Feline kidney disease
 

My 16 year old cat was recently diagnosed with kidney disease. The vet had
me switch his food to Hills K/D, and told me to give him a baby aspirin
every other day. He doesn't seem to get filled up on the cat food, and the
vet suggested that I not feed him canned food.

Fortunately, all his blood work came back normal except his BUN and
Creatinine which were high as expected. Also, his urine was less
concentrated because he was drinking more water. And, he had lost about 2
pounds.

My question is, besides changing his diet, is there anything else I can do?
I bought some liquid vitamins and give those a couple of days per week. Has
anyone else had experience with feline kidney disease? Are there any
home-made cat food recipes that people have tried? He seems to like the
yellow portion of a hard boiled egg.

Thanks ---- Penny

This is a great site about feline CRF (chronic renal failure/kidney
disease) - tons of useful info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

"Loves_to_read" wrote in message
...
My 16 year old cat was recently diagnosed with kidney disease. The vet
had
me switch his food to Hills K/D, and told me to give him a baby aspirin
every other day. He doesn't seem to get filled up on the cat food, and the
vet suggested that I not feed him canned food.

Fortunately, all his blood work came back normal except his BUN and
Creatinine which were high as expected. Also, his urine was less
concentrated because he was drinking more water. And, he had lost about 2
pounds.

My question is, besides changing his diet, is there anything else I can
do?
I bought some liquid vitamins and give those a couple of days per week.
Has
anyone else had experience with feline kidney disease? Are there any
home-made cat food recipes that people have tried? He seems to like the
yellow portion of a hard boiled egg.

Thanks ---- Penny

This is a great site about feline CRF (chronic renal failure/kidney
disease) - tons of useful info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

"Loves_to_read" wrote in message
...
My 16 year old cat was recently diagnosed with kidney disease. The vet
had
me switch his food to Hills K/D, and told me to give him a baby aspirin
every other day. He doesn't seem to get filled up on the cat food, and the
vet suggested that I not feed him canned food.

Fortunately, all his blood work came back normal except his BUN and
Creatinine which were high as expected. Also, his urine was less
concentrated because he was drinking more water. And, he had lost about 2
pounds.

My question is, besides changing his diet, is there anything else I can
do?
I bought some liquid vitamins and give those a couple of days per week.
Has
anyone else had experience with feline kidney disease? Are there any
home-made cat food recipes that people have tried? He seems to like the
yellow portion of a hard boiled egg.

Thanks ---- Penny

Cathy,
Thanks for the website. It really is very detailed and informative. I
didn't know there was a canned K/D cat food. I'm going to ask my vet about
giving it to my cat in addition to his dry food. He just doesn't seem to be
getting enough to eat (cries all the time until I give him a small amount of
the canned food). I'm hoping that his BUN and Creatinine go down when I
have him retested at the end of the month.
Penny
========================================
This is a great site about feline CRF (chronic renal failure/kidney
disease) - tons of useful info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Cathy

Cathy,
Thanks for the website. It really is very detailed and informative. I
didn't know there was a canned K/D cat food. I'm going to ask my vet about
giving it to my cat in addition to his dry food. He just doesn't seem to be
getting enough to eat (cries all the time until I give him a small amount of
the canned food). I'm hoping that his BUN and Creatinine go down when I
have him retested at the end of the month.
Penny
========================================
This is a great site about feline CRF (chronic renal failure/kidney
disease) - tons of useful info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Cathy

You're welcome, I referred back to this site a lot when one of my cats was
diagnosed w/ CRF. The info is detailed enough & written clearly enough to
be immediately useful in a very practical sense.

I -think- the canned version of k/d is a relatively recent addition to the
prescription diet line.

Good luck - I hope his levels go down the next time bw's done. You're lucky
that he has an appaetite - a CRF cat often had a depressed appetite, & then
it's a worry trying to get them to eat - any kind of food.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

"Loves_to_read" wrote in message
...
Cathy,
Thanks for the website. It really is very detailed and informative. I
didn't know there was a canned K/D cat food. I'm going to ask my vet
about
giving it to my cat in addition to his dry food. He just doesn't seem to
be
getting enough to eat (cries all the time until I give him a small amount
of
the canned food). I'm hoping that his BUN and Creatinine go down when I
have him retested at the end of the month.
Penny
========================================
This is a great site about feline CRF (chronic renal failure/kidney
disease) - tons of useful info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Cathy

You're welcome, I referred back to this site a lot when one of my cats was
diagnosed w/ CRF. The info is detailed enough & written clearly enough to
be immediately useful in a very practical sense.

I -think- the canned version of k/d is a relatively recent addition to the
prescription diet line.

Good luck - I hope his levels go down the next time bw's done. You're lucky
that he has an appaetite - a CRF cat often had a depressed appetite, & then
it's a worry trying to get them to eat - any kind of food.

Cathy

--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon

"Loves_to_read" wrote in message
...
Cathy,
Thanks for the website. It really is very detailed and informative. I
didn't know there was a canned K/D cat food. I'm going to ask my vet
about
giving it to my cat in addition to his dry food. He just doesn't seem to
be
getting enough to eat (cries all the time until I give him a small amount
of
the canned food). I'm hoping that his BUN and Creatinine go down when I
have him retested at the end of the month.
Penny
========================================
This is a great site about feline CRF (chronic renal failure/kidney
disease) - tons of useful info:

http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm

Cathy

He doesn't seem to get filled up on the
cat food, and the vet suggested that I not
feed him canned food.

You need to find a new vet. A cat with CRF should not be fed *dry* food.
A canned diet is a very important part of treating a CRF cat. Moisture
is extremely important and dry food does not even come close to meeting
a cats water requirements. Cats are poor at making up the difference and
shouldn't have to. You might want to join the feline CRF yahoo group and
ask for a vet recommendation for your area.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-CRF-Support/

Your vet is doing your cat no favors by telling you not to feed canned
food.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

He doesn't seem to get filled up on the
cat food, and the vet suggested that I not
feed him canned food.

You need to find a new vet. A cat with CRF should not be fed *dry* food.
A canned diet is a very important part of treating a CRF cat. Moisture
is extremely important and dry food does not even come close to meeting
a cats water requirements. Cats are poor at making up the difference and
shouldn't have to. You might want to join the feline CRF yahoo group and
ask for a vet recommendation for your area.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Feline-CRF-Support/

Your vet is doing your cat no favors by telling you not to feed canned
food.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

However, they have added a new variety to the k/d which
is a more juicy ground texture instead for that dry loaf junk they've
always had.

Yes, it's the "with chicken -- minced" variety and I'm a big fan. g I've had
trouble getting my Merlin to eat any of the kidney diet canned foods (he looks
at me like I'm Benedict Arnold when I try to sneak in Purina NF). I broke down
and tried the new Hill's k/d and he gobbled it up like tuna. Yippee!

As to the original question what else can you be doing -- does the vet not
feel any subQ fluids are in order? Elevated creatine usually calls for at least
some hydration therapy, does it not?

Namaste,
Donna