My 7 year old Persian collapsed while playing, he is fine now but I'd like to hear some opinions

[Joe_Danger1337]

With cats, you can't really force them to eat a food if they have other demands, because the risk of other health issues coming up is just too dangerous. If he likes getting his snack of "regular" food then eats his renal food, I'd call it a win!

Agreed
cats would rather starve themselves to death than eat food they dislike or don't want to eat at a given time. Many people here, including vets refuse to believe or understand this.

When Anastasia was diagnosed with CKD in 2012 my vet at the time kept insisting she is fine and that she drinks more water and refuses food because she feels like it "she is going to eat when she feels like it" even tho I kept insisting the cat was not eating well and drinking too much.
He did bloodwork on her literally just to humor me and guess who ended up being right. I kept explaining to him that a cat must not be left without food for more than 48 hours if not less and he was just constantly mocking me saying I read too much western nonsense on the internet.

 

[treeclimber]

He did bloodwork on her literally just to humor me and guess who ended up being right. I kept explaining to him that a cat must not be left without food for more than 48 hours if not less and he was just constantly mocking me saying I read too much western nonsense on the internet.

Good for you for sticking up for her needs even when it meant facing down a jerk like that!!

I’m sorry you had to deal with someone like that. Veterinary care may differ around the world, but an ******* is an ******* no matter what country they are in, and that vet is definitely an *******. I don’t judge your country for that, just him as an individual.

(I think we’re not supposed to swear here, but you can mentally fill in a profanity or other rude word of your choice for the asterisks.)

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

Casper has been perfectly fine, eating his Royal Canin renal food and everything...except there's a problem now.
No Royal Canin food is coming into the country yet again and no pet store or vet knows when/if it's coming back, this includes Renal food. We've been unable to find renal food of other brands either not that it's a guarantee he will love it as much as he loves this one.
It's very frustrating when the people who should know when new shipments will arrive just dismiss it as irrelevant and can't give you any more info thant what they told you already, they don't know.
It could be the shipments are held up at customs again like it happened a few times a few months back or maybe there is just no more distribution to the country for the time being.

There is MASSIVE Drama in my country over people with special/rare diseases and diabetics being unable to get the meds they need here, so the last thing people will care about is that cats also have a hard time getting their needs met.

I hope this gets sorted out asap.

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

So apparently several pet stores order RC food but it hasn't arrived yet and nobody knows why, Renal can only be legally sold by vets and they said their orders haven't arrived yet, they have no idea when it's coming or why it got held up.
No alternatives for renal at the moment either. Back when I had Anastasia there was an Italian alternative which she loved a lot, but that's gone now too.
This is very bad
One store said these foods are too expensive, Royal Canin and such compared to lower quality foods and people just don't buy them so there is no profit in importing them and even the manufacturers don't feel like striking deals with our country because it's not as profitable for them.

 

[Kflowers]

I expect that all you can do is compare the ingredients in Royal C and other pet foods. I know you can't get food from Chewy.com where you are, however, on their website they do list the ingredients in all the foods they carry. This means you can compare the ingredients in Royal C with those of other cat foods you can get locally without going and trying to read the cans in the store. I find it hard to read the small print on the cans.

Truth they may have nothing you can get locally. In which case, try going to each company's website to see what is in their food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know whether it has been mentioned before or not, but you can always take a look at Tanya's website for alternative low phosphorus foods, which is the primary goal behind renal foods like RC.
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - How to Use the Cat Food Data Tables (felinecrf.org)

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

We're going to have to look into home cooked food I guess because there is a good chance Renal foods aren't coming back to my country any time soon.
Vets we talked to have placed orders before New Years even and nobody knows why their orders haven't been fulfilled yet.
One argument is that it's a small market, needless to say I'm mentally unequipped to handle the stress, just when I thought we caught it early and would be able to provide Casper a good long life.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't even think you need renal food. Renal foods are lower in phosphorus - that is their point. For cats who won't eat renal foods, if their phosphorus level is high, they can take phosphorus binders instead. You are already giving Casper a phosphorus binder; it is included in the RenalVet supplement you are giving him (calcium carbonate).

I know you stated Casper's creatinine at 182, but did you ever look to see what his phosphorus level is? Also, with using calcium carbonate as a binder, you need to watch his calcium level to ensure it stays within range.

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

Thank you so much!
So with RenalVet(let's hope that doesn't disappear from MK too) Casper should, hopefully be fine? I couldn't find the phosphorus on the list for some reason. I know his Urea was 6.5 or something, it was with green numbers indicating normal levels.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Phosphorus can be abbreviated in various ways, depending on the lab. P, PHOS, Ph, PHP, PP are some examples. Look for calcium too - Ca is the most common.

I think it would be helpful to know Casper's phosphorus level, but unless it is ridiculously high, which would not normally be the case with a 182 creatinine, you shouldn't need both renal food and RenalVet.

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

These were the results form his bloodwork
some of it is in Macedonia, some of it not, none of the Macedonian stuff is Phosphorus tho

 

[FeebysOwner]

Thanks for sharing that, but it sure doesn't seem like the phosphorus - or calcium - level were checked (based on not being able to read/interpret much!!). Nonetheless, I still am of the personal mindset that Casper does not need both renal foods and RenalVet.

Maybe when you are 'feeling up to the challenge', you can ask your vet about what it would take - and, if it is possible - to check phosphorus and perhaps calcium too.

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

yeah I'm going to ask them
the vets said they want to do bloodworm in another 2 months, but with the renal food not being available now they might postpone that.
The vets did say Casper isn't in immediate danger then and he doesn't HAVE to take both the food an meds but it's not bad if he does.
My biggest concern is that we'll never see renal food ever again here or any time soon because the market for it is so small apparently.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't advocate telling a fib to a vet, but you might kind of 'gloss over' the lack of renal food and get the blood work done anyway. The thing is that giving both renal food and a phosphorus binder - prematurely - could cause the phosphorus to go too low - not a good thing either. At Stage 2, even IRIS guidelines don't seem to think renal foods are necessarily appropriate, and certainly not in combination with a phosphorus binder.

I personally wouldn't worry about whether or not you ever find renal food again. I cannot give them to Feeby - she won't eat them - and so I will rely on phosphorus binders instead. It is pretty much the same thing for the both of us, just for different reasons.

I don't know if you have seen these, or even want to, but here are some IRIS guidelines anyway.

 

[Joe_Danger1337]

No need to tell my vets fibs, they know what Casper is eating since they're the ones with the special foods
Thanks for the info, that is good to know.
So with the binders, if they don't disappear too, you think Casper has another 5 years ahead of him at least? I know it's a dumb question, but these cats mean the world to me y'all understand that well

 

[FeebysOwner]

There are other binders that you might be able to get if the one you currently use 'disappears'. We can work with you on that, if/when the time comes.

I don't know about cat longevity when it comes to CKD. That can vary from cat to cat. It all depends on each cat's level of progression, as well as other health factors. But, yes, it is feasible Casper could hang in there as long as 5 years - I am sure from what I have read/been involved with - possibly longer than that. Steady monitoring helps to see progression, and to know when other interventions/treatments may be needed.

One can never stop having worries, and no question is dumb.