My kitty cat is in chronic renal failure

I just thought I'd give an update on Ophelia (or Miss Ophelia, as she prefers to be called).

Good news! Her quarterly checkup came back - her BUN is down a little bit (still slightly elevated, but lower is good), her creatinine is exactly where it was 3 mos ago (slightly elevated - just a tad above high normal) and her phosphorus and calcium levels are great. Other tests were peachy. Chronic illness for sure, but, holding steady and she is eating (and drinking - a lot).
 
That's great news Elizabeth! Prayers for your kitty!
 
Thanks Anthony! It's pretty much just one step at a time. If everything smiles on us, the new reality is different eating/drinking habits, keep up with the meds, and hope that things stay status quo.

Right now it isn't intrusive - pepcid slivers every other day, TumilK gel for potassium, and right now her diet of choice is Hill's GD (only tolerated the specific kidney diet for 2 months then went on a hunger strike for a day so I had to find something she actually would eat).
 
Super news. Amazing how we get attached to animals that regard us as servants. :D :D :D
 
I didn't want to mention this earlier, but our superCat Panda was diagnosed with renal failure and she survived 6 years. We finally had to put her down at age 18 when she became totally incontinent. It was a very sad day. But the news here is that your Miss O can survive happily for a long time. I wish her well!

-Skip
 
Hi

Thanks everyone! Yes, we do get very attached to the little critters.

Skip, I am glad you enjoyed 6 more years with your kitty.
 
Hi

I just thought I'd give everyone an update...

A month ago her blood test showed a slight elevation in the key indicators. The vet said "instead of 4 months until the next one, let's make it one to make sure it's not trending".

Sunday, then, we checked her and they are slightly higher yet again. The vet (same hospital, different vet) said, well, it's still relatively mild so let's see her in 2 months. However, she heard a heart murmur this time.

I took her in for an ECG this morning.. the cardiologist diagnosed her with HCM, which is apparently Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (? still learning ?)

It's still an early case, and she is going on beta-blockers now.

The sad thing is, both diseases she has are life-shorteners, no cure. We can slow the progress but not cure anything. It's possible (likely?) the HCM is something genetic. She has a leaky mitral valve which apparently causes the heart to work harder, which is what can make it enlarge (if I understand the discussions this morning...)

She's still happy and perky and eating and I hope I can keep that up for as long as possible.

sigh.
 
My moogie dog has renal dysplasia, something in the breed. She's now on a low protein diet and much improved as a result. This will limit her lifespan, but its in the cards.
 
Best of luck to you and the kitties. It's not easy when they're not feeling well. BTDT.
 
Sorry Elizabeth!
woodstock said:
She's still happy and perky and eating and I hope I can keep that up for as long as possible.
Click to expand...
That is the key. For pets it is all about quality of life and as long as she has that keep trucking.

I do have a question about how the heart issue may affect treatment for CRF. Do you know if she gets put onto fluids will her heart be able to manage with the extra fluid load? I don't want to worry you, I am just asking.
 
Hi, thanks everyone. Sorry about your doggy Steingar.

Scott, she still isn't to the fluids phase of therapy yet. The vet said this AM that if she needed to go on them, her HCM isn't advanced enough that she'd be in danger to be on fluids. When that day may come, I have to get her heart checked again.

So far I've been very lucky... I'm guessing she has had CRF for a year, as I took her to the vet after Thanksgiving and she probably had this brewing for a month before that... her numbers are still "mild" and the vet this AM said we caught this HCM really early. The meds will slow things down, but one website said 2-4 years is a good estimate of lifespan after diagnosis.

That would make her anywhere from 8-10 yrs old, at that time. :(
 
I think the length of a pet's life matters much less (to the pet) than the quality. Sadly the same is not true for the owners. But I know you'll keep your pets happy for as long as you can, and that you'll do the right thing.
 
One of our cats was killed by the Chinese. That bad cat food thing. One day she's fine, 5 days later she's on life support. My kids got to watch her die on New Years Day.

I feel for you. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. At least you have some more quality time ahead of you. We didn't even see it coming.

