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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / October 2006Importance of diet with kidney problems
We recently found out our 16 year old cat has high creatinine and BUN levels. Phosphorus and other blood levels are in the normal range and urine s/g is at 1.017. Since having him on SubQ fluids, the creatinine levels have dropped from 5.7 to 5.2 and BUN from 57 to 42. We're now trying to get him on a k/d diet but are having a very hard time with it. He just refuses to eat it...tried mixing with regular food, by itself, different brands...etc to no avail. So my question is...if we feed him a better quality food such as wellness or merrick and keep him on the daily fluids, is there much of a difference considering his phosphorus and other blood levels are normal? > We recently found out our 16 year old cat has high creatinine and BUN > levels. Phosphorus and other blood levels are in the normal range and [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > and keep him on the daily fluids, is there much of a difference > considering his phosphorus and other blood levels are normal? Try Purina NF and Eukanuba Multistage Renal. If he won't eat those, OTC Science Diets have about the best phosphorus levels. If your cat is receiving fluid therapy he should be getting a potassium supplement ~2-4 mEq/day. Also, you might want to start giving him an omega-3 supplement. I recommend 3V Caps HP liquid http://www.dvmpharmaceuticals.com/display.html?c=6&fam=3VCaps%20Liquid%20HP Good luck, Phil >Try Purina NF and Eukanuba Multistage Renal. If he won't eat those, OTC >Science Diets have about the best phosphorus levels. If your cat is [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >Good luck, Thanks for the info...unfortunately I'm not sure we'll need it. We found out today that the constipation he was experiencing which we thought was related to the kidney problems turned out to be a tumor in his colon. Amazing...in a split second we went from worrying about his kidneys to worrying about cancer and wondering if we'll have to put him down very soon. We're waiting for ultrasound results to see if it spread and will go from there. We just lost his sister 2 months ago and now this...it's turning out to be a horrible 2006. > Thanks for the info...unfortunately I'm not sure we'll need it. We > found out today that the constipation he was experiencing which we [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > if it spread and will go from there. We just lost his sister 2 months > ago and now this...it's turning out to be a horrible 2006. Mike, I'm so sorry--sometimes life is just the pits. I'm hoping for the best for your kitty and you. Bonnie > Thanks for the info...unfortunately I'm not sure we'll need it. We > found out today that the constipation he was experiencing which we [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > if it spread and will go from there. We just lost his sister 2 months > ago and now this...it's turning out to be a horrible 2006. I'm so sorry! How awful. If it is terminal, spoil him like crazy and let him eat anything he wants. He deserves it. Hugs and purrs from my household, Rene >I'm so sorry! How awful. If it is terminal, spoil him like crazy and >let him eat anything he wants. He deserves it. >Hugs and purrs from my household, >Rene Well, we got the ultrasound results today and so far it looks like the cancer hasn't spread. So we decided that we'll give surgery a shot and hopefully have him around for a few more months or maybe with a little luck a year or so. Still nervous about the surgery and what they might find once they open him up but at this point we can't put him down by choice since the only effects we're seeing is the constipation...if he passes away on the table or it's too bad in there and they don't wake him up then we're ok with that...at least we tried. He's been my buddy for 16 years now and while I've had various pets my whole life, I've never been attached to one this much. My only concern is that we don't try to hold on too long once he really starts to go...but we'll worry about that when the time comes. Thanks for the advice and kind words everyone's given me. > > We recently found out our 16 year old cat has high creatinine and BUN > > levels. [...] He just refuses to eat it...tried mixing with regular [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > receiving fluid therapy he should be getting a potassium supplement ~2-4 > mEq/day. I'm having similar problems. I have a 9 year old Siamese female Smudge who has just been diagnosed with CRF and she just won't touch the canned k/d or r/d. (The vet suggested that the r/d would be okay if we just can't get her to eat the k/d.) Smudge will eat the dry k/d and voluntarily drinks a lot of water. Her previous owner fed her strictly cheap dry food on demand; we've been trying for several years to get her to eat canned SD food on a twice a day schedule with only limited success. Up until this diagnoses she had been eating mostly dry SD Senior food, but has been willing to eat small quantities of the SD savory cuts in gravy. I've tried mixing a minute portion of k/d canned with the savory cuts, with and without dry sprinkles on top, but she won't even go near the bowl. She drinks more water than the other cats and produces a much higher volume of urine than the others, which is what led us to have the blood tests done. She has also lost a couple of pounds over the past year, bringing her down to a weight that is a little high but she's no longer obese. So far she's voluntarily drinking enough water that fluid therapy isn't needed. So, I have a bunch of questions: Should the vet have suggested a potassium supplement at this point? Is he right that the r/d is better than just regular food if we can't get her to eat k/d? Is dry k/d better for her than canned regular SD? (She is just as repelled by the canned r/d as by the canned k/d, so the canned r/d isn't really a viable alternative.) > Also, you might want to start giving him an omega-3 supplement. I recommend > 3V Caps HP liquid Does anyone know of a source to purchase potassium, kidney diet food, or omega-3 supplements online? The Purina NF and Eukanuba Multistage Renal are not available locally, and I'd like to try them. I'm also a bit concerned about the other cats in the household eating Smudge's special foods. We are a 4 rescue cat household and two of them are fairly determined to steal Smudge's food. Fat Buffy is also 9 years old, and the other two are only a couple of years old. Will their health be affected adversely as a result of stealing Smudge's diet food?  