Need Advice/Reassurance on Kidney Disease in My Older Cat

[Trigger Hippie]

My beautiful Petunia is 11 years old, but I’ve only had her for 3 years (not nearly long enough). I found out today from her vet that she has kidney insufficiency. She had been throwing up for a few months, not every day, but at least once a week, but I assumed she had a hairball stuck in there. Looking back, I realized the past couple months she had seemed to be drinking more water. I wish I would have taken her to the vet sooner! But I didn’t. The vet is going to do more tests to see if there is an infection and how bad it is. The vet suggests I put her on Hill’s k/d prescription diet and make sure she has lots of water. The good news is she is, at 10.14 pounds, still plump and her red blood cell and phosphorus tests came back OK. Her thyroid level is “high normal”, but the big issue is the kidney problem.

Does anyone’s cat have this problem and how are you both dealing with it? Any advice for me?

And just because she’s such a sweetie, here’s a pic of my Tuna.

[Tammie]

1. I can sympathize with you

I found out less than a month ago that my 18 year old cat, Dixie, also has kidney disease. Her only symptoms were drinking and peeing alot. Our problem got a little more complicated 2 weeks ago when she fell flat off the couch and couldn't get up. She wobbled around for awhile and snapped out of it after a few hours. Nevertheless, I took her to the vet and he did an EKG as it sounded as though she had a heart attack. EKG came back normal but she had fluid on her lungs. The fluid is gone now. We were referred to a specialist who did 3 blood panels, another EKG, 2 x-rays and an echocardiogram. As it turns out, Dixie has a heart defect on top of the kidney disease. Her aorta is too narrow. The specialist believes she was born that way. We go back again to the specialist on April 27th. All in all, she's doing pretty good.

I tried the regular canned K/D cat food but Dixie absolutely would not eat it no matter how I fixed it up. I am having success with the CHICKEN FLAVORED canned K/D. I warm it up a bit. I put a very little bit of her regular food in with it. I may try to experiment by mixing in some baby food also. She doesn't eat dry food much and I have another cat so I probably won't try the dry K/D.

Good Luck and try not to worry. There's a good network here to lean on when the going gets tough.

[Trigger Hippie]

7. Thanks for the info.

I hope your kitty keeps doing OK. I will try that k/d stuff, but I hope she likes it. She still eats plenty of food, so maybe she'll adapt to it OK... :hi:

[bettyellen]

2. my cat had kidney failure at age 9 and lived another 8 years on KD....

and i did have to hydrate (with sort of an IV, but not in veins, just under the skin) her for the first few months, but it wasn't as difficult (or expensive) as i thought it would be. (filling perscriptions and buying needles/ saline on line is much cheaper than buying from a vet)
it took about a month to switch her over to KD, initially she didn't want it at all. but a friend stressed it was really important to do, so i kept on, and i'm glad i did. she perked up and was acting much younger and peppier within a couple of months. i was supposed to be giving her vitamins with taurine, and she wouldn't have it, that maple gunk was all over the place, except in her tummy.
My friend who was very knowledgable was a member of a (yahoo,i think) group for feline renal failure. Those groups are very helpful in a case like this, there'll be tons of info and help for you there.
Good luck, and PM me if you have any questions. Tuna is a sweetie, i wish her well.
Did your doc recommend a tiny crumb of pepcid for her stomch? it worked wonders for my girl. (and for me)

[bettyellen]

3. here, check out these groups

there's a lot of good info out there!


http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=feline+renal++&submit=Search

[Trigger Hippie]

8. I was worried about how much all this would cost....

It's good to know it may not be as bad as I think.

I did see online about giving them a bit of Pepcid. I'll ask my vet at our next appointment. Thanks for the info! :hi:

[bettyellen]

13. they told me to crush one and give her the tiniest piece- smaller than an

ant about 2X a week and it helped alot.
did they give sub-q fluids? at first they told me she would need fluid 2-3X a day, possibly forever, and she might never really bounce back- they were very pesemistic. they scared the crap out of me with the expensive and time commitment involved. but it turns out a friend had a cat going thru the same thing. she gave me supplies, good advice and we cat sat for each other. turned out to be much easier and more affordable to cope with than i imagined. everything is cheaper thru the internet -- you place an order and tell your vet where to fax the script.
mike c is going through the same thing now too. if you search me and him in this forum you'll find more.
good luck!

