"22brix" wrote in message
...


Hi Bonnie,

It's been about a month since Tortle was diagnosed with acute renal
failure
and I am so pleased with her progress. She has gained almost a pound
since
I brought her home from the hospital--from a little under 7 pounds to
almost
8 pounds. She is on Cyproheptadine for her appetite and it's been great
for
her. She had blood work done 4 or 5 days ago and

her Creatinine is down to
2 (from over 11 at the highest point) and her BUN is in the high 30's
(down
from over 100).

That's fantastic! I'd bet the Azodyl had a lot to do with the dramatic
improvement.


Her phosphorus is normal now so she doesn't need phosphorus
binders (yeah!). I'm now giving her sub-cutaneous fluids every 3 days,
instead of daily, for which we are both grateful! She absolutely hates
the
sub-Q fluids--she yowls and growls and struggles the entire time. It's
major trauma time. I was so spoiled with Molly who was a dream to work
with. We have another vet visit in a couple of weeks and I hope
eventually
that we'll be able to discontinue the fluids.


You might want to speak to your vet sooner about discontinuing the sub-q's.
If her creatinine is only 2.0 mg/dl and her BUN is 40 mg/dl, she probably
doesn't need fluid therapy- unless she's dehydrated. Using fluids as a form
of dialysis is ok only on a short-term basis as in a uremic crisis because
it improves renal parameters quickly. But on a continuing basis, fluid
therapy can do more harm than good because it makes the kidneys work harder.
Once the uremic crisis has passed, fluids should only be given to correct or
prevent dehydration.



I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Azodyl. It's a
probiotic that is supposed to help with azotemia. My vet (actually her
partner) put her on that shortly after I brought her home and I think it
has
really helped with Tortle's blood values.

I've used Azodyl in a couple of ARF cats and a few CRF cats. The renal
parameters improved in all but one ARF cat- because I think we got to him
too late. I can't say with absolute certainty that Azodyl was soley
responsible for the improvement- but I'm pretty sure it helped.



The only drawback as far as I can
see is that it is a large capsule and is supposed to be administered in
capsule form (as opposed to sprinkling it over food).


That's because Azodyl is designed to work in the small intestine. The
capsule has an enteric coating to protect the live cells from being
inactivated by the low pH of the stomach before it reaches the small
intestine where the pH is higher. However, I spoke to a vet at Vetoquinol-
the manufacturer, who told me Azodyl can be mixed in the food if the cat is
absolutely impossible to pill. Although the benefits won't be as good-
they're still acceptable- providing the cat eats all the food.


Tortle has been
amazingly easy to pill but I think it would be hard to give to many cats.

Wow! She's a terrific cat! The capsule is about a #1- just a tad smaller
than a #0- IOW, a horse pill!


This whole experience has been pretty traumatic for Tortle (actually for
all
of us). Tortle was so sick and then Molly had to be put to sleep and they
were such close buddies. And I'm either poking pills down her throat or
sticking her with a needle. She's more withdrawn than she was but I can't
say I blame her--she's been through a lot!

Some people say cats know we're trying to help them when we give them
medications--- I kinda think they don't care either way and just don't like
us sticking our fingers in their mouths.


I'm just pleased to have her home and healthy--will be delighted when she
can be medication free!

I think that day will come soon!

Best of luck,

Phil