Give kitty a scritchy-scratch for me. :)
 
I am so sad to hear of your sick Kitty. I love my two cats like they were my children. I would spend every last dime I had if I could save them, or extend their life in comfort. Have already given up my Pug Trickie Woo, and that nearly broke my heart. Turbo and Sadie (she is 14) are my only companions. I know I will lose Sadie in the next year or so, but her life has been a very long an happy one for a cat. It is some consolation. I will pray for your kitty to stabilize and enjoy the remaining years.
 
flyersfan31 said:
One of our cats was killed by the Chinese. That bad cat food thing. One day she's fine, 5 days later she's on life support. My kids got to watch her die on New Years Day.

I feel for you. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. At least you have some more quality time ahead of you. We didn't even see it coming.

Give kitty a scritchy-scratch for me. :)
Click to expand...

I am not a violent person, but if somebody killed one of my animals I would take matters in my own hands. There would be a recompense.
 
A few days ago I had to have a cat I had for 15 years put down due the kidney failure. He had been diagnosed with that and diabetes about 5 years ago. With insulin and proper diet he did quite well until about the last month.

So with proper care, your cat can still live a good many quality years before the condition becomes unmanageable.
 
flyersfan31 said:
One of our cats was killed by the Chinese. That bad cat food thing. One day she's fine, 5 days later she's on life support. My kids got to watch her die on New Years Day.

I feel for you. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. At least you have some more quality time ahead of you. We didn't even see it coming.

Give kitty a scritchy-scratch for me. :)
Click to expand...

ooooh, I am so sorry, that is a nightmare come true. I was so angry when it happened. I didn't know you were also affected. Poor kitty. :(

Thanks Damon for the encouragement, 5 years is a good long time with kidney problems. You took good care of him.

Thank you David, I feel the same. They are my little buddies, never out of my sight. (or rather I'm never out of their sight - well except for nighttime when they prowl around the house for a while after I go to sleep). FWIW, I believe the Chinese actually did execute the man in charge of their "FDA" - not for the pets but for the people food. I think they were the same issues though (including bribes, etc). I don't feel a bit sorry for him.

Ghery, I know you have. :(

Tim, they are spoiled rotten so I'm hoping she's with me a long time despite these new issues now.
 
woodstock said:
It was just positively confirmed Thursday with an ultrasound. Pretty bummed about it all. I have two cats, they are littermates. Only one is affected.

Other than the weight loss (and the excessive drinking and peeing) she is still acting quite normal. Interested in food, running, jumping, purring, playing. Her numbers are elevated but still low-elevated and so far, stable. It's also possible this has been on a simmer for some time. With cats I guess you don't know things are going on for a long time - they don't "act sick" until they are pretty far along.

It's bad news but now that we know what it is, all the treatment can start and hopefully we will be the ones that beat the odds as long as possible.

She's only 5 years old. I'm learning more about kidneys than I ever thought I would.
Click to expand...

Tuna, get the cat off of cat food and on tuna....
 
woodstock said:
Other than the weight loss (and the excessive drinking and peeing) she is still acting quite normal. Interested in food, running, jumping, purring, playing. Her numbers are elevated but still low-elevated and so far, stable. It's also possible this has been on a simmer for some time. With cats I guess you don't know things are going on for a long time - they don't "act sick" until they are pretty far along.
Click to expand...

I had a dog that had the same problem and lasted for several years that way. She just drank and peed a lot. Finally her kidneys gave out completely and she died peacefully in her sleep. She was 17 years old so I'm sure if that didn't get her, something else would have.
 
steingar said:
Cats have a tough time digesting much of anything else though.
Click to expand...
There are renal diets for cats with this disease. If they eat it and can maintain their weight it is the best thing to do. But if they don't eat it then you have to do what you can to maintain their weight and that can mean high protein foods. I had two cats go through this. One of the things that worked for one cat was to sprinkle oyster juice on the kidney diet. It made it taste better for her.
 
Henning said:
Good chance the cat food is the cause though.
Click to expand...

Lots of things can cause renal dysfunction. I know for a fact that it is a trait of the breed I have. I don't know so for cats, but could easily be a trait in some of the inbred lines there as well. Cat digestive systems are well-suited to handle rich food, they're pure carnivores (sorry, your fluffy little pals are pure killers).

