. His appetite is more or less normal. He has not lost any weight.
Use this chart to find foods under 10 percent carb and under 250 phosphorus. https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf
Your cat is not concentrating his urine. USG should be 1.30 or above.
I have to ask as I've seen this a few times recently in various groups with no evidence to back it, but none of the official expert advice has changed. Where is this phosphorus target of below 4 coming from? IRIS, Dr. Mark Peterson etc all suggest aiming for 4.5 or below in Stage 2. Below 4 is generally neither desirable nor achievable for a CKD cat.
Stage 2 you will want the phosphorus level between 2.7 and 4.59 the lower the level the better they feel which is why I said under 4 if you can.
What I'm asking is who are "they"? Because they're not any of the known and renowned experts on CKD who all say 4.5 OR below. Not 4.0 or below, and not to necessarily aim lower than 4.5 - a lot of cats can't even achieve 4.5 in Stage 2 even with low phosphorus food and binders (which should really only be used when absolutely necessary, not given in large quantities aiming for an even lower number). Or is this one of those things where someone thinks that if 4.5 is good, 4.0 must be better and 3.5 is even better than that and then they say it often enough that the myth perpetuates and starts to be quoted as fact? Also to point out that there won't be a difference in how a cat feels with a phosphorus of 4.0 as opposed to 4.5 as both are within target range. You can't always improve on ideal by taking a "more is more" stance.
My vet said she wanted to see the phosphorus 4 and under when my cat was stage 2 and that they feel better and the ckd progresses slower when it's lower. Tanya's site says 2.7-4.59 so there ya go. Yes 4.5 is at the higher end of the good range. The point is its better to get the phosphorus down now, to whatever degree you are able, while he's feeling relatively well and eating good because 5.9 is high for this stage and unless changes are made it will continue to rise which will have a negative effect.
Well, any absolute range (especially when that 2.7 is being quoted and is the bottom end of the range at most labs) has to be quoted with caution. Some lab ranges are different and if you aim for the very lowest or highest end of a range, then you could end up out of range depending on the lab. I've also seen "ideal" potassium quoted as 4.4. Yet there is at least one lab out there where the high end of range is 4.0 so aiming for 4.4 on that lab would be actively dangerous. The expert opinion is 4.5 or lower, but no binder unless the phosphorus is above 6.0. That's because binders are something to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Yes, CKD progresses slower when phosphorus is controlled, but again it isn't a "more is more" situation - 4.5 or below is the target to slow progression per the research. If we applied the same logic to diabetic cats where normal is good, but something beyond that just has to be better, then we'd be saying "50 is great...but let's aim for 40 on the meter. Or maybe 35" - and that would clearly be dangerous advice.
I have read it before. I will go back and read again. Unfortunately, another problem has reared it's head. Shiloh is not eating much. I've tried several different foods, milk replacement, straight tuna, Parmesan cheese, tuna water, etc. The one thing that she will take regularly, and without hesitation is her dried liver treats. I'm about to give her a bowl of them, and see what happens.
Yes. The specific fPL tests for pancreatitis. The usg tests urine concentration. Ideally it should be a tad higher. Was she given fluids? That will cause it to be lower as fluids dilute the urine. Someone said the usg was 1.013. That’s is low.
Not hyper-t. The T4 would be high if she was.
She wasn't given fluids. The vet said she was a little dehydrated, but not enough for fluids at that time. She doesn't act like she is nauseous. Not lip licking and walking away. She will dip into everything that I put down, almost as soon as I put it down, just not much of it. And no vomiting. Am I missing something, or in denial? @tiffmaxee , I trust you to be honest with me, as you always have.
I edited after I posted. Should have been hypo, not hyper. But it appears that is rare in cats.