Elderly renal cat is not eating nearly enough

[bahger]

I am worried about one of my two elderly Ocicats (female, 16 years old, renal) so I am posting here as I have from time to time since they were three months old.

Pherber is a delicate old lady who has lost a lot of weight, does not love her non-protein renal diet and now she is even refusing her brother's low-phosphorous non-medical wet cat food. Even though Pherber remains affectionate, mobile, sociable and seemingly pain-free with a high quality of life (indoors only), I am very worried; according to one vet, she should be eating 6.1 oz of food per day and she is nowhere near that at the moment. As well as antacids and blood pressure meds, I give her subcutaneous fluids every 72 hours. No vomiting, no diarrhea.

I am about to call the vet but have my usual reservations about putting Pherber through the ordeal of testing, poking and prodding when she seems not to be in discomfort. I am beginning to fear that she is starting her last lap and that this refusal to eat is a sign that she's at the end of her life. I was told that cats don't generally last more than a year after initial diagnosis of severe kidney issues.

As always, I would really appreciate some advice.

 

[FeebysOwner]

A lot of cats with kidney disease require an appetite stimulant and anti-nausea meds to enable them to eat better. I give these to my cat (Mirataz and Ondansetron). Aside from that, many cats do not eat the renal foods well, and it is better to let them eat what they like than to not eat enough. There are other products like phosphorus binders that can be added to a cat's food that do much the same thing as the renal diets do, but they are not really necessary unless your cat's phosphorus level is high. Either way, 6.1 oz of food may be just too much. How much does she eat?

What are Pherber's kidney values (creatinine, BUN, phosphorus)?

EDIT: That one year number is not a given and most of the time does not apply unless the kidney disease was only found in the very late stages.

 

[bahger]

I am going to look up those numbers and talk to the vet about the phosphorous binders and anti-nausea meds. Many thanks.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I would ask about an appetite stimulant as well. That's what we used with our last kidney cat, and we fed her several small meals through the day and night, probably 8 - 9 meals. I'm sure she didn't eat anywhere near 6.1 oz of food daily though, even with all those meals. And we didn't feed her any kidney diets. We fed her whatever she would eat, per our Vet. But we did only feed wet food with extra filtered water added, even though she also got sub-q fluids twice a week.

As far as the appetite stimulant that we used, we used Mirataz, which is a transdermal gel rubbed into their ear. Easy, peasy.