Help!!! My cat is dying of kidney failure!!!

"lydiainflorida" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I took my 4 year old cat Magic to the vet today because he has pretty
much stopped eating and lost a lot of weight. He was diagnosed with
Chonic Renal Failure with secondary anemia. Since Magic was not happy
at the vet (they had to sedate him in order to examin him because he
was very angry, scared, and started attacking everyone once we got into
the exam room). The vet also put "Cat is very difficult to work with
and may not be able to give SQ Fluids at home" on the diagosis.


One of my cats has CRF, I've previously had two other CRF'ers. There not
much I haven't heard. My sookyboo is 19 and as cantankerous and contrary as
anything. My vet laughs and says good luck with fluids, and yes they do
sedate him at the vet. But at home, I have no problems getting his fluids
in him, I hold him in my arms, {his favourite place) and my roommate gives
him the fluids. One of my other cats we wrapped in a towel and cut a square
from the towel for the needle. But with each of our three cats, once they
realized how good they feel after the fluids, they seemed to welcome them.
Sook starts howling under the cupboard that holds the supplies at 11 every
two nights, he knows its part of the routine, and he wants them.

I'm sure after trial and error and many frustrated attempts and tears you'll
be able to find a way to give your cat fluids too.

Please give your baby a scratch behind the ears from me.

First of all, it's helpful to understand what the readings indicate. Here's
an explanation:

Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) - BUN is produced by the liver and excreted by
the kidneys. Decreased levels are seen with low protein diets, liver
insufficiency, and the use of anabolic steroid drug. Increased levels
indicate any condition that reduces the kidney's ability to filter body
fluids in the body or interferes with protein breakdown.

Creatinine (CREA) - Creatinine is a by-product of muscle metabolism and is
excreted by the kidneys. Elevated levels can indicate kidney disease or
urinary obstruction, muscle disease, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and
disbetes. An increased BUN and normal creatinine suggest an early or mild
problem. An increased creatinine and increased BUN with elevated
phosphorus indicate a long standing kidney disease.

You might want to try using Milk Thistle to help cleanse the liver. Just
open a 175 mg capsule and sprinkle it on the food. You might have to force
feed to make sure it's all taken. Last year, one of my cats turned yellow
because of a liver infection. I gave him Milk Thistle and he made a
remarkable recovery.

Have you used any flea products lately? That could be a cause of toxins in
the blood.

Giving sub-q fluids really isn't hard to do, I have 3 that need them right
now. Here's a site that shows how to give sub-q fluids.
http://members.aol.com/aquila111/subq/webinstruct.html

I hope everything works out ok. Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Triciasue

First of all, it's helpful to understand what the readings indicate. Here's
an explanation:

Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) - BUN is produced by the liver and excreted by
the kidneys. Decreased levels are seen with low protein diets, liver
insufficiency, and the use of anabolic steroid drug. Increased levels
indicate any condition that reduces the kidney's ability to filter body
fluids in the body or interferes with protein breakdown.

Creatinine (CREA) - Creatinine is a by-product of muscle metabolism and is
excreted by the kidneys. Elevated levels can indicate kidney disease or
urinary obstruction, muscle disease, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and
disbetes. An increased BUN and normal creatinine suggest an early or mild
problem. An increased creatinine and increased BUN with elevated
phosphorus indicate a long standing kidney disease.

You might want to try using Milk Thistle to help cleanse the liver. Just
open a 175 mg capsule and sprinkle it on the food. You might have to force
feed to make sure it's all taken. Last year, one of my cats turned yellow
because of a liver infection. I gave him Milk Thistle and he made a
remarkable recovery.

Have you used any flea products lately? That could be a cause of toxins in
the blood.

Giving sub-q fluids really isn't hard to do, I have 3 that need them right
now. Here's a site that shows how to give sub-q fluids.
http://members.aol.com/aquila111/subq/webinstruct.html

I hope everything works out ok. Let me know if I can do anything to help.

Triciasue

"lydiainflorida" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I took my 4 year old cat Magic to the vet today because he has pretty
much stopped eating and lost a lot of weight. He was diagnosed with
Chonic Renal Failure with secondary anemia. Since Magic was not happy
at the vet (they had to sedate him in order to examin him because he
was very angry, scared, and started attacking everyone once we got into
the exam room). The vet also put "Cat is very difficult to work with
and may not be able to give SQ Fluids at home" on the diagosis.

So the vet pretty much gave Magic the death sentence. He said Magic
only has a few weeks left, and other people in similar situations
usually come back two days later to put the cat to sleep. He gave me
some canned food, and asked me to let him know when I'm ready.

Aside from not eating and losing weight, Magic seems somewhat normal.
He's still walking around and sometimes jumps up and down. He now
weighs only 8.06 lbs (from 14 last June) and is pretty much all bones.

The blood test showed high level of toxins. The vet urged me to get a
second opinion, but he said numbers don't lie.

The test results read:
ALP 53 10-90
ALT 36 20-100
BUN 170* 10-30
CRE 11.3* 0.3-2.1
GLU 136 70-150
TP 7.7 5.4-8.2
QC OK
HEM 1+, LIP 0, ICT 0

According to the vet, the BUN and CRE levels are fatally high and the
cat simply can't survive. Does anyone if there's any way I can save my
cat? He's my first pet ever and I am just not ready to let him go yet.
I thought he was just having teeth problems and that's why he wasn't
eating. I was totally not prepared to hear that he was going to die and
that I only had a week or two left with him.

Please, someone, if you know anything about kidney failures, or CRF
(Chronic Renal Failure), please share with me. If you know of an online
forum where there are more knowledgeable people on cats, please share
with me too. I'm so sad right now I don't know what I am typing.

Thanks!


I get the impression this came on rather suddenly. Usually, azotemia
doesn't become that severe in CRF cats until late in the disease. He's too
young to be in late stage CRF. My guess is he's in *acute renal* failure -
which is almost impossible to distinguish from CRF because ARF has three
phases. The maintainence phase and early recovery phase of ARF are almost
identical in charcteristics to CRF.

Routine fluid diruresis is usually not enough to clean him out fast enough.
I think you should locate a veterinary hospital (rather than a local vet)
because your cat probably needs *intense* diruesis - which is the addition
of diuretics to the fluids. Intesnse diuresis permits uremic toxins to be
removed from the blood much more rapidly.

There's even a more rapid and effective technique for removing uremic toxins
from the blood. Its call peritoneal dialysis. Don't be intimidated by the
name - the cat doesn't go on a dialysis machine. In short, PD involves
placing a catheter in your cat's abdomen and filling the abdominal cavity
with fluid and then draining it out after the toxins have filtered into the
fluid. Instead of a filtering membrane in a machine, the cat uses his own
peritoneum to filter the toxins. This procedure is *very* effective but it
should be perfomed only by someone experienced in the technique - which most
local vets are not.

Best of luck,

Phil