I did, plus eventually heart disease and GI lymphoma. What stage chronic kidney disease is Maestro? Neko had CKD for a few years. In the early stages I managed with low phosphorus food, plus benazapril because her urine protein creatinine ratio was high. You definitely do not need that high carb k/d food. Some kitties also have high blood pressure, as do some acros. If you haven’t got that tested yet, I would.
Hi Wendy, Thanks for responding. The vet did not tell me what stage he is in. I will post his labs this afternoon. His RBC is a little low, BP on high end of normal and liver enzymes out of normal range. I have joined an online support group for cats with CKD, so trying to juggle everything between all his health issues. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of confidence in the vet’s knowledge in this area. She recommended that I switch him from FF Classic Pate to Hills k/d. She will do labs again after he has been on new diet for 10 days. In the meantime he has started vomiting and seems weaker. Tremors in his front legs and head lead me to believe the phosphorus is too high. What did you feed Neko?
I agree with stopping the Fancy Feast, too high in phosphorus. Neko got a raw diet, some commercially made, some home made with a low P premix in it. In Canada we don’t have all the same canned foods as you do in the US. Most of the Weruva are low P, though also lower calorie so need to feed more. I have heard Whole Earth duck is a CKD/diabetic friendly option but we can’t get it here. You could always post in Feline Health asking what people feed, it’s a common enough combination. How is his potassium? That can impact legs too.
These are his recent labs SDMA: 20 CREA: 2.2mg/dL BUN: 50mg/dL BUN/CREA: 23 PHOS: 7.5 mg/dL TT4: 1.2 UPRO: 147mg/dL UCREA: 56mg/dL UPC: 2.63 (>=2.0–significant proteinuria)
Looks like stage 2 CKD, so early days yet. Neko was in stage two a couple years before it progressed. Did your vet say anything about the proteinuria? The phosphorus definitely needs to be lowered. Start with lower P foods and add a binder if the food change is not enough. Do you have calcium and potassium numbers? Is that Tanya’s support group you have joined. Her website is a good one. http://felinecrf.org/index.htm
My cat is in stage 2. She's doing OK though. Her crea is a little less but bun is higher than your cat. We switched to tikicat from fancy feast to try to bring the phosphorus down and always add about 3-4 ounces of water to her food. My cat is due for a checkup next month so I'll see if it's gotten worse. I'm hoping the phosphorus is down. Over 6 you may consider adding a binder. For the protienuria they usually perscribe Benezapril which can also help with blood pressure.
For blood pressure, I would try multiple readings before adding meds. Neko’s first attempt (nightmare visit) was 220+, second one (puppy jumped her carrier) -180, third one at dental vet, Feliway and Rescue Remedy on board, 140. Typically they should do a second urine protein creatinine ration test a couple weeks later, before adding benazapril. Proteinuria can accelerate CKD, so you do want to treat if it’s there. Proteinuria is common in acros,