Newly Diagnosed CRF

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badams

Member Since 2011
I have 2 cats left out of 3 littermates I hand raised with milk dropped into their little mouths from 2 days old. I lost one earlier this year to Congestive Heart Failure. Samson was diagnosed with FD on 10/1/11, but went into remission in early November, and the FD likely was due to a couple of steroid shots he had received. I take Samson's BG about once a week and it is generally in the 70's.

Samson and his sister, Yoda, have both not seemed quite right to me lately, so I took them in for some blood work. They were 14 on 5/22/12. They both have CRF....Yoda has about 25% function left, and Samson has about 20% function left. I read posts still very often on FBMC, even though my FD experience was limited. I'm always quite excited to see the turn around kitties with FD make after their beans come to this board. So, I know there are people here who know quite a bit about CRF.

I've gone to that Yahoo Group, but it does not have a format I can figure out much at this point, and you all feel like friends to me. My vet, who is a lovely vet and very supportive of me doing things he had never heard of people being willing to do when Samson was in his bad times, says that all we can do is get them on some food that will take some of the work off of the kidneys, and keep an eye on them, and test them at least every 6 months.

I don't know how bad 25% and 20% function left is in the scheme of CRF. How bad, realistically, is that? Is there anything other than the diet change I can do. I'm not that worried about Samson changing diet, as he stays in his good numbers even when I let him have bad food....and now I'm apparently going to have to give him food bad for FD. I will, of course, keep monitoring his BG at least weekly.

I don't think they're either one dehydrated....they both do like to drink a lot, which was what made me suspect the problem anyway....since they neither were having any elevated BG.

So is just this diet change and keeping aware of any changing symptoms what I should be doing?

Thanks for any input on this, which is worrying me, of course. The kitties and I are joined at the hip pretty much.

Bennie
 
What does your vet recommend to do? It depends upon the individual cat.
My civi Stuart is on phosphorous binder, Pepcid AV and potassium supplement in addition to 100 ml fluids every other day.
 
Thanks, Sue, for that link....I read part of it and I'll study it more in depth in a bit.

The vet recommends at this point to start on K/D rx food. But I bet my cats won't like it. They like the canned food that I can kind of make a soup out of so they can lick the juice and ignore the other part. He says they are in the early stage, and at some point they may have to have the kitty version of kidney dialysis...basically flush their system, and I don't know if he is talking about the SubQ Liquids or something else.....but that they are not anywhere near that yet. You know how it is when you're first getting the information. Your emotions are more engaged than your brain is, and once your heart gets out of your throat, you have to start trying to find things out.

Thanks for getting back to me.
 
I just posted this on another post but it all applies to you, so I am reposting---

I would NOT give your kitty kidney food. My Fred had CRF for 6 years (and Db for 5) and I refused to give it to him, always gave him the high protein, low carb, no grain canned--like Wellness. He progressed very slowly. The vet didn't like my not doing this and he said, oh just increase the insulin. That was not acceptable to me and I knew that the vets know nothing aobut nutrition for cats anyway and they make money selling that K/D and other renal foods. It's low protein and as we know, our kitties, not matter what their health, all need plenty of protein, they are carnivores.

Towards the last year and a half of Freds life, his blood values got slightly worse, so on vet's advice, I started giving subQ fluids--but be very conservative with the needle size and the dose.

Unbeknownst to me, the vet was very aggressive and prescribed 150ml EVERY DAY when he wasn't even that bad, and he was 19 years old. I did it, stupidly trusting htis idiot vet, and the first few months he was good, Then I started noticing symptoms like rear leg collapsing, etc. the vet did not believe me when I said it was the fluids--it absolutely was, I know my cat and it was cause-and-effect. He would collapse in the litter box immediatly after getting fluids, or not be able to stand right after I gave them. Anyway, long story short, I ended up inducing cardiac heart failure in Fred because he has a very mild underlying heart disease (HCM) and the vet NEVER said--oh you should do an ultrasound on his heart first before we pump him with megadoses of fluids. The lfuids can be very hard on the heart.

The vet SHOULD have started me on something like 30ml 3x a week, enough to help but not to drown his poor little heart. Anyway, I stopped the fluids after that and he still lived another 10 more months and died at 20 and 2m and his kidney values never got worse--and I never gave him that crap kidney food.

Keep him on the high quality high protein food.

What you can do is add phosphorus binder to his food--it's a little powder you mix with water and pour on the food. There are two kinds, forgot the names, but switch between the two, it's safer...Also go on the CRF yahoo groups board and people there can advise you better.

IF you do fluids--DO NOT USE THE 18 gauge needles the vet uses. These are like spears into kitties skin and no need, they are huge. The vets use them because they are fast. It's not much slower to use a smaller nicer-feeling needle. I experimented with all the sizes and ended up using 25 gauge and 26 gauge. 26 gauge is ideal although you have to hold your hand securely there since it's very short needle so it dooesn't slip out. You will have to special order this because usually the online cat needle supply places stop at 23 or 24. Just call them and place the special request. Your kitty will thank you for it. Definitely use a small needle and be very conservative with your fluid doses...but hold off until it's needed.

Also, put little teeny bowls of water everywhere kitty is--not just the kitchen, but by your bed, by the sofa, by your desk, etc. So you make it very easy for him to drink all the time. Maybe get one of those fountains too if it makes him drink more. And give only canned food as it has more moisture, you can add a little more water to the wellness, as much as he'll take..
 
Thanks, Marticia, that is a lot of good information. I've been reading about the SubQ fluids and doing the tent test to see if the kitties are dehydrated, and both of mine seem to be fine in that respect right now.

Right now my two CRF kitties are chasing each other around my room. :-D Other than the fact that it is 4:30 a.m., that's a good sign, I think.

I'm going to start reading up on binders, now.

Thanks again for all the good information. It really helps, and makes a lot of sense. I like it when things make sense.
 
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