My little Rose is in kidney failure

[Asia and her cats]

Hi all,

We are a 5-cat, 1-dog, 2-person household. Almost all of the cats have developed health issues - but since they’re all rescues that were taken (by me, knowingly) from the street, it’s not a surprise that things have gone skewiff.

I won’t lie to you, it’s getting tough. Our Rose has just been diagnosed with kidney failure and she’s only 3.5 years old, although she is FIV positive. The vet literally said last Wednesday (on my birthday) that “Every day is an extra day for Rose”. I wake up in the morning anxiously waiting to hear her meow to my partner, who she adores. Sometimes, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and think to go check on her, terrified that she’s not with us anymore. Then I wonder “Well, what if she’s gone, what will I do at 4am?” I agonise for half an hour and then get up anyway, thinking it’s better to know and I’m so relieved when she runs in to see what I’m doing.

I’m giving her 2 supplements, which she hates taking, a homeopathic pill and CBD oil every day I don’t know how long she’s got left, but I’m trying everything I can. Thank dog I’ve finally found a renal food she actually eats with gusto. That’s probably been the biggest challenge.

She has blood and urine tests every two weeks now, and last week her urine was incredibly diluted while her blood was incredibly dehydrated.

She was my first bottle-baby. I rescued her and her brothers on Mother’s Day 2018 when they were two weeks old. My heart is breaking

 

[di and bob]

My heart goes out to you....as the mom of three cats with Leukemia who were given days to live, I know how heartbreaking this can be. That was over two years ago, and they are still with me, and I thank God for each and every day they are still with me. I give them LifeGold which is for cancers and DMG which builds up their immune systems. You might research the supplements on amazon and see if any might help.
Your little one is where she wants to be, with the one she loves so very much. I know how incredibly hard this is, and can only tell you to just be with her as much as you can. As long as she is not hiding and seems happy to be around you, it is as much as you can hope for, and she is forever grateful to be at home with everything she holds dear and surrounded by those who love her. Please know there are many on here who will support you, you can come on any time you need to. Many of us have gone through the helplessness and anguish you are feeling right now. I will pray for your little girl, and for you to find the strength to go on.....

 

[Asia and her cats]

di and bob thank you so much for your kind words. I’m struggling to find some of the supplements I’ve read about on cat forums and blogs for kidney disease. I’m in Italy and I can’t even buy codeine here for me without a prescription, which is available over-the-counter in the U.K (my home country). Certain things are really highly regulated and others are simply unavailable because “alternative” medicine just isn’t a thing here. It’s slowly getting better but it’s not easy. But I do add a vitamin paste, lysine and taurine to everyone’s food just to boost their immune systems.

It doesn’t help that one of my others suffers from bladder stones and is slightly incontinent. Another is paralysed after a car accident. And one more vomitted up some nice worms the other day. I’m just feeling a bit overwhelmed.

 

[stephanietx]

You're an amazing cat parent! It's so hard when our babies develop health issues. I've had 2 kitties with CKD and it's not an easy road, but there's a lot you can do to help them. Looks like you're doing all you can.

 

[di and bob]

Do you have Amazon where you are at? That is where I get My supplements. PetMeds is another one. I look at the reviews and Google the ingredients.
Somehow it seems things can get crushing all at once. Don't dwell on past mistakes, it changes nothing, don't look into a future you have no control over. Just live in the right now, do what you can in order of importance, and live one day at a time....

 

[Joelle and the kittens]

What stage of CKD is she in? Has the primary cause been identified? Is she actively suffering from uremia? What about hypertension and anemia? Therapeutic renal foods are a must if she's not already on them. If she has severe proteinuria ACE inhibitors may also be of benefit.

I'd 100% cut out the homeopathic pill since that's literally just water (unless it's one of the brands contaminated with dangerous levels of strychnine and arsenic...) and you mentioned how much she hates taking it.

 

[Morpheus1967]

I'd 100% cut out the homeopathic pill since that's literally just water (unless it's one of the brands contaminated with dangerous levels of strychnine and arsenic...)

How do you know this? Especially since I see OP lives in Italy and you live in New Jersey?

 

[Asia and her cats]

What stage of CKD is she in? Has the primary cause been identified? Is she actively suffering from uremia? What about hypertension and anemia? Therapeutic renal foods are a must if she's not already on them. If she has severe proteinuria ACE inhibitors may also be of benefit.

I'd 100% cut out the homeopathic pill since that's literally just water (unless it's one of the brands contaminated with dangerous levels of strychnine and arsenic...) and you mentioned how much she hates taking it.

No hypertension, but I will have to check about uremia. Last tests showed proteins in her urine but not enough for albumin to be administered. She is anaemic but it has gone from 15% at the worst to 19.1% now. There’s no water in the homeopathic pill and research suggested that milk thistle and turmeric can be beneficial, but Fegapet is the only format I can buy it in over here. After trying literally every line and brand available, she has decided that Royal Canin Renal Special dry food is good enough to eat. She won’t touch a single renal wet food but will eat urinary food. The food supplements she’s on are Italian - Candioli Renal Nhttps://www.candioli.com/en/products/pets/nephro-urology/renal-n and Candioli Renal Phttps://www.candioli.com/en/products/pets/nephro-urology/renal-p

After recommendations from others, I’m going to order Oralade from Germany, even though I’m pretty sure she won’t touch it, but Blackjack suffers from bladder stones and UTIs anyway, so he can make use of it.

