Kidney damage - update on Cleo

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

You check for dehydration by grabbing gentle as much fur and skin on her back and squeezing it gently together, if she is dehydrated it will stick together before going back to normal, it should just spring back if she is OK.

I think you need to make sure you get all info from a vet, not a vet nurse because they have varying degrees of knowledge and this is serious enough for a a good vet nurse to say you need to ask the vet.

Never be shy of insisting that the vet answers your questions in a way that you can understand, write down your questions before you talk to them cos all of us forget in the heat of the moment and the worry about our cats .

Sending lots of good vibes to Cleo 

[jetcleo]

 

Thank you its just taking some getting used to the fact that she is unwell

[Tiggy's Mum]

Fortekor are (palatable) tablets that help the kidney function, it was the first thing my vet mentioned when Tiggy was diagnosed. I took this from a random site found on google:

Fortekor is used to treat cases of kidney failure (renal insufficiency) in cats and congestive heart failure in dogs. Fortekor is a vasodilator that lowers the blood pressure therefore improving blood flow to the kidneys and causing less strain on the heart. These effects help current heart and kidney function and reduce ongoing damage to these organs. In renal failure in cats fortekor is often used in conjunction with kidney diets such as Hills Kd or walthams renal support as well as renal (kidney) supplements such as renalzin or ipakitine.

Do you think she stands a chance of the levels getting back to normal or will there be too much damage? The veterinary nurse i spoke to didn't seem too concerned.

Quite often numbers can be reduced and she will feel much better in herself once this happens but it's a progressive disease so she won't ever be cured, that's not to say you can't help her kidney function with diet, medication and supplements and you could still have many years together 

[jetcleo]

Yes she was on a drip in hospital, the weird thing is that the only thing i noticed before we took her in on monday was she wasn't eating.  Now though she's drinking lots. She didn't do this before but psychologically i don't know if its because i know she's ill that i keep checking on her

How do you check for dehydration?

What is fortekor? they did mention some sort of paste that you can mix into normal food is it the same?

Do you think she stands a chance of the levels getting back to normal or will there be too much damage? The veterinary nurse i spoke to didn't seem too concerned.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

My goodness those creatine figures are massive and agree wasnt drinking if on a drip.

It is totally essential that she eats and drinks and defo mix water in her food, make sure she is doing massive wees too cos a very bad sign if she doesnt and back to the vets immediately.

She also needs to drink and you need to ensure she does not get dehydrated............do you know how to check?

Sending massive good wishes 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Yikes, those do seem very high  Glad she back home with you know though 

As her kidneys are not functioning as well as a normal kidney she will definitely drink more, in fact that's the sign that people normally notice first. Be prepared for big wees! If she will tolerate it you can add a splash of water to her wet meals to keep her hydration levels up. She probably didn't drink more whilst hospitalised as I'm guessing she was on a drip?

Did the vet not mention Fortekor at all?

[jetcleo]

Well we've now got Cleo back home, the vet did her bloods again today and the results were better.  We've now got to try adapting her diet and then she'll have bloods done again in 5 weeks so i guess we'll know then how bad she really is.

The results of her bloods on Monday were
BUM 32.0 (normal limits 3.6-10.7)
Creatine 673 (normal limits 27-186)

Today they are
BUM 28.0
Creatine 588

They have improved and i just hope they continue to

She's come home but is drinking quite a bit of water - is this normal with her just coming home?  The vets didn't mention shed been drinking more while hospitalised

 

[jetcleo]

Thanks Gill, the vet said that sometimes kidney problems can cause the gums to inflame and also mouth ulcers.  Before we lost Jet she used to love her food, she'd eat hers and then his but since he passed she almost stopped eating so we assumed stress was to blaim.  The last few days we've tried giving her her favourite chicken but she takes it and struggles to eat.  She wants to eat but just cant i guess the gums are to blaim!!

I really hope and pray we get good results on Wednesday x

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Napoleon who was a few months short of 18yrs had high creatine and urea figures and it was those two that were monitored and he was on a drip for a few days and the figure of 200 plus was about as low as the creatine would go but he had other issues that needed an op. He refused to eat after his op and his figures went right up again.

Its very young for kidney failure unless the damage occured from another reason, maybe she needs moree tests than just  for kidneys.

