Kidney failure

[kittycorner]

Does anyone have any positive experiences with a kitty that was diagnosed with kidney failure?  Our kitty Patchy who is 6 yrs old was diagnosed via ultrasound today with kidney failure. She has been losing weight for a while now and we ran some blood work last weekend that showed MILDLY elevated kidney levels but nothing that was anywhere near alarming, but on ultrasound today her kidneys didn't even resemble kidneys.

The vet has sent us home with fluids as well as some Reglan to help with the vomiting. We are also going to try some canned K/D food but I am not sure she is going to like it.

I guess what I want to know is have any of you had a kitty that you thought would not make it through the kidney failure and has done remarkably well with the treatment?  I am just curious, we have set an appointment for Saturday morning to have her euthanized if she doesn't respond well to this treatment and I hate to make the decision too early if there is hope for her.

Thank you for your time!

 

[wendyb]

First things first ~hugs~  ~hugs~  ~hugs~  and some ore for your cat.

I carried Precious in 2 years ago with incredibly high BUN and creatinine and the vet told me I had 2 days, 2 weeks, maybe 2 months.  Instead I'm at 2 years with my beautiful baby girl. 

Granted, I'm stressed beyond belief most of the time over keeping her eating and drinking, but it's been worth it.  She won't eat K/D at all.  So, I worry more about feeding her than feeding her the kidney diet.  I also got a water fountain that has done wonders to get her to drink.  And, I have been using Renavast for the past two months and have seen some pretty amazing energy results. 

We're at 20ish% kidney function.  What do Patchy's lab values show?

 

[kittycorner]

They showed mild and I do mean mild elevation in the values, can't remember what she said but nothing that even led her to believe that she would find her kidneys in the condition they were today. She was even surprised that it was her kidneys. She also has two enlarged rear lymph nodes. I am happy to hear your kitty is doing soo well. I have never heard of Renavast, what is it and how does it work? 

 

[wendyb]

My vet's associate (a younger vet who graduated about four years ago) suggested it.  It's an over the counter supplement that supposedly helps kidney function.  I'm not sure of the board policies on linking things, but if you were to google "renavast" you'd find it. 

If Patchy's lab values aren't that bad, then you may be premature in terms of wanting to end things.  Precious has more good days than bad now, and gets lots of cuddle time and the grooming has helped with our time together.  Though, she's starting to get a bit better with self-care now that I've comed every inch of fur.

I don't know what to suggest though on the lymph nodes, those sound ominous.

 

[kittycorner]

I will certainly look into the Renavast, so thank you! I would like to do everything possible to help her out, she is only 6 after all and the other part that makes this hard is that she is the best of friends with my 5 yr old daughter, they literally LIVE for each other. It kills me to have to tell my daughter. I am leary of the outcome since the lymphnodes are enlarged as well, but we are going to give it our best shot this week and make our decision on Fri eve, we can always cancel our appt if she is doing better and showing signs of improvement.

 

[crickets mom]

Many years ago my cat, and best friend was diagonosed with kidney failure.  She was 16.  I gave her fluids, at first every 3 days, and after awhile, every other day.  I also eventually gave her epogen shots for anemia once a week.  She lived almost 3 years with kidney failure.  She was 19 when she passed.  It was hard, but so worth it. She was much older than your cat, so she was fairly inactive when she was diagnosed.  She was happy for those 3 years.  Still slept on me every night.  I would do it again. 

 

[orientalslave]

You might find this site useful:

http://www.felinecrf.org/

 

[kittycorner]

You might find this site useful:

http://www.felinecrf.org/

Thank you I have been reading up a little on that website last night, I think I am still numb from the diagnosis and the thought of losing her that it went in and right back out. Sha has made some improvement overnight with the steroid shot and fluids they gave her yesterday-she has eaten more in one evening than she has in weeks. I do not want to get too optimistic in case it is the steroids that are doing the trick, but we agreed to give it til Friday with our best effort and then let her tell us what she would like to do.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

My 17ish year old, Sven, was diagnosed 3 years ago with kidney disease, and he's still with us, although I will admit he is definitely on his last legs.  But I would definitely not give up hope yet, especially if Patchy's blood work looks good.  It's possible, though, that something else is going on, since the ultrasound is showing other things. 

