Renal Cat Parents, Let's Chat!

[crazy4strays]

My elderly cat (approximately 17 years old) was diagnosed with renal failure on July 20, 2016. That was 2 years ago! It's amazing how tough that kitty is! We moved from Michigan to Tennessee last December and he had his first seizure after one of our trips back and forth. He is still going pretty well though! He's had only one seizure since then. He's partially incontinent, so he lives on my screened in back porch, rather than in our house.

He's completely safe from the outdoors as it's completely enclosed, with no way for him to get out. The back porch has a concrete floor, so he can't do much damage if he misses the litter box. My other two cats frequently go out and keep him company. Though my elderly cat and my younger cat used to fight a lot, all three of them do pretty well together out there now.

I tried my renal kitty on a diet of exclusively prescription kidney canned cat food, but the cost was quite high. I decided to just feed him regular canned food. He's on a diet of mostly Friskies pate and he has done very well with it. I attribute his longevity (2 years and counting past DX) to the canned food helping to keep him properly hydrated. Of course, he was also DX'ed pretty early on in his disease. I had just done bloodwork a few months prior that was normal and then took him in for bloodwork when he started drinking a ton of water and saw the renal failure bloodwork numbers then.

Do you have a renal kitty? What has been your experience with CRF?

 

[Daisy6]

My first three cats all lost totally different battles against CRF. It vwould be better for me to tell Emily's story in the Crossing the Bridge section I know I wll cry.

 

[Daisy6]

My last cat, Patricia, lived almost 3 years after her diagnosis. I could go on all day about why Hill's k/d is bad for cats, but it worked for her until the end of 2015.

 

[mekkababble]

Cats are tough old birds (lol). My cat with CRF lived to be 22 and I'lol miss her until the day I die.

What could help your cat with longevity is some phosphorus binders in the wet food. It doesn't change the taste and helps with preventing stones. Otherwise well done. Hopefully your old man still has some spunk and a few years of life in him

 

[Daisy6]

I wish I had known about phosphorus binders. Patricia did not like Hill's k/d and it caused her to lose 2 pounds in 2 months twice.

 

[happilyretired]

I lost two cats to CRF and both were very different. Neither would eat any special food--I tried them all--but with the second guy I discovered phosphorus binders, although I don't know whether they helped.

Both were diagnosed at about age 7, but my first guy remained stable for the next 5 years--and then suddenly crashed within 2 weeks. My second guy lasted only 2 years from diagnosis. When he stopped eating, I knew it was the end, and my vet persuaded me to do SubQ fluids to make him more comfortable. But even with the fluids, he deteriorated rapidly.

I had no problems with euthanasia for either of them because they were so sick and obviously miserable.

 

[Daisy6]

What were their names Happily?

I had decided (and Mom agreed) after Patricia was diagnosed with CRF she would never get IV fluids. Both of us are unable to do it psychologically and physically. I read a lot about the procedure and knew Paricia, whoi was not a fan of being held and could not be wrapped in a towel, would not cooperate. So we decided when it gets to that point, the only humane thing to do is send her to the Rainbow Bridge. It turned out that way, but the timing was Patricia's decision.

 

[Blakeney Green]

Maisie has CKD. He is currently thirteen years old and was diagnosed about two years ago. He eats a wet food renal diet, takes meds, and gets daily sub-q fluids. So far he is hanging in there, though he does seem to be declining very slowly.

 

[Daisy6]

How is he declining?

 

[molly92]

I recently adopted a nearly 16 year old cat who probably has kidney disease. It's not clear because she is hyperthyroid, which is almost definitely masking the kidney numbers. The shelter vet and my vet agree that kidney disease is indicated by her dilute urine.

I have the resurces for it right now, so I've decided to get the radioactive iodine treatment done, which should completely cure her hyperthyroidism. That is scheduled in a few weeks, and I'm very interested to see where her kidney levels are after her metabolism is working normally. Also which symptoms come from the kidney disease and which were caused by the hyperthyroidism.

In the meantime, I've played around with her diet a bit. I want her to eat as much possible, so if she doesn't seem interested in a food, I move on to something else. I gave the royal canin prescription food a chance...once. But I hate prescription food ingredients so I knew I wasn't going to feed it unless she loved it, which of course she didn't. I tried various commercial canned foods on the low phosphorus side for a bit. Turns out she absolutely adores raw food, and the Primal pork and turkey recipes are all very low in phosphorus--.29% and .31%. Pheasant is also .29, but I haven't been able to find that one in stores yet. The pork flavor especially is a huge hit! So that's pretty much her entire diet now, topped off with a generous helping of bone broth.

I'm not sure what I think about phosphorus binders yet. Again, I might have some reassessing to do after her thyroid treatment. If I can control her phosphorus levels with diet I think that would be ideal, but we will see.

 

[happilyretired]

Daisy-
My first boy was named Grigio (Italian for 'grey'--he was a grey tuxedo), and the second was Sunny [he came with that name]. I felt the same way you do about SubQ, and I'm not sure I'd do it again. I had to practice a lot (on meat!) to be secure in inserting the needle and doing the entire procedure. I actually worked out well; Sunny was surprisingly complaint. But a week of SubQ, and he continued to deteriorate rapidly. My vet at left it up to me, and he was so obviously miserable that I decided to end things.

 

[Daisy6]

Molly, I would stop adding bone broth because phosphorus is for helping bones. I have no experience with this, so you should check with the raw food feeders here.

Part of the problem is both CRF and HT cause rapid weights loss, excessive thirst, and more trips to the litterbox than usual. So when HT hides CRF on blood panels you need urinalysis results.

 

[molly92]

Molly, I would stop adding bone broth because phosphorus is for helping bones. I have no experience with this, so you should check with the raw food feeders here.

Part of the problem is both CRF and HT cause rapid weights loss, excessive thirst, and more trips to the litterbox than usual. So when HT hides CRF on blood panels you need urinalysis results.

The bone broth is less than .01 % phosphorus, so I assume any effect is negligible. I add it because she loves it, it's another source of moisture, and maybe the collagen will help her old arthritic joints.

Urinalysis shows low specific gravity, which is why the vets do suspect CKD.

 

[Daisy6]

Did the vet suggest any CKD treatments or do you have to wait for HT to be gone first?

 

[Blakeney Green]

How is he declining?

He has gradually lost weight, he isn't as active as he used to be, his coat and body condition are poor, and he isn't as cooperative with treatments anymore.

That said, his quality of life is still good overall.

 

[molly92]

Did the vet suggest any CKD treatments or do you have to wait for HT to be gone first?

Just diet. I just got her blood work and urinalysis back today, and everything is pretty much the same! The vet said the diet seems to agree with her kidneys so I should stick to it.

 

[Daisy6]

That's good.