SignatureKathy - If you're reading this in your web browser from Google or similar forum, NNTP "newsreaders" are a better way to access the content. <http://www.aptalaska.net/~kmorgan/how-it-works.html> Links to NNTP newsreaders at <http://www.newsreaders.com/> > Does anyone know of a source to purchase potassium, kidney diet food, or > omega-3 supplements online? The Purina NF and Eukanuba Multistage Renal [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > old, and the other two are only a couple of years old. Will their > health be affected adversely as a result of stealing Smudge's diet food? I looked for an on-line source a couple of weeks ago, when one of my "old ladies" started having kidney problems. I found a source back then, but cannot locate it for you today. When I was looking at the prices a few weeks ago, I did notice that the price/can was not all that much lower than my local vet, and they had really serious shipping and handling charges (on the order of $17+ per case of 24 cans). My low protein kitty (Jasmine) eats Purina NF and Waltham Renal LP exclusively. My other old-lady cat (Shadow -- the sister of Jasmine) seems to eat the NF and the LP in preference to her regular food. Since I had been concerned that she might be beginning to exhibt some renal disease symptoms herself, I let her eat some of the low-protein food as she chooses (hoping that the lower protein will help her kidneys). I acutually give her a spoonful of the low-protein food on her plate next to her regular food, and she eats whatever appeals to her that feeding. When we get things straightened out with Jasmine, I'll take Shadow in for blood work and see if she's showing any blood symptoms of renal problems. OTOH, our young male cat (RugRat) would gobble down whatever he could get of anyone's food, including the Low Protein food. I don't believe the LP food is good for him, so I try to oversee feeding time to such an extent that he gets very little (if any) of Jasmine's food. RugRat is young (just over a year) and still growing to some extent, so I'm pretty sure he needs the protein. > I looked for an on-line source a couple of weeks ago, when one of my > "old ladies" started having kidney problems. I found a source back > then, but cannot locate it for you today. When I was looking at the > prices a few weeks ago, I did notice that the price/can was not all > that much lower than my local vet, and they had really serious shipping > and handling charges (on the order of $17+ per case of 24 cans). Thanks for the response. If you do happen to locate the site again, I'd love to have the link. My "local" vet is 200 miles away and doesn't usually care a huge inventory, so it's going to be hard for me to get supplies from him regularly--and they carry only Science Diet. Even an expensive online source of Purina NF and Waltham Renal LP would give me a chance to find out if Smudge would be willing to eat either. If she is willing to eat either one, possibly my vet would be willing to stock it for me. <sigh> I try to feed my kitties the highest quality food I can get, but it turns out to be difficult to get sufficient quantities of foods they're willing to eat. There are three pet stores and one vet in town who carry the Science Diet and other quality foods, but to get sufficient quantities to last 4 cats until the next time I make the 200 mile drive, I usually end up having to go to all of them and buy out every store's entire stock of the varieties the furry ones are willing to eat. SignatureKathy - If you're reading this in your web browser from Google or similar forum, NNTP "newsreaders" are a better way to access the content. <http://www.aptalaska.net/~kmorgan/how-it-works.html> Links to NNTP newsreaders at <http://www.newsreaders.com/> I recommend medi-vet.com (http://medi-vet.com/), I get the powder potassium supplement from them. Nancy http://www.wildcatzoo.org/ >>I looked for an on-line source a couple of weeks ago, when one of my >>"old ladies" started having kidney problems. I found a source back [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > every store's entire stock of the varieties the furry ones are willing > to eat. > I recommend medi-vet.com (http://medi-vet.com/), I get the powder > potassium supplement from them. Thanks! Kathy > > I looked for an on-line source a couple of weeks ago, when one of my > > "old ladies" started having kidney problems. I found a source back [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > Thanks for the response. If you do happen to locate the site again, I'd > love to have the link. this was the one I was looking at before. I have no actual experience with them http://www.rxpetfood.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=293 http://www.rxpetfood.