Lab result high BUN

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Marje and Gracie said:
A high protein diet won’t cause CKD. No worries. Also....when you get the USG back, remember that USG changes during the day. Think in terms of your own urine if you are drinking enough liquid: it’s more concentrated first thing in the morning and then as the day goes and you are drinking, your urine should become almost undetectable in the toilet if you are properly hydrating. Same thing happens with cats. Therefore, the best way to determine if they are capable of concentrating their urine, which is the most important thing when contemplating CKD, is to check the first urine sample of the day. As the day progresses, they drink alot of water, you add liquid to their food, etc, the USG will typically drop. Now it shouldn’t drop down to 1.020 or numbers that low but it will drop. So, again, you have to look at the big picture and not just one factor. Interestingly, her USG was lower than it should be in May when she was diagnosed but I’m assuming that because she was diabetic, she was drinking and peeing alot and that would account for it.


I fed Gracie canned food (wish I hadn’t) because, at the time, I didn’t like the choices in the balanced raw (EZC was not on the market and I hadn’t discovered Alnutrin) but I also gave her a small portion of boiled chicken treat each day. If this is what you are doing, that’s fine as long Momo is getting the number of calories she needs from a balanced canned or raw diet. A little boiled chicken treat is fine in that case. But if you are feeding her more than just a small treat of boiled chicken, then you need to rethink it. It’s up to you whether you want to feed canned or balanced raw food. For me, I don’t trust commercial pet food companies that make canned food. I just don’t; I’m a big proponent of “you are what you eat” and cancer rates have gone up with people and pets and it is often attributable to diet. My Tobey (10 yrs) has been on a balanced raw diet since he was 2 and my Livia (4 yrs) since I got her at 12 weeks old. It’s is extremely important when changing to a balanced raw diet or even between two different kinds of balanced raw, that you do it very, very slowly. Tobey was originally on Primal commercial raw and when I switched him to Alnutrin and then to EZC, I did it super slow. Same with Liv. I started with one protein and first just substituted 1/4 tsp of new with old. Fed a few days and if all was ok, increased to 1/2 tsp, etc until I finally was replacing all the old with the new but it was very gradual. Then I started over with the next protein so each protein was introduced slowly. Yes, it takes time and patience but so worth it and neither of them ever had any diarrhea or constipation. They both now eat six different proteins with EZC added and I rotate proteins every day. It’s super easy because i make food in batches.


She’s probably saying that based on the labs. Remember that dehydration can be just that she hadn’t had enough liquids as of the time the labs were drawn. It doesn’t mean dehydration like a CKD cat can get or a cat that has been vomiting or having diarrhea. I have to add alot of extra water to my raw food or both my cats labs make them look dehydrated at that moment but neither of them is really dehydrated clinically. In other words, their skin pops right back when pulled up and their gums are nice and slick. They wouldn’t give IV fluids in the instance you are talking about or even have you give subq fluids at home. Does she drink a ton of water on her own and is she in the litter box alot more? Again, her labs at this time do not indicate CKD.


It would be odd for a food to have so much potassium that it would raise her potassium levels. Phosphorus, absolutely. However, I never say “never”. And again, snapshot.

Yes, I know of that litter but haven’t used it so I don’t know about it’s reliability. Other members might.

It is interesting that some of the factors we look at for CKD are increased: creatinine, BUN, phosphorus (although this was high in June as well); her potassium was normal in June. But with normal SDMA and a normal creatinine; I’d not worry. I’d ask your vet when the best time to recheck her labs is.
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@Marje and Gracie, @jt and trouble (GA), @tiffmaxee, @Nan & Amber (GA), @SashaV @JanetNJ, @Wendy&Neko