 

[Joelle and the kittens]

How do you know this? Especially since I see OP lives in Italy and you live in New Jersey?

Because it's homeopathic...the whole point of this system is to dilute a toxin or bacterium or whatever thousands of times while hitting it every now and then in the belief that the water that interacted with the toxin will "remember" it and that will somehow act as an antidote to the toxin. The more diluted it is the more "powerful" it's supposed to be, with some homeopathic formulations no longer containing a single molecule of the toxin; since the law of mass action hasn't suddenly stopped working we can therefore say what's left is literally water.

No hypertension, but I will have to check about uremia. Last tests showed proteins in her urine but not enough for albumin to be administered. She is anaemic but it has gone from 15% at the worst to 19.1% now.

After trying literally every line and brand available, she has decided that Royal Canin Renal Special dry food is good enough to eat. She won’t touch a single renal wet food but will eat urinary food. The food supplements she’s on are Italian - Candioli Renal Nhttps://www.candioli.com/en/products/pets/nephro-urology/renal-n and Candioli Renal Phttps://www.candioli.com/en/products/pets/nephro-urology/renal-p

Sounds like you're doing all you can with regards to renal food and monitoring, then. The only other thing I would suggest is asking your vet if there are any feline CKD trials recruiting (mesenchymal stem cell transplants have shown promise).

There’s no water in the homeopathic pill and research suggested that milk thistle and turmeric can be beneficial, but Fegapet is the only format I can buy it in over here.

If it's labeled "omeopatico" the contents have to have been dissolved in water until maybe one or two molecules of milk thistle or turmeric still exist.

 

[Asia and her cats]

I was clearly too liberal in my use of the term homeopathic - on checking the box it’s considered a food supplement. There’s no English-language site but this is the product Fegapet Cani e Gatti Google usually does a good enough job of translating nowadays though

 

[Asia and her cats]

Do you have Amazon where you are at? That is where I get My supplements. PetMeds is another one. I look at the reviews and Google the ingredients.
Somehow it seems things can get crushing all at once. Don't dwell on past mistakes, it changes nothing, don't look into a future you have no control over. Just live in the right now, do what you can in order of importance, and live one day at a time....

Thank you so much. I have never been good at living in the right now, a lack of control over the short-term future is a huge trigger for me I’m trying so hard to let go and just do what needs to be done on a daily basis, and just accept the vet‘s words that every day is an extra day for her so ”what will be, will be” but it’s not easy. Every night I give her love like it’s the last time but it’s not an easy way to live.

It could be argued that she was never meant to get this far. She was one of 5 kittens born to an 8-month old mum. At two weeks of age, they’d already finished their mum’s milk and two siblings had died. Another one, Ray, died 6 weeks later, he was always so weak and ill. Rose and her brother Bud were the only survivors of my first bottle-baby litter. I learnt so much from them which has helped me save dozens of babies since then, but she is the most amazingly loving cat. Our house won’t be the same when ”the day” finally comes

 

[Asia and her cats]

I’ve just uploaded a vid of her so you guys can see what she’s like at the moment. Obviously, she’s not like this all the time but she has her moments IMG_7504.MOV

 

[fionasmom]

She is a beautiful little cat, and evidently so well cared for. Certainly I hope there will be more "extra days" for Rose, but I agree with your theory that her rough start in life may have impacted her future health. All of the life which she has had, you helped her to achieve. I have a 4 year old, rescued as a tiny baby who was clearly dying, but by two years old he had kidney disease and by three was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It is very hard to live in the present when you are faced with this kind of situation and never know what is behind the next corner.

Fergapet is definitely in the supplement category and some of those ingredients have been proven in studies to have value in some cases. I personally never use any homeopathic preparations myself or for my animals.

 

[Antonio65]

Our Rose has just been diagnosed with kidney failure and she’s only 3.5 years old, although she is FIV positive. The vet literally said last Wednesday (on my birthday) that “Every day is an extra day for Rose”.

Hi Asia and her cats ,

I just found your message about your Rose and her issues.

She reminds me of my adventure with my sweet Lola. I resued her and her brother Romeo at the end of May 2000, she was barely two weeks old, maybe just 10 to 12 days old. I had to bottle feed them, and despite my absolute lack of experience, I managed to raise them to healthy kittens and then cats.
Unfortunately, three weeks short of his first birthday, Romeo was killed in a road accident, and I learned the hard way that Lola had to live as an indoor kitty, for her sake and safety.

Lola developed a kidney failure at the age of 5, and we had to treat her accordingly, with a special diet, meds, supplements and sub-Q's for a bit longer than 11 years, till March 2017, when she left me after several battles against other diseases.
I still miss her everyday... You can see her in my profile photo.

At the age of 16 she tested positive to FIV. Since she had never been an outdoor cat since the age of 1 year, the only explanation to this is that she was FIV when I first had her, or was infected during the first year outside, but the first test was negative and it took us 15 years to find out it was the opposite.

My message is to tell you not to give up, with a proper approach you can fight this failure with a certain level of success.

I'm so sorry for your Rose, please know that we are here to help and support you!

P.S.: I live in Italy too, a little further north from you