Question about CRF

[blove7]

Hi everyone,

Last night, Corduroy was making a grinding sound with his jaw to the point where it really sounded painful to me, but he just seemed bothered, not in pain. He has done this before, quite a few times, in fact. It's actually probably been a couple of years, although it doesn't happen all the time. We always thought it had something to do with his teeth, but every time we took him to the vet, they could see nothing. I just remembered that awhile ago, I heard (I can't remember from what source) that this could be a symptom of kidney failure. The article I'm looking at now says that the cracking/grinding of the jaw doesn't happen until the kidneys are in 70% failure, so this really scares me. Does anyone have experience with CRF? And, if so, do you have any advice?

 

[Blue]

Tanya's site

felinecrf.org

 

[Josie & Ripley (GA)]

Tanya's has links to possible reasons for teeth-grinding.

ETA: Blue beat me to it :smile:

 

[Marje and Gracie]

My guy, Gus, is considered to be in end stage renal failure although you would never know it. I've had four cats go through CKD and have never heard any of them doing this.

HOWEVER, from what I consider to be the "Bible" of CKD:

Teeth Grinding
Cats who grind their teeth may have excess stomach acid. Dental problems are another possible cause. It may also be a sign of dehydration. Very occasionally, this might be a sign of "rubber jaw", caused by a condition related to CKD called secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Typically, a cat with an acid tummy has other signs such as meatloafing, not wanting to eat, possibly drooling, vomiting clear (foamy) liquid, etc. If you want to check his hydration, rub your fingers over his gums....they should be slick. You can also pick up his scruff and let it go. If he's well hydrated, it should snap right back into place. I wouldn't expect him to have secondary hyperparathyroidism; it's an imbalance of phosphorus and calcium typically found in CKD cats (oversimplification).

If you suspect CKD, you should have a full blood panel done.

Remember that feline resorptive lesions cannot necessarily been seen by the vet. Sometimes they can but often it takes a digital dental xray which requires anesthesia.