Couple of things:  1)  the new way of thinking is that cats with kidney disease should not necessarily be put on low protein diets.  Good quality high protein helps keep the weight on!  In the beginning our Vet wanted Sven put on K/D also, but as I said, now the new way of thinking of High Protein, so we ended up putting him on high protein, low carb (like Evo), with our Vet's blessing. 

2)  If Patchy isn't already drinking lots of water,  that seems odds, because usually kidney cats drink tons of water...at least Sven does!  He even heads for the water bowl right after he gets his sub-q fluids

3)  Did your Vet give you appetite stimulants?  If the Reglan doesn't help, then you can get appetite stimulants.

4)  I have definitely heard good things about Renavast, but have not tried it.

for your little girl (cat).  I'm guessing your Vet advised she be euthanized?  Does she not think there is much hope?  Since she was surprised by the ultrasound results, what does she think it is, since the bloodwork is only margnal? 

 

[kittycorner]

Thank you and I talked to the vet about the Renavast today she had never even heard of it but said we can try it if we want but that she doesn't hold out much hope for Patchy because her kidneys are very nodular and lumpy and pretty unhealthy. I was hoping to be able to make her my main project this week and get her feeling better but my 9 mos old son who has a feeding tube has had a major medical crash and is hospitalized as of tonight and not doing well at all so I will be with him here for lord knows how long, atleast until they can get him stabilized and figure out why he has bloody diarrhea and get him responsive again.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Oh my goodness, your poor son. 

to you.  Take care of yourself, so you can take care of all your family, including the furry ones. 

 

[kittycorner]

Thank you to everyone who responded to try and help Patchy. I am sad to report that Patchy lost her battle with kidney failure a week ago. She was ready to go to the bridge and it was horrible letting her go. I wished I could have had more time to try the Renavast as well as some other treatments but her kidneys were fighting the battle faster than we could. She will be missed.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I'm so sorry to hear this

.

 

[finnlacey]

I'm so sorry also. I wanted to let you know about B12 injections, it works just as well for kitties with kidney disease as intestinal disorders. I've got a lot of friends that had a wonderful extra year with their kitties because of it along with sub qs and the right foods, etc. I'm so very sorry sweetie.

 

[ilpetsaver]

My two senior kitties have both been diagnosed with renal failure and about 2 years ago one of them was going downhill fast.  I started giving her sodium chloride injections and she is still with me.  I also tried to feed my kitties the k/d diet and they HATED it.  My vet suggested the following and they LOVE it:

Royal Canin Cat Food Renal LP Modified-C (Dry)

Royal Canin Cat Food Renal LP Modified (Canned)

I have also recently learned of RenAvast and just ordered it last night.  It has been getting rave reviews so I'm hopeful this will help my kitties even more.  I plan to do a separate post on RenAvast after they have been on it at least one month so that it has time to get into their systems.  Here is a link to RenAvast:  http://www.renavast.com/

A natural pet food owner once explained to me why the majority of cats get renal failure...he said they cannot lap up water like dogs so it is best to feed them canned cat food with gravy vs. dry food so they get more water into their systems.  I now follow that advice, they get mostly canned (wet) food and little bit of dry every day.

Good luck!

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I had two cats with crystals history and they ate the prescription dry kibble.  I just put water in the pan with their food and they got used to it.
 

 

[joseph somberg]

My experience with renal failure in cats is administering a full cc daily of water intravaneously daily for a week or two to really flush him out.  Also unsweetened cranberry juice is good for flushing kidneys out given daily but the water bag is most important at least a cc!  Ask your vet if thats o.k. because aggressive treatment is very important.  Good luck!  Aslo I hope you like and trust your vet,  take
Joe(josephsomberg@yahoo. com)