the fact that only you know what you and your kitty are able to handle.
I don't know how much help this is for you. But, hang in there. A diagnosis of kidney failure does not mean an immediate end. Cats with CKD (especially early stage) can still live a long happy life. It may not be as long as a healthy cat, but at least you should still have plenty of time with your little one.
I would suggest that you visit this site. It helped me a lot when my kitty was sick. It is VERY detailed about caring for a cat with kidney failure and might help answer some of your questions. http://www.felinecrf.org
Good Luck.
 
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analliecat said:
my oldest cat, ginsy, will be ten on march 5th. i’ve had her since she was nine weeks. she was diagnosed with early stages of renal failure today.

i brought her to the vet to get her shots and i had them take blood. she recently had a bacterial infection that caused diarrhea. she’s doing much better but i started watching her drinking habits and i was worried she had diabetes so i had them do bloodwork. i feel terrible because i have five cats so i didnt notice she was peeing that much because i don’t see her actually pee. i assumed it was because i have so many. good thing is the doctor said that it’s in the very early stages and that they want to start off with prescription food and a diet change.

i guess i’m asking for advice. what’s it like to care for a cat with kidney failure? what’s the best prescription food? is there anything i can add to her diet to improve kidney health? she’s my first cat and i love her very much. i’m just very worried about losing her.
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We have a 15 yr old guy that has renal failure and we give him fluids every other day. Have had him since he was about 2 yrs old. He is doing okay and at some point his kidneys will fail. We had a kitty pass away in 2000 from renal failure and he lived 9 months by giving him fluids.
 
denice

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I have a cat that was diagnosed almost a year ago, so far so good. She is a very picky eater and the only prescription food that she eats is the Royal Canin Renal Support D, it's morsels in a gravy. She actually loves it. I have read several reviews where people say that it is the only prescription food that their cat will eat. The important thing is that your cat eats well. Tanya's site has a list of foods on it that includes the phosphorous content of each food. If you can find a food that your cat likes that has a low phosphorous content that would be good.

Some people give their cat fish oil for the anti-inflammatory effects of the Omega-3's.
 
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denice said:
I have a cat that was diagnosed almost a year ago, so far so good. She is a very picky eater and the only prescription food that she eats is the Royal Canin Renal Support D, it's morsels in a gravy. She actually loves it. I have read several reviews where people say that it is the only prescription food that their cat will eat. The important thing is that your cat eats well. Tanya's site has a list of foods on it that includes the phosphorous content of each food. If you can find a food that your cat likes that has a low phosphorous content that would be good.

Some people give their cat fish oil for the anti-inflammatory effects of the Omega-3's.
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Our Ben is also in renal failure and he has been on a Science Diet wet food for a while. Ben does not like the kind you mentioned. Like your kitty Ben is very picky and presently give him K/D (small can) veg & Tuna///K/D Chicken and Stew (small can)//K/D pate w/ chicken 5.5 oz can. I alternate as he is fussy and may get tired of one kind. We also started fluids on him every other day since Dec. 2018 and he is doing well. His kidneys really funny shaped and we hope we have him much longer in the future. He is about 15 to 16 yrs old. We adopted him in May 2006 and is solid black and a big spoiled kitty.
 
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I also recommend Tanya's website (link posted in earlier), which has been around for many years, and I found it very helpful when my cat had CRF (now called CKD). When my cat was first diagnosed as being in early stage, I focused on diet and water intake.

I am going to tell you something that may be controversial, but it's what happened to my cat. Keep in mind, this happened a bit over a decade ago. At the strong recommendation of my vet, I put my cat on a low-protein, grain-heavy prescription kidney diet during her early stage CRF. I thought I was doing what was best for her. Over the course of a couple of months on this prescription food, my cat lost so much muscle mass, she was like a skin sack of bones, and she became quite lethargic. All because of that low-protein prescription food! It was not her CRF--it was the food. So I took her off that prescription food, and put her on a high quality, higher protein, low-phosphorus commercial food. I still have a lot of guilt over that event, because I truly believe that prescription food would have killed my cat if I had kept her on it. My cat was able to regain most of her muscle mass and vitality on the new food. Always read the food ingredient labels and figure out the nutrient content and phosphorus content. Do your research. Maybe prescription foods are better now. I don't know.

My cat lived several years after her initial diagnosis-- she lived to the ripe old age of 19.
 