I do hope that the vet can help Cleo fast and she starts eating better, what made her gums suddenly inflame.

Sending her lots of good wishes 

[Tiggy's Mum]

I kept a little chart of her figures, she was diagnosed July 2005 aged 17 and I lost her in February 2007 to an unrelated illness. I know Mark's Clapton had 5 years with him after diagnosis so please don't give up hope 

I'd definitely ask for a copy of her blood results, even if it's just for your own records. Here's Tiggy's figures to give you an idea that they can improve on medication and with diet. I can't remember what the 'normal' ranges were unfortunately.

July 05
Urea       35.3      
Creat       312.2   
Phos       2.24      

October 05
Urea       16.5      
Creat       233      
Phos       1.68   

January 06
Urea       20      
Creat       165      
Phos       2.06   

April 06
Urea       18.5      
Creat       150      
Phos       1.5   

October 06
Urea      9.8
Creat      97.4
Phos      1.7

[jetcleo]

We dont believe she has been poisoned, she doesnt wander like Jet used to and rarely leaves our garden!!

Jet went down hill rapidly within hours, the only concerns we've had about Cleo is lack of appetite although she's wanting to eat and is meowing at the fridge or cupboard but unable to eat.  The vet said her gums were very inflamed today, however today is the first day she's eaten some meaty chunks of food rather than just lick the gravy off.

She's not really eaten much for a while now (we just assumed she was grieving for Jet) and has lost a bit of weight in 3 weeks

[jetcleo]

Thanks Helen, yeah sorry i meant her urea reading was 35.0 - the vet told me it was unlikely this would go down so its great to hear Tiggys went down, sorry you lost Tiggy, how old was she was she was diagnosed?

The vet didn't seem concerned about the other readings, she said she wasn't really dehydrated.  I'm just dreading the phone call on Wednesday, praying her blood results are better

xx

[CarolM (Wendolene)]

I'm so sorry that you having such a troubling time. 

Seven is young for kidney failure.  Is it possible that she might have been poisoned too?

The urea value of 35 is very high but lots of things can contribute to increased urea.  Was she starved prior to the measurement?  If not, that would have an influence but would be unlikely to totally explain the high level.  A more accurate estimation of the extent of kidney damage is given by the measurement of creatinine.  Did your vet do this?

My Korky (RIP) lived for many years with damaged kidneys so it is not an automatic death sentence.  However, it is usually without symptoms in the early stages (Korky's was picked up on routine tests) and by the time symptoms start to show the damage  can be quite significant.

If your vet thinks Chloe has at least another 2 years then I would be guided by that. 

[Tiggy's Mum]

Just wanted to add that Tiggy's Urea results were 35.3 when she was first diagnosed and the last test she had before I lost her (to an unrelated illness) she was back within normal range at 9.8 thanks to the tablets and supplements.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Sorry to hear about Cleo's diagnosis 

I don't know if you remember my Tiggy but she was much older when she was diagnosed with CRF and with tablets (Fortekor) and other supplements she lived til she was nearly 19. When it comes to changing her diet there are special renal foods available but these are not always as tasty as normal food so don't despair if she won't eat them as there are other options available eg sprinkling phosphorous binders onto regular food (Felix senior in aluminium trays is fairly low in phos to begin with).

Do you mean her Urea was 35? The other important 'numbers' are Creatinine and phosphorous so it's worth asking your vet what those figures where too.

This website is an absolute bible, it's written in laymen's terms and is VERY comprehensive, there's just so much to take in but it's worth reading.

http://www.felinecrf.org/

[jetcleo]

Hi everyone, i posted on here 3 weeks ago as we had to have Jet put to sleep due to kidney failure.  Well Cleo has not been herself since he died, hardly eating, etc.  We assumed she was grieving but took her to the vets tonight and they've done blood tests and she's got kidney damage, her uretha reading was 35 and i believe up to 10 is normal?? The vet has chosen to keep her in for 2 days to flush the toxins out her system and then re-do bloods on wednesday.  She's hopeful that as long as the figure doesn't increase we can change her diet and she'll live another 2 + years.  Can anyone give me any positive stories on this?  She's only 7, Jet was 10 and because his was so sudden we believe it was poison, Cleo's the vet says is probably a result of quite a while but we've had no symptoms.

I dont know what i'll do if we lose her as well