Chronic Kidney Disease

paw-in-hand

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I am looking for any information from anyone who has had any success with the treatment of this issue .
 

Jem

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I could write a novel concerning what I've done and currently doing, how my cat progressed, what steps we took and are taking during the different stages, and so on. Do you have any specific questions to start with? I'd be happy to answer.
Also check out Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease. Fantastic information on that site!
 
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paw-in-hand

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my cat had been eating just fine up to two days ago. she was even eating the royal canin limited protein diet prescription diet canned food. now she will only eat limited amounts of the food i was told to stay away from.
do you have any suggestions?
i also just ordered two different herbal supplements to try. i am not going to give both of them together i am going to see which she will tolerate the taste of.
on eof which is"nhv tripsy for cats" and the other is "pet wellbeing kidney gold".
have you heard of or tried either? The latter aids in increasing a cats appetite .
 

denice

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Here is the link to Tanya's site Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat

I just started down this road with one of my cats. So far she is eating the Royal Canin Renal Support Morsels one. Wet food is much better than dry, anything to get as much water in your cat as possible. Some cats will drink more with a fountain others won't. Having water bowls throughout the house to encourage drinking is good. Eating is the important thing even if it isn't something that is a better choice for this. Phosphorous level is a big issue in the food. You can use a phosphorous binder to help In a Bind over Phosphorus Tanya's site has an extensive list of foods that includes their nutritional values including phosphorous levels.
 

Jem

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One of the main reasons for a CKD cat not eating is that with CKD the kidneys (obviously) do not filter out toxins as much. This build up of toxins can and will cause a cat to feel nauseous. The other is they are prone to dehydration which causes the nausea as well. Once a cat feels nauseous, they often associate that feeling to the food they are eating, therefor they may eat it once or twice then refuse to eat it for a while. I (considering my cat is almost 20) simply use all the brands and flavors of the prescription foods at the vet.
What I have done is have 5 different wet foods and 3 different dry that I consistently rotate thru, so he never tires of his food. Wet food is definitely better, but my cat still loves dry, and at his age and where he is with the disease eating anything is better than forcing what's best.
The other thing that helped dramatically was when we started giving him subQ fluids. It kept his kidneys flushed, because he was not able, even with the amount of drinking he was doing, drink enough fluids to keep him hydrated and filter the kidneys, because, they simply didn't. Think of when you have diarrhea, you eat and it goes "right thru you". The intestines/colon do not have a chance to absorb the nutrients and form your poop. Same with the kidneys, you drink, but it just passes thru without the kidneys filtering anything out.
In the beginning, we only gave him fluids, when we noticed his appetite was lacking or when we saw he was dehydrated. We would give him around 100mls daily for a few days, up to a week, and it would perk him right back up and keep him stable for a couple of months. After some time (he's now in end stage) we had to keep giving him fluids daily (100mls). Ask your vet about this.
Unfortunately I never tried any of the supplements you mentioned, so I can't help you there.
 

kittyluv387

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The key is feeding low phosphorus foods. Not low protein. Cats by their nature thrive on protein. Sure a low protein diet might extend their life a little bit but they will not be feeling healthy during that extended life. But low phosphorus canned foods will really help. You should try to stay at around 1% or lower on a dry matter basis. PM me if you would like recommendations. Also, kidney disease is an inflammatory disease. You can combat this by adding omega 3s to your cats diet. You can buy omega 3 capsules and poke holes in them and squeeze it out into your cats food. It might even make the food more palatable for your kitty. There was a study done and CKD cats who were on omega 3s lived longer. Sorry to say but the herbal supplements don't help. You can try it out but I wouldn't expect too much.

Check out catinfo.org for kidney disease info. The website was created by a well known veterinarian.
 
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paw-in-hand

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Thank you all for responding . I ended up calling my vet who said she should be checked for a" UTI" which she stated was common in cats with CKD.
After urine analysis she in fact had an infection which she is being treated for and has begun eating again. I was told to offer her other canned foods besides the prescription diets to help get her motivated to eat more often and bring her weight back up.
She recommended Fancy Feast as well as Sheba . She stated that most cat find these two canned food more desirable than the renal prescription canned foods.
My little one (Faith) had always liked both these and now is eating great. I am also giving her the Royal Canin canned (D and F ) renal support . She is eating a half a can 3-4 times a day with very little dry food. She really does not like the prescription dry( I've tried them all) as a stand alone. Mixed with another dry at 50/50 maybe.
She will be rechecked in 10 days and given a second shot of antibiotics .
So all is well with her for the time being.
Thanks again!!
 

Antonio65

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I am looking for any information from anyone who has had any success with the treatment of this issue .
My cat was treated for CKD for in excess of 10 years.
Renal Diet food (wet and dry), Fortekor (half pill) daily, sub-Q's (120 ml RL) every other day, vitamin B supplements and probiotics.
I managed to keep her Creatinine and BUN borderline or lower for all her life.
 

missmimz

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I have a cat that's been early stage 2 for over a year. Calcitriol is my number one suggestion, but also low phos raw or homecooked diet. His numbers basically haven't moved since he went on calcitriol.
 

TeeeEm

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I am looking for any information from anyone who has had any success with the treatment of this issue .
I've got an old man russian blue - he was a stray who came to us with our house when we bought the house in 2012. I and our vet are quite sure that he is currently hovering around the 15 year mark. He's a sweet tempered cat who, last year, starting peeing up a storm. In November, he was diagnosed with hypertension and CKD. The diagnosis was borderline. His BUN still looked normal but his creatinine was slightly elevated. We have no idea if he ingested something, had a viral infection that went south, none. But, we are pretty sure he is elderly and, according to some sites, russian blues might have a predisposition for kidney disease. Our boy has been on benazepril now since last November. He also gets a special diet that is phosphorus restricted (Hills k/d and Royal Canin Renal Support). His blood work remains acceptable and, his activity level is better than it was at the time of diagnosis. As a russian blue and an elderly cat, he is not going to be a ball of fire. But, he's a bit more active and back to his curious self. It does seem, especially initially, that the benazepril really helped. He's plateaued - but, as I mentioned, his breed tends to be a rather subdued breed and he's not exactly a youngster anymore. We're just happy that he seems to be enjoying life. What I have noticed with the benazepril is some incidence of increased nasal congestion and constipation. We spend some mornings in the bathroom with the door closed and the shower running hot water and that seems to take care of the congestion. We also have some vetasyl (much like human metamucil) to give him when it seems like it's been too long since he's had a bowel movement.
 

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