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LauraBertram

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Bird said:
I also recommend Tanya's website (link posted in earlier), which has been around for many years, and I found it very helpful when my cat had CRF (now called CKD). When my cat was first diagnosed as being in early stage, I focused on diet and water intake.

I am going to tell you something that may be controversial, but it's what happened to my cat. Keep in mind, this happened a bit over a decade ago. At the strong recommendation of my vet, I put my cat on a low-protein, grain-heavy prescription kidney diet during her early stage CRF. I thought I was doing what was best for her. Over the course of a couple of months on this prescription food, my cat lost so much muscle mass, she was like a skin sack of bones, and she became quite lethargic. All because of that low-protein prescription food! It was not her CRF--it was the food. So I took her off that prescription food, and put her on a high quality, higher protein, low-phosphorus commercial food. I still have a lot of guilt over that event, because I truly believe that prescription food would have killed my cat if I had kept her on it. My cat was able to regain most of her muscle mass and vitality on the new food. Always read the food ingredient labels and figure out the nutrient content and phosphorus content. Do your research. Maybe prescription foods are better now. I don't know.

My cat lived several years after her initial diagnosis-- she lived to the ripe old age of 19.
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Do you remember which non-prescription foodyou switched to (higher protein, low phosphorus)? I’mresearching non-prescription options for my kitty.
 
white shadow

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LauraBertram said:
I’mresearching non-prescription options for my kitty.
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Hi LauraBertram LauraBertram and welcome to the forum !

While you await a reply from B Bird (who hasn't visited the site since last April) - and, because I sense you won't turn away from a little reading, I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions
The woman who authors that site also runs a specialized online group where informed caring support is available 24/7. Information about that (and a link to join up) is here: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide....Tanya's Support Group.

Hope that helps!

Now, what's your kitty's story and........where are her pictures :lol:
.
 
LauraBertram

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white shadow said:
Hi LauraBertram LauraBertram and welcome to the forum !

While you await a reply from B Bird (who hasn't visited the site since last April) - and, because I sense you won't turn away from a little reading, I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions
The woman who authors that site also runs a specialized online group where informed caring support is available 24/7. Information about that (and a link to join up) is here: Tanya's Comprehensive Guide....Tanya's Support Group.

Hope that helps!

Now, what's your kitty's story and........where are her pictures :lol:
.
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Thank you so much for the welcome! My kitty’s name is Yoshimi, and she is 16 years old/young and the most beautiful and sweet animal I’ve ever known 😊. I rescued her 16 years ago this month. She had hyperthyroidism a couple of years ago but has since then been successfully treated with radioactive iodine therapy and free of throws issues for 2 years now. She was diagnosed this week with mild stage CKD (which I assume is a “pre” stage, but not sure?). This was based on mild elevations in her kidney values (BUN, Creatinine, SDMA) and a low urine concentration (USG), on a 4 month comparison basis. She had lost a little weight, which inspired the vet visit. She currently eats a fairly high protein diet, and I am somewhat weary of the idea of putting her on a low protein food. I would think that would degrade her muscles and body mass, I wonder if there are foods that have low phosphorus and a decent amount of high quality protein and Omega 3’s (but ideally no fish). I would appreciate any perspectives and advice. Thank you!
 
white shadow

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Hi again, Laura. I'm sorry I missed your reply until now.

Thanks for Yoshimi's story. Luckily, you caught the Hyper-T early before her kidney function had degraded. Many folks get to treat the hyperthyroid, only to discover that it was also 'hiding' kidney insufficiency, and leaving them with two difficult and 'complicated' conditions to manage.

Speaking of managing difficult feline health conditions, while forums like this are a great starting point, they may not always provide the kind of accurate and informed information and advice that's critical for our cats' wellbeing.

Folks who are (perhaps) well-meaning, who, perhaps heard somebody say something about a topic may repeat it to someone else - without having a clue about the larger picture and the implications of what they're suggesting. Now, OTOH, these forums also attract people with direct experience and well-informed knowledge of the science who can and do offer reputable and informed help. The problem lies in the difficulty of determining who 'knows their stuff' and who is the pretender.

There are also other online spaces where folks dealing with these chronic conditions can be assured that the information offered is accurate and safe. These are the specialized online communities that focus on a single disease/condition. The best of them will have years of collective experience and dedicated staffers. In the cat community, for kidney disease, Tanya's Support Group has an outstanding reputation.

