4/10 Brownie Weekly Update - CRF question

[Patricia&Brownie]

Brownie is still having some yellow pre-shot numbers, so I took him to the vet this past Tuesday for another full workup. I had been wondering if he had a slight infection from his dental a few weeks ago, but everything was fine. He was quite dehydrated however and his creatinine had gone from 2.8 to 3.5 in the 3 weeks since his dental. His BUN went from 47 to 49. I'm back to giving him squids at home 2x/week. Could the worsening CRF be a factor in why his bgs have been so much higher? Also, for those of you with CRF kitties, what amount of squids are you giving and how often? I was really afraid that the dental would be too hard on his kidneys, but we hydrated him very well before, during and after the procedure. It might be a coincidence, but he has definitely worsened in the past few weeks. He still enjoys cuddling, cheek scritches, and short outings to the garden. The garden is now all dirt since we decided to start over, retilling and amending the soil. New plants have been purchased and are sitting in a corner, waiting to be planted (including a few catnip plants which the kitties have already located and sampled!). BTW, Brownie was 164 this am and had a 45 last night at +4, but I'm going to stick with the skinny 1 dose for now... Happy Caturday, LL!

 

[OptOut]

Does Brownie help in the garden? I'm thinking he could leave little "brownies" as fertilizer?

 

[Libby and Lucy]

I don't have CRF answers, but I hope the fluids help. I'm sure that could have something to do with his numbers, and I'm sure dehydration could too. Hopefully it will all come together soon.

 

[Barbara and tuffy]

Good to see you Patricia and Brownie: Hope the fluids help. Hope you have a great evening.

 

[Roni and Moonie]

Happy sounding Brownie with his lovely garden of catnip! Numbers sound like they are great! Hope the squids are not needed for long
Happy to hear from you & HUgs from US>>

 

[carolynandlatte]

Hi Patricia,
Its always tough to see the creatinine go up. Are you planning a recheck in a few weeks to see if there is an upward trend? I would not be too worried about the 2 point difference in BUn, at this point. Is normal around 30, 35 for brownie? What pain meds did Brownie get both during and after the dental?

I dont know how much the crf and diabetes plays into each other. Honestly, we have had enough to wrap our brains and paws around that i have not explored the subject. Though Im certain there is quite a relationship. Maybe a good discussion for Health?

Before Latte was on the steroid, I gave 100-150ml/daily. And, she is (or was?) a smaller cat. anytime I cut back on fluids things got a little worse. She also had ARF, which sometimes requires long term (or life long) fluids if there are risidual crf effects. I dont know why or where I read that, but Latte has proven that to be true for her. I now only give about 50/day because with the pred (makes her drink more) she ends up peeing herself. Since the reduction her creatinine has shown a slow increase.

I wonder if it might be worth doing a smaller amount with brownie, e/o day just to even out the hydration. Unless the fluids are taking 3+ days to absorb, Brownie is possibly becoming dehydrated inbetween complete absorption and next subq. Make sense? So more frequent, smaller amounts imho is more logical.

I hope the next check shows improvements, and that this was a little blip.

 

[Patricia&Brownie]

Carolyn, thanks for all the info about squids and CRF. I was going to ask my vet about exactly what you suggested. Brownie seems to get dehydrated again after only 2 days, so I would like to try giving him the squids e/o day. 100cc sounds about right... At least he tolerates it well - my other kitty Simpkin (also 18.5 years old) is getting harder to give squids to every time. He sees the squid bag and immediately jumps off the couch - my DH tells me "Your patient has left AMA - against medical advice!" Brownie has been in CRI for many, many years and has had an upward trend in both his Creatinine and BUN - check out his labs on my signature... I have him tested at LEAST every 3 months, more frequently if necessary. He's REALLY an oldtimer, so a few months can spell big changes fast. Also, he received BUPE after his dental, which included one extraction. He didn't react well to it though and stared at the wall for about 2 days. Then, he wouldn't urinate and had to have a cysto at the vet... The vet examined his teeth this past week and said that they look wonderful - the extraction has healed well and there is no evidence of tartar or decay. Thanks for all the info - I'll update again next week and hopefully your suggestion will help him...

 

[melinda and talbot]

Nice to see you and Brownie. It sounds like he is enjoying himself with his scritches and garden visits.

 

[CD and BigMac]

Good to see you here Patricia. Give that Brownie as many hugs and scritches as he wants. What a sweet kitty. I hope his treatments help and there are years of hugs to come.