Hello Marje and Gracie- thank you so much for giving time to answer all my questions.
- I just remembered and I forgot to mention to you From the time she was DX with Fd, 5/6/2020, the vet recommended PURINA DM. Momo had been eating that since then, and slowly I was able to introduce the boiled and baked chicken slowly- like a pea size mixed with DM on 7/1. Then @7/21, DM Purina stopped - and just the boiled chicken. Then around a week ago- boiled and baked chicken.
I counted based on my list and purchases - she ate a Total of 117 cans for 74 days..and I still have the 3 loose cans here, it comes with 24 per order.
That might be the reason she got higher Potassium?
I totally forgot to mention that..
- also yes, I gave her chicken (both boiled and baked) and I put Vitamin B12 (once a day), and Taurine supplement - on cooked ones. I just bought Vitamin E, Nordic omega 3 recommended by @tiffmaxee, and @jt and trouble (GA), etc... and Ez Complete mix
I also give her Raw freeze dried Stella & Chewy like 6 pieces a day. I stopped it for like 3 days because she was constipated.
I wanted to learn what you are doing like different meats also. I read the cat.info and Lisa also used rabbits. But I never see there that she recommended the Ready Mix? She only mentioned 4 supplements- B12, Taurine. Omega 3, Vit. E
- about the urine, the vet asked me yo get the earliest one in the morning...
- yes, as soon as I pulled her skin, it goes back really fast..
Thank you. I hope I don’t take too
Much of your time.
- I also watched the youtube video of your Baby Girl Gracie- so beautiful- you must be missing her a lot, I just wish that we, our families, including our fur babies stay forever here- no pain to feel of losing any of them..
Thank you..
 
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MamaLovesMomo said:
Then @7/21, DM Purina stopped - and just the boiled chicken. Then around a week ago- boiled and baked chicken.
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It concerns me that she hasn’t been getting a balanced diet with just the boiled and baked chicken. You can buy the supplements and add them but they have to be at very specific proportions. It’s really, really important. I can’t tell if you’ve been giving the EXC on the cooked chicken in accordance with the instructions for amount of meat, water, and EZC. You have to very specifically follow the instructions.

Dr. Lisa has very specific recipes with ingredients and how much to add. She doesn’t use EZC but that doesn’t mean it’s not a really great product. It might be too expensive based on the number of cats she has.

I buy frozen ground USDA approved human grade meats, at human grocers, like venison, elk, pork, lamb, bison, turkey. My cats don’t like rabbit. They used to love goat but the distributor quit packing it so I can’t get it anymore.

I’m glad the vet is checking an early morning urine sample.

You aren’t taking up too much of my time. :) Thank you for watching Gracie’s video. Yes, I miss her every single moment. She was an incredibly special baby and my little soul kitty. :bighug:
 
Marje and Gracie said:
It concerns me that she hasn’t been getting a balanced diet with just the boiled and baked chicken. You can buy the supplements and add them but they have to be at very specific proportions. It’s really, really important. I can’t tell if you’ve been giving the EXC on the cooked chicken in accordance with the instructions for amount of meat, water, and EZC. You have to very specifically follow the instructions.

Dr. Lisa has very specific recipes with ingredients and how much to add. She doesn’t use EZC but that doesn’t mean it’s not a really great product. It might be too expensive based on the number of cats she has.

I buy frozen ground USDA approved human grade meats, at human grocers, like venison, elk, pork, lamb, bison, turkey. My cats don’t like rabbit. They used to love goat but the distributor quit packing it so I can’t get it anymore.

I’m glad the vet is checking an early morning urine sample.

You aren’t taking up too much of my time. :) Thank you for watching Gracie’s video. Yes, I miss her every single moment. She was an incredibly special baby and my little soul kitty. :bighug:
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@Marje and Gracie,

Thank you so much. Truly appreciate your response. Yes, I will start to add the EZ mix as soon as I get them.
- I also checked the DM Purina cat wet food that momo used to eat - it has supplement of Potassium Iodide - that might be the reason.

- How old was Gracie when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge? Is she your very first baby fur?

Thanks..
 
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