kidney questions help & hello

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dd & savannah

dd & savannah

Member Since 2010
Hi,

Hope everyone is doing well. Savannah is still OTJ, almost two years later!!! We've been very busy and I apologize for the delay in updates. We welcomed a baby boy last June, and well, it's been quite the busy schedule. I am writing to ask for any advice because it seems as though we may have another health crisis for my little girl. Savannah seems to have lost weight over the course of the past two years. She's currently about 9lbs, probably normal in most cases, but two years ago she was 12lbs. I thought maybe it was due to the fact that her diabetes was under control and she appeared at a healthy weight. Over the past few months she's had some soft stool here and there and diarrhea. It took me a while to bring her to the doctor only b/c I kept thinking it was a change in her diet, she keeps eating anything my baby throws on the floor and/or finds it in strange places. I was being meticulous about cleaning and it was still happening once in a while so we brought her to the vet.After her first visit she was given flomax?? an antibiotic to help with the diarrhea, she seemed to want to eat HER food more than my baby's and ended up gaining 10oz in over a week and a half! She's also started drinking water over the course of the months something she NEVER used to do b/c we only feed her wet food.

Anyways, here is some info that I have...
Based on a couple of tests, it looks like she may have CRF.
Her Creatinine was 2.0(a little high) on 8/14 and then 2.5 on 8/22.
Her BUN was 38 (nomal) on 8/14 and then 53(high!!) on 8/22.
Also,the test we took on 8/14 registered her Eosinophil at 580/ul and then on 8/22 read at 2760/ul. Not sure what this is yet but there's big difference here too.

Any questions of additional tests you can think of that we should run please let me know, your advice and support is much appreciated!
dd
 
I don't know about additional tests. Based on what I've read here, you will want to make sure to use foods that are both low phosphorus and low carb.

If you edit your subject to say renal disease & diabetes, you'll get responses from others who have dealt with this.
 
I would definitely confirm diagnosis with a Urine Specific Gravity test. This can be more revealing than the bloodwork in detecting CKD, especially considering how close those numbers are to the normal range, except for that one high BUN. There can be other things that can cause a high BUN, including dehydration: http://www.felinecrf.org/diagnosis_blood_chemistry.htm#bun A high white blood cell count indicates an infection--so CKD may not be your problem. How does her mouth look? Any sign of infected gums? I would also have the urine and stool tested for bacteria/parasites.

What is her BG like? Is it elevated? That can be another sign of infection. Considering her other symptoms, CKD may be one issue but there seems to be something else going on.

I'm not sure how old Savannah is, but it's not a bad idea if she's an older kitty to feed a kidney friendly diet even if it doesn't turn out to be early stage CKD. It's really common in senior cats and not usually detected until over 60%-75% of kidney function is gone, so starting a kidney friendly diet early helps slow the progression of the disease IF it's there, and if it's not you're still feeding a good, healthy diet so that's just fine.

There are several commercial foods that are good for both conditions. To manage diabetes, you want to feed a low carb (less than 10%) canned food, and to manage the kidney disease, you want to feed a high quality, low phosphorus canned food. Many vets simply recommend low protein diets for cats with CKD, because they are by default low in phosphorus. However, it's the quality of protein and phosphorus levels that matter, not the protein values. The low-protein prescription kidney diets have only been shown to be beneficial in end stage renal failure and should not be fed long term. In fact, they cause muscle wasting when fed in early stage CKD and are completely inappropriate for an early stage cat.

Here's an updated food list with the values for several premium foods: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8...MzhkYTkxOGM4NThk&sort=name&layout=list&num=50. You're looking for something with less than 10% carbs (for the diabetes) and less than 250 mg/kcal of phosphorus (for the kidneys). The foods I would suggest are Merrick's Before Grain Beef, Merrick's Before Grain Turkey, Merricks' Cowboy Cookout, Merrick's Surf & Turf, Wellness Turkey, EVO 95% Chicken & Turkey, and Blue Wilderness Duck.

If those are out of your price range the next best thing to feed are the low carb Friskie's Special Diet Turkey & Giblets and Salmon flavors. However, I would strongly urge a food without byproducts, and keep in mind that they're still cheaper than the prescription foods and usually about the same as many grocery store brands if bought in large cans or in cases. Studies have shown that the quality of the protein source does make a difference in controlling the disease, and that needs to be considered along side phosphorus content.

Here is a fantastic website with a lot of information about CKD: http://www.felinecrf.org/
 
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