[livetohike]

4. She's a cutie! No experience with cats with kidney problems but

I know you will get lots of good advice here. I joined a yahoo group K9 Kidneys when my Ranger had kidney failure. He was 16 years old and I guess it was his time, but the members of the group were really helpful and I learned alot.

[Trigger Hippie]

9. Thanks, I will check out the Yahoo site.

:)

:hi:

[sadinred]

5. your Tuna is adorable.

My 15 year old Goofy was diagnosed with kidney disease about 3 months ago. I had brought him to be tested because he was drinking and urinating much more than usual. I tried the k/d diet with him and he didn't like it at all, in fact he lost weight so fast on it it made me really nervous. I now give him Nutro (which he had been eating for almost a year anyway), and I have water bowls all over the house for him. I still give him one treat a day, he loves treats, and a tiny bit of people food.

So far he's doing okay. He vomits very rarely, (maybe once every few weeks) and seems to feel well. My vet said it could be a matter of months or a matter of years, it's just hard to tell with this disease. I try to give him lot's of love, (of course that I always have - he is my most spoiled boy!), keep his stress level low, and keep a close eye on him.

I hope this helps a little.

I'll be hoping the best for you and Tuna.

[Trigger Hippie]

10. It's nice to hear about an alternative to k/d if my Tuna doesn't

like that kind. Thanks! I hope Goofy continues to feel OK... :hi:

[sadinred]

12. It's not really an alternative. I mean, it's a healthy food not

a regular grocery store by-product filled food, but I would check out other resources too. There might be no one else who would tell you it's okay for kidney d. kitties!

I just wanted to tell you about Goofy because I am intensionally taking a less than aggressive route with him. I read a lot on line and it seemed to me that many cats lived a long time with little special care, while others lived a short while with intensely special care. It seems to be a matter of how well the cat can digest and utilize protein - so it would make sense that a more complete easily digestible protein is better...actually my cat sneaks the kitten's food constantly, I imagine that's a pretty easily digested protein for him, smart kid. It also seems that things like stress play a part as well. I know when we have company staying with us is when Goofy seems to vomit, so I try to keep the stress very low. I believe that forcing him to eat food he doesn't like would only add to his stress and would lessen his desire to stay here on this earth with me. I try to keep him as happy as he can be.

Also, I was wrong - it's been about 6 months, not three! Don't know what I was thinking.

Take care with your Tuna.

[bettyellen]

14. it's a crap shoot, just like people. it was a real struggle to switch over

the food to KD, she hated it at first, but a couple people said it would make a huge difference, so i mixed it in slowly over the course of a month.
i could never get het to keep down this vitamin gel w/ taurine that my vet stressed was MORE important. she would spit it out and it would get everywhere except inside her. back then (10 years?) it only came in a maple flavored gel/paste. hopefully they have better versions of that these days.

[Trigger Hippie]

18. It's interesting to hear about different approaches

to take with this condition. Thanks! I will definitely do a lot of research on this!

[Qanisqineq]

6. Poor kitty

One of my cats, Tubby, was diagnosed in January. He was in for a routine check-up and the vet did bloodwork and a urinalysis because of his age (13 years) and recent weightloss. His bloodwork was normal but his urine concentration was low. The vet recommended Science Diet k/d but I chose to go with a healthy canned cat food. Since then, he eats Wellness canned cat food, has gained all the weight back, and seems perfectly healthy. He throws up an occasional hairball or when he decided to chew on a new plant I had (now a dead plant). He also has a water fountain now instead of a water bowl so he is more interested in drinking. For years I fed my cats only dry cat food with canned as an occasional treat -- at the recommendation of vets. The canned food seems to have helped him greatly.

I don't know enough about kidney disease to recommend any particular way to go with your cat's nutrition (and I am not suggesting you ignore your vet's advice) but that is my experience. After reading other's experiences, my question with my cat is -- is one urinalysis really a diagnosis? Couldn't he have just consumed less water in the day or so prior to the test?

I wish you and your cat the best. She is very beautiful. In the picture she looks like she is ready to attack that blanket once you turn your head!