To save you some valuable time, I'll say that Dr. Pierson's 'food list' is three years old and lacks updates. Manufacturers frequently change recipes making that data unreliable. It might have some minor value though, if her notes at the bottom are helpful to you.

One other point: if we're offered simplistic solutions to complicated problems, those will sound too good to be true. The management of a cat's phosphorus level, other than by diet, is a complicated issue, requires blood chemistry data and Veterinary direction.....and is considered inappropriate for early stage kidney disease.

If you want to know what other folks with kidney cats are feeding, a thread like "Kidney Disease - What Do YOU Feed ?".....in the NUTRITION forum could give you some brands/varieties to investigate......and 'out' the kidney cat managers!


Now.........where's that picture? :flail:
.
 
LauraBertram

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white shadow said:
.
Hi again, Laura. I'm sorry I missed your reply until now.

Thanks for Yoshimi's story. Luckily, you caught the Hyper-T early before her kidney function had degraded. Many folks get to treat the hyperthyroid, only to discover that it was also 'hiding' kidney insufficiency, and leaving them with two difficult and 'complicated' conditions to manage.

Speaking of managing difficult feline health conditions, while forums like this are a great starting point, they may not always provide the kind of accurate and informed information and advice that's critical for our cats' wellbeing.

Folks who are (perhaps) well-meaning, who, perhaps heard somebody say something about a topic may repeat it to someone else - without having a clue about the larger picture and the implications of what they're suggesting. Now, OTOH, these forums also attract people with direct experience and well-informed knowledge of the science who can and do offer reputable and informed help. The problem lies in the difficulty of determining who 'knows their stuff' and who is the pretender.

There are also other online spaces where folks dealing with these chronic conditions can be assured that the information offered is accurate and safe. These are the specialized online communities that focus on a single disease/condition. The best of them will have years of collective experience and dedicated staffers. In the cat community, for kidney disease, Tanya's Support Group has an outstanding reputation.

To save you some valuable time, I'll say that Dr. Pierson's 'food list' is three years old and lacks updates. Manufacturers frequently change recipes making that data unreliable. It might have some minor value though, if her notes at the bottom are helpful to you.

One other point: if we're offered simplistic solutions to complicated problems, those will sound too good to be true. The management of a cat's phosphorus level, other than by diet, is a complicated issue, requires blood chemistry data and Veterinary direction.....and is considered inappropriate for early stage kidney disease.

If you want to know what other folks with kidney cats are feeding, a thread like "Kidney Disease - What Do YOU Feed ?".....in the NUTRITION forum could give you some brands/varieties to investigate......and 'out' the kidney cat managers!


Now.........where's that picture? :flail:
.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for these suggestions! I’ve joined Tanya’s support group. As for pictures, I will attach a few here (she’s also my profile pic 😊).
 
white shadow

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OMG.........she's taken my breath way !

She has to be THE poster child for.........sweetness !

(and, she looks in great shape for a Hyper-T kitty - hats off to you for that!)

Glad to hear that you'll get some informed coaching. This disease can be (and most often is) mind-boggling.

I know there have been threads here in the Nutrition forum about 'kidney foods', but I'm unsure how dated they might be.

Just curious....what has been/is her diet ?
.
 
LauraBertram

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white shadow said:
.
OMG.........she's taken my breath way !

She has to be THE poster child for.........sweetness !

(and, she looks in great shape for a Hyper-T kitty - hats off to you for that!)

Glad to hear that you'll get some informed coaching. This disease can be (and most often is) mind-boggling.

I know there have been threads here in the Nutrition forum about 'kidney foods', but I'm unsure how dated they might be.

Just curious....what has been/is her diet ?
.
Click to expand...
Thank you, yes she is very sweet! The iodine therapy for her hyper-T seems to have cured her of that condition, thankfully.
Then, as far as what I feed her now, it’s a mix of canned/wet food and dry kibble. She eats less of the wet now, and mainly goes for the kibble, so I’m trying to find a new wet food that she might like (she may be tired of the current one). Her wet food is “I and love and you” brand turkey pate. Her dry good is “Instinct Raw Boost Indoor Health Grain Free Recipe Natural Dry Cat Food”.
 
white shadow

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Oh yes, the dreaded addictive properties of kibbles......you probably already know this but, the farther away we can steer from dry foods, the better for the kidney cat.

Why not ask which canned products folks who 'inhabit' the Nutrition forum are using - again, an identifier in the title, as suggested, will catch the eyes of the folks with these cats.
.
 
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