"Angela" wrote in message
om...

"Phil P." wrote in message
...
| Judging from the compassion in your post, I think he may want to be
around
| you for just a bit longer.
|
|
|
| If anyone has been through this I would appreciate some thoughts?
|
|
| Regarding food- Cats are attracted to food by smell more than taste. You
can
| make any diet smell and taste much more palatable simply by warming it
up
a
| bit. Warmed food is much more aromatic and might entice him to eat a
diet
he
| otherwise wouldn't touch. Be careful to only warm the food to about
body
| temperature- don't cook it or it will smell and taste worse.
|
| For canned food, try mixing in a little warm water- just enough to make
it
a
| gruel not a soup. Break the loaf down by mashing it with the bottom of a
| spoon and stir well. I don't recommend dry food for a cat in CRF (or any
| cat)- but if that's all he'll eat- you have no choice. Its very
important
he
| keeps eating. If you must feed him dry food, you can warm that too by
| putting 1/4 cup in a small Rubbermaid container and placing the
container
in
| very warm water for a few minutes. You'll smell the difference as soon
as
| you open the lid. One important note: Try the warming technique with a
| kidney-friendly diet *first*. Just as warming will make a
kidney-friendly
| diet more aromatic and palatable- warming will make a regular cat food
even
| more appealing so that he won't find the kidney-friendly diet as
appealing
| when you try to switch him over.
|
| As far as diets, I recommend Hill's Prescription Diet g/d-- not k/d.
K/d
is
| too low in protein for a cat in early-to-midstage CRF. Protein
shouldn't
be
| restricted until his BUN reaches 60-80 mg/dl.
|
| Another good diet for early-to-midstage CRF is Iams Veterinary Formulas
| Urinary O - Moderate pH/O/Feline Canned Formula (also available in dry).
| This is the diet I'm feeding my cat. The diet produces an alkaline
urine
| which is much easier on the kidneys.
|
| As far as drugs and supplements, I can't recommend a potassium and
Omega-3
| fatty acid supplement more highly. These are the two most important
things
| you can do for your cat- even if he won't eat a kidney-friendly diet.
| Omega-3s are renoprotective and together with a potassium supplement has
| slowed the progression of CRF in my cat to a crawl. I recommend them
very
| highly.
|
| I also highly recommend speaking to your vet about Amlodipine-its a
calcium
| channel blocker that will keep your cat's blood pressure in check. Cats
| with CRF are prone to hypertension- even in the early stages.
Hypertension
| can come on quickly in cats with CRF and result in acute blindness and
| further kidney damage. I were you, I would ask your vet to put your cat
on
| Amlodipine *now*. Even if your cat's blood pressure is presently normal,
| Amlodipine won't cause hypotension or any other adverse effects. In fact
| you'll probably notice an improvement in his appetite and activity
level-
| even his personality! If your vet wants more information before
| prescribing Amlodipine, give him the following journal references:
|
| Evaluation of the antihypertensive agent amlodipine besylate in
normotensive
| cats and a cat with systemic hypertension.
| Snyder PS
| J Vet Intern Med 53:1166-1169, 1994.
|
| Treatment of systemic hypertension in cats with amlodipine besylate.
| Henik RA, Snyder PS, Volk LM
| JAAHA 33:226-234, 1997.
| Best of luck & Keep the faith!
|
| Phil


Thanks Phil that's extremely helpful and made me feel much more positive.
My Vet called me on Saturday, seems like he is concentrating his urine to
some extent though it's far from normal. He has protein in his urine but
he
also has blood so she wants to treat him for an infection first and then
re
test his urine as the infection may be the cause for the protein. So he's
now on antibiotics.

She is keen just to get him eating again, she really doesn't want to worry
about what he eats at the moment. I have been giving him chicken the last
2
days and he's actually eating much better, but he tends to do this for a
couple of days then he goes off again. Fingers crossed just treating his
urinary tract infect will make him feel a bit better.

Thanks for the positive words.

Angela

I don't think treating a UTI will have a major effect of his appetite. In
fact the antibiotics may actually worsen his appetite. The nitrogenous waste
products-especially urea- from protein catabolism build up in the blood in
cats with CRF- that's what causes the BUN (blood urea nitrogen) to rise.
These waste products can make a cat feel queasy and not want to eat. Kinda
like how we feel when we have an upset stomach. Speak to your vet about
Pepcid AC (regular strength)- about 1/4 of a 10 mg tablet every other day.
Pepcid has helped improve the appetite of a lot of cats with CRF. You might
also want to speak to your vet about adding 1/4 of a 4 mg tablet of
Cyproheptadine (Periactin) every other day- this might help jump-start his
appetite. The 1/4 tablets are so small that you can fit both inside of a #4
gelcap- with plenty of room left for a 1/4 tab of Amlodipine (although
Amlodipine should be given every day). So, you'll only have to give him 1
capsule a day.

I think you should start looking for a new vet- one who has a little more
experience treating cats with CRF, while your cat is still relatively
healthy. A "nice vet" isn't necessarily a "good vet".

Best of luck,

Phil