[Trigger Hippie]

11. Hmmmm, maybe she did drink a bit less water that day,

but I have noticed her drink more water the past few weeks and she has been throwing up more recently too. The vet's doing a more conclusive test this week with her urine, so I guess I'll know for sure soon.

I plan on getting her a water fountain, too. It may help a lot... I think I'll try the k/d dry food and some of the canned food too. She's never had canned food, so I don't know how that will work out. :)

Thanks for the advice and I wish for the best for you and Tubby too. :hi:

[japple]

15. Your Petunia is a lovely girl. The drinking fountain is a very good idea.

I hope you will find a good diet that she will tolerate. My boy, Tiny, was diagnosed last fall, and I haven't been able to get him to eat any of the prescription diets. He just turns up his nose and walks away or he might lap the liquid and then leave the rest. I tried mixing it with his favorite food fancy feast, but that hasn't worked either. I got so worried about him losing weight, that I give in to him just to keep him eating.

Good luck to you and Tuna. Give her a kiss on that sweet little nose for me.

[Trigger Hippie]

19. No problem! I kiss and cuddle her all the time!

Sometimes I think she wants me to leave her alone. But that won't happen. I love her so! :hi:

And thanks for telling me your experiences with this. Good luck with Tiny. :)

[mike_c]

16. my Marble has chronic kidney disease....

She's only about 8, and doesn't have the weight advantage Petunia has-- she's hovering between 7 and 8 pounds right now. After her crisis and hospitalization I had her on a course of antibiotics for two weeks, and 100 ml of sub-cutaneous saline solution every day, plus moving her to k/d diet. She eats the k/d but not avidly, and I feed the other cats Kirkland Maintainence diet at the moment, so in practice she eats a mix. Her weight has not gone up appreciably. I've dialed back the fluids to every few days because she's gotten to the point where she fights and bites while I try to hold her still, get the needle in, and keep everything calm for the couple of minutes it takes the drip to finish. It is not going well. On the other hand, she seems to be responding reasonably well-- she certainly looks better than she did a few weeks ago.

I don't know what the long term prognosis is. She will almost certainly die of kidney failure-- it's just a matter of when. It breaks my heart. Every day is a gift. I have to try giving her fluids tonight or tomorrow-- we'll see how she takes it.

[Trigger Hippie]

17. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your Marble.

I hope she improves. :(

I don't know yet if I'm going to be doing the saline solution with Tuna. I will be talking to my vet soon and will ask her about this.

I even noticed last night that Tuna's still eating a lot so it's a good sign... I worry about switching her to the k/d though. I hope she'll accept the change. Thanks for telling me your experience in all this.

:hi:

[bettyellen]

20. oh mike, i thought the same thing about little girl...

that the kidney disease was going to get her. she really crashed with kidney failure- they said she would have died in a day she was staggering like a drunk all wobbly when i took her to the vet. i had been away a week, and a friend cat sit, so i had no warning.
and it took a couple of months, but she got livlier than she had been in years. it took another eight years, and cancer to finally do her in, so you never know, mike.
i don't know what the kirkland is, but high protein is the big no no. and as far as the water goes, you should be able to read her dehydration level by the skin pinch, does it stay pinched or bounce back quickly? and also how sunken her eyes look, or not. those are the signs you'll need to learn to read to see how she's doing and how much she does, or doesn't need water. i felt more confident about treatment knowing i could read those signs myself.
i'd always give my kitty a special treat and super extra love after the fluids, to try and give her good associations, and massage the lump of water into her body evenly. but i know, it ain't always easy. is the vet letting you give her a little more water since it's less frequent? i think it's based on body weight, i forget.
good luck mike!

[Tammie]

21. How's Petunia Doing?

I hope everything is working out!

:hi:

[Trigger Hippie]

22. So far, so good.

She's handling her new k/d diet very well and hasn't begun to lost weight yet. I'm taking her to the vet in a couple weeks to get her checked out. Thanks for asking! :hi:

[japple]

23. My 14 yr. old male cat, Tiny, was diagnosed last Dec. After many

months of trying (and failing) to switch him to a more healthful diet, I decided it wasn't worth the frustration for him or me, and I'm giving him a higher quality food than he was eating. I have been concentrating on giving him healing massages. He has picked up some weight and is acting much friskier. He seems much happier and healthier now that I've stopped obsessing about what he is eating. He actually comes to me and asks for his massage.