Indeed, that was the heart of my question. A low protein dog food can have extra carbohydrates and fat, it can even have undigestible fiber, the dog's digestive system can handle that. A cat's cannot, so if the protein goes out, what would go in that the cat could actually digest? I suppose the fat content could go up, but that has issues of its own.
 
Do I dare ask what the vet bills have totaled?
 
EdFred said:
Do I dare ask what the vet bills have totaled?
Click to expand...
Hers are at the beginning of this cycle. One the one I had that lasted 2 years once she started on the IV fluids we spent but a small fraction in comparison to the joy that she had brought to our lives. But in dollar terms it was several thousand dollars.
 
EdFred said:
Do I dare ask what the vet bills have totaled?
Click to expand...

It's already well into the thousands. This week has totaled 700 so far - although good news, the beta blocker I'm to use was 6 bucks for a 3 months supply. That's by far the cheapest amount I've paid for anything related to meds.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Here are some sites that have historically proven to have pretty good info, these links are on managing CRF in kitties:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=9&A=2615&S=2
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00122.htm
http://www.felinecrf.com/index.htm

causes of CRF
http://www.felinecrf.com/what0.htm
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave. Know anything about HCM? That's the latest thing we are dealing with. So far she seems comfortable and fine, but I guess it can really sneak up on you.
 
This does a fair job of explaining it in general terms. I don't see much of it, so my experience is by no means vast.
I would definitely ask about a thyroid level test.
And if it is high, I would be very very careful about treating it in a kidney patient.
Best of luck. If only they could be with us forever - and never sick, never in pain.
 
Thanks Dave, I will ask about that too. My vets are really good and I've taken her to a few internal specialists including for her heart (she had an ECG done on Thursday).

Right now, both the HCM and the CRF are still in the mild category. Her creatinine has slowly crept up from 2.4 in May to the current 2.9, and I'm hoping this isn't a continuous upward trend but I suppose that is what CRF is. :(

I just tried giving her her first atenolol pill by crushing 1/4 tablet into her food, hardly any at all, and she wanted none of it so I had to hand dose her. I hope I can get her to eat it in food. I also have to give her pepcid AC every other day and TumilK.
 
Hi Dave

Thanks again for the information. We are doing well with the meds. She's not enthusiastic about them, but doesn't fight them either. The challenge sometimes is when she knows "it's time" she goes under the couch for a while, but as soon as she lets her guard down, pounce, I've got her.

She had her second echo this week. Slightly worse, and now the left atrium is showing "borderline mild" thickening which wasn't there before. They are still classifying her as mild but it's progressing. We are bumping up her atenolol from 1/2 tab each day, to 1/2 tab AM and 1/4 tab PM.

I might also need to put her on a thinner. Maybe a tiny dose of aspirin, once per week? I know about the dangers of aspirin.

I have to talk to the cardiologist again to see if there are other options. She didn't think it was necessary to start the aspirin right now but in 6 mos if things have progressed yet again we would have to do so. My regular vet is of the opinion to start aspirin immediately because "low risk of clot" is not "no risk of clot".

Her thyroid test was normal, by the way. Thank you for mentioning it.
 
Aww I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. I do hope she can have at least a few more years in comfort. 5 is awful young. One of my kitties died 2 years ago (she was about 10) after a very sudden illness that the vets couldn't pinpoint. Our other cat is still lost without her. He's taken to meowing incessantly outside our door all night :( He gets locked in the basement at night now, poor kitty. It's a finished basement with furniture, food and water so he shouldn't complain too much.
 
jstro said:
Aww I'm sorry to hear about your kitty. I do hope she can have at least a few more years in comfort. 5 is awful young. One of my kitties died 2 years ago (she was about 10) after a very sudden illness that the vets couldn't pinpoint. Our other cat is still lost without her. He's taken to meowing incessantly outside our door all night :( He gets locked in the basement at night now, poor kitty. It's a finished basement with furniture, food and water so he shouldn't complain too much.
Click to expand...

Open the door. He'll just come in and take over your bed. :D I know, ours did.
 
Ask them about using Plavix instead. Less renal compromise, same or better antiplatelet activity
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top