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cat with CKD

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  littlecatblue 
#1 ·
I just wanted to say hello! I am a proud owner of a 13 year old female Tortie...and boy is she a handful! It's like having a teenager with mood swings. lol. But I love her dearly and she's incredibly smart and super silly and playful just like a kitten (but only when SHE'S in the mood of course. lol) . I joined this site to get more information regarding her recent diagnosed stage 2 kidney disease. She has never showed signs of any disease or even been sick in her first 13 years, just a random hair ball throw up every now and then. Until about a month ago when I noticed she wasn't peeing fully in her box. I decided to get her checked out and that's when the vet said she is healthy from head to toe, beside abnormalities in her blood work showing very early signs of kidney issues. Since then the vet recommended a renal diet which I put her on but she didn't take to it too well, plus it was making her sick. I came home to her throwing up so much she was throwing up bile. Took her back to the vet and was told her gut and pancreas was inflamed and has possible IBD or pancreatitis. Honestly, I think she was just sick because I had left for the weekend and she was only eating hard food, which she got into the bag of the stuff she liked and just ate too much with no wet food and it upset her stomach being she was on the renal diet for a week or so. Since that last vet visit, I was told to put her on a limited ingredient diet which I have been doing, but testing out the brands and flavors to see what she likes and what won't bother her stomach. I also barely give her anymore hard food (I give her a palm full as a treat) and she's always been a water drinker so she drinks plenty of that. So far this last week or so she has been getting back to her normal self. I still monitor her constantly (I find myself questioning every move she makes though like, did she do that before or is she feeling sick again?!) But so far this diet change seems to be helping. I have been on Tanya's website and another regarding the foods with low phosphorus levels and trying to get her on one that will be easy on her stomach as well as not progress the CKD since I'm nervous to give her the renal food being she was throwing it up every day.

Anyway, any information you all have for me regarding the diet would be helpful! Like which brands and flavors. SO sorry for the rambling. I just love my baby girl so much and it kills me to see her sick or in pain.
 
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#2 ·
There are studies showing that CoQ10 can lower creatine and bun levels. It also lowers liver enzyme levels. The amino acid L-threonine will help her retain muscle and is supportive for the heart and liver. Taurine of course is important for healthy heart and eyes and can become depleted in the ckd cat.

https://www.holisticat.com/index.php/en/chronic-diseases/41-crf?showall=1

I would get some kidney glandulars (swanson vitamins, ancestral supplements are both good sources) and give her some of that daily along with 100mg-200mg of coQ10 (get the powdered form in capsule so you can easily put it in her food or dump in some water and pull into an oral syringe for dosing) to support her kidneys and take her back within a couple of weeks to see if that is helping.

I would give her 1/4 tsp of taurine (amazon bulk supplements taurine is what I use) and 1/4 tsp of threonine daily in her food too.

You could easily start making her food too. Lots of info online for that. But you'll need a good vitamin/mineral supplement to make sure she has all the nutrients she needs. I believe the optimal ratio for cats is 80% protein, 10% carbs and 10% veggies, at least it was several years ago. I don't know if it's changed. But you could easily boil or bake a whole fryer chicken and cook some chicken livers; and hearts (you might have to order them online from a small organic farm), a bit of brown rice and some veggies. Throw in a food processor to puree it all after it's cooked. You can freeze meal size portions in ice cube trays and then store in a zip lock bag in the freezer for easy portion control. Just take out the portion to thaw in the fridge overnight for the next meal.

I would stop all vaccinations at this point. Because at 13 years old her body shouldn't be subjected to them anymore. If she's an indoor cat she doesn't need them anyway. Did you vaccinate yearly, btw? Over vaccination has been linked with renal problems.

https://www.americanveterinarian.com/news/risk-factors-for-chronic-kidney-disease-in-cats

And if you have to leave town, I would get a pet sitter to come to the house twice a day to feed and visit with her to help keep her stress levels down.

Rx Vitamins has an amino b-complex that is very palatable. I give this to my Patches who is 14 years old. I found this liquid vitamin A for her too. She gets one drop daily.

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AA1G9C2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]

They have a vitamin D liquid formula too. If you're going to go the homemade route you'll need to supplement if you don't give her any liver. Liver stores vitamin A and D.
[ame]https://www.amazon.com/Rx-Vitamins-Pets-Cholecalciferol-Hypoallergenic/dp/B00M77C1EC/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=vitamin+drops+pets&qid=1568821975&s=hpc&sr=1-5[/ame]

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OBWL78C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]

You can order plain aluminum hydroxide powder on amazon to bind the phosphorus too. But if the coQ10 brings her bun and creatin to normal levels, you may not even need to do that. I know 100mg-200mg coQ10 sounds high but I have given my Patches 200mg coQ10 to bring down her liver values when she had hepatic lipidosis and she tolerated that much coQ10 just fine and it quickly brought down her bilirubin levels too. I was also giving her milk thistle, lecithin, SAM-e and medicinal mushrooms.
 
#3 ·
There are support groups for cats with CKD on Facebook that are very helpful.

When I think of a cat with CKD, I think of getting as much water in them as possible. I am glad to hear you are giving her a wet diet and she drinks her water. As the disease progresses, your vet may recommend you give sub-q fluids. Until then, keep pushing the wet food and the water.

If you get upset, she'll get upset. Cats who have been healthy all their lives can eventually develop senior cat problems. This is just one of them. She can live for many years with this, or something else may crop up.

If you do wander into the Facebook Forums, be prepared with bloodwork paperwork. They ask a lot of questions.

Lastly, I want to encourage you to give her a good life. Some cats are more tolerable with treatments than others. Be informed of your options, but don't feel pressured to do something that isn't right for you and your cat.
 
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