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=354 The first should take you to Purina NF cans and the second to Waltham LP pouches. My "local" vet is 200 miles away and doesn't > usually care a huge inventory, so it's going to be hard for me to get > supplies from him regularly--and they carry only Science Diet. Even an > expensive online source of Purina NF and Waltham Renal LP would give me > a chance to find out if Smudge would be willing to eat either. If she > is willing to eat either one, possibly my vet would be willing to stock > it for me. Listen, if you contact me on eab320@comcast.net and get me your mailing info, I'll try to send you a couple of cans of the Purina and a couple of pouches of the Renal LP to try, before you go to all the expense of sending for a case of either. > <sigh> I try to feed my kitties the highest quality food I can get, but > it turns out to be difficult to get sufficient quantities of foods [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > every store's entire stock of the varieties the furry ones are willing > to eat. wow...I've lived all my life in metro areas. The concept of a "local" vet being so far away is kinda mind-blowing! > Listen, if you contact me on eab320@comcast.net and get me your mailing > info, I'll try to send you a couple of cans of the Purina and a couple > of pouches of the Renal LP to try, before you go to all the expense of > sending for a case of either. Wow, that's a really kind offer! I'll be emailing you separately. Smudge is willing to eat the dry feline k/d, but she just won't touch the canned and I know it would be better for her to eat wet food. I just made a run to town and saw the vet today. They were out of the dry k/d, but they called a vet down the street who did have some, so I brought a couple of bags home with me to tide her over until I can find an appropriate canned food that she's willing to eat. While I was in town, I returned a radio receiver collar for use with a pet containment system for a friend's dogs. I was house & dog sitting for him when the youngest dog slipped his collar off and chewed the terminals off the receiver, totally destroying it. I bought a replacement that turned out to be incompatible, so I took it back. The store was gracious about crediting me for the full amount, even though I'd damaged the packaging before discovering it wasn't compatible, but I had to take the credit in the form of other merchandise. I took their entire stock of the science diet canned food my other 3 furries will eat, and still had credit to burn, so the lucky boys got a fancy whicker 2-level cat bed and a new carrier. Now I have an appropriate sized carrier for each of them. I'd previously had to make one of them use a slightly undersized carrier--they're all really big. The most recent addition to the house is a huge rescued neutered tom who most certainly doesn't fit into the carrier that comfortably carried his predecessor. It was a really long day, and the 4 kitties got their dinner very late, but they've forgiven us for the late dinner. In addition to the fancy whicker bed, I picked up a new container of catnip then went to OfficeMax and picked up a new lazer pointer. Smudge pretends she can't see the red dot, but the three boys take turns chasing it until they're all panting. Since two of them need to eat less and exercise more, that's a good thing, and we're very careful not to point it so they're able to look into the light. We wore out the old pointer, so they're very pleased at having a new one. SignatureKathy - If you're reading this in your web browser from Google or similar forum, NNTP "newsreaders" are a better way to access the content. <http://www.aptalaska.net/~kmorgan/how-it-works.html> Links to NNTP newsreaders at <http://www.newsreaders.com/> >> > We recently found out our 16 year old cat has high creatinine and BUN >> > levels. [...] He just refuses to eat it...tried mixing with regular [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > old, and the other two are only a couple of years old. Will their > health be affected adversely as a result of stealing Smudge's diet food? My senior Burmese female (died at 18+ in 2004) was on a kidney diet for the last several years of her life. She did like the Hill's K/D, and I supplemented that with Sensible Choice Senior. I got the K/D from my vet. The only place I could find the SCS at that time was online at www.petfooddirect.com . The shipping does add a lot to the cost, but I considered it worth it to keep my cat alive and healthy a few more years. (She died, not of CRF, but of congestive heart failure after battling seizures for years.) I had all good experiences with petfooddirect, and would buy from them again. The other point is that I got three young cats while the Burmese was still alive. They got their own kitten food while they were young, in a place the elderly cat couldn't get into, but once they were old enough I let them eat the dry senior food, supplemented with canned adult food. Again, it was fairly easy to feed them the canned food separately but the dry senior and prescription food was fair game for everyone. Once the Burmese died, I fed adult dry food to the other cats. I did quite a bit of research before I let them eat the senior food and found nothing negative about feeding younger cats senior food for a period of time. The young cats are now 6 years old and are quite healthy. Gail F. Owned by Lao Ma, Ephiny, Minya, Melosa > My senior Burmese female (died at 18+ in 2004) was on a kidney diet for the > last several years of her life. She did like the Hill's K/D, and I [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > found nothing negative about feeding younger cats senior food for a period > of time. The young cats are now 6 years old and are quite healthy. Thanks for the info. I try to monitor the cats at mealtime, but the boys are so quick to dash over and gobble down Smudge's food that they regularly succeed in stealing some of it. (I think it's just jealousy and the idea that she must be getting something better, so they try to steal it on general principal.) It's reassuring to know that it probably won't hurt them to get some of it. SignatureKathy - help for new users at <http://www.aptalaska.net/~kmorgan/> Good Net Keeping Seal of Approval at <http://www.gnksa.org/> OE-quotefix can fix OE: <http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/> |
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