My Ryno angel girl's kidneys are failing.

[Catshrink]

In July her kidney enzymes were fine, now they've gone to hell. She's 14 and the sweetest little girl. Today she's wobbling and holding her head to one side. She will not eat, not even drink milk. I fear the worst.

When she was really little she had a horrible cold. I fed her Ensure through an eyedropper to get some calories in her. I'm going to try that again.

She is so beautiful!

[Lindacooks]

1. Oh, I'm so sorry

I've been there too. Just enjoy these times with her; memories are so precious.

Have you tried feeding her yogurt? My vet said that is good for kitties.

[Catshrink]

2. I tried yogurt...

she gave me a "you've got to be kidding look" that is absolutely whithering.

[Jo March]

39. Try blueberry yogurt

I've had several cats over the years who would eat blueberry yogurt and no other kind. It was weird. The blueberry flavor drove them nuts!

[Liberal Veteran]

3. Damn I am sorry. I am gonna send good kitty karma thoughts your way.

Hopefully it's a transient thing.

[Catshrink]

5. I sure hope so, LV

I just gave her several eyedroppers of ensure. She accepted it, then actually drank her milk.

I'm taking her to work tomorrow so I can feed her throughout the day and be with her.

[faithnotgreed]

7. may i ask if ensure has vitamin c in it? i would imagine it does

but i just wanted to ask since proper dosage of vits a & c will help the kidney function its so important that she be able to eliminate the toxins

[Catshrink]

8. I checked the bottle -- yes it does.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[faithnotgreed]

4. sweet prayers for you and ryno.

[Catshrink]

6. Thanks.... we appreciate them.

Ryno has always been a blessing to me and everyone who meets her....

[Zomby Woof]

9. :-(

I am sorry Billie! I will keep good thoughts for the sweetiekitty! :hug:

[Catshrink]

12. Thanks, Sweet Zomby...

It's very hard..... she's my baby.

[barb162]

10. my male 15 year old is also in chronic renal failure.

Are you feeding her the kidney diet cat food? Have you been on the feline CRF websites...they are excellent. Also yahoo has a discussion board that is terrific with a lot of good articles. I don't know enough here, but can you get her to the vet to get some fluids in her and perk her up?

[Catshrink]

11. We've been doing fluids 2-3 times a week....

She eats very little. Sometimes I can entice her with her favorite Fancy Feast flavors. She is on antibiotics because the vet wants to be sure she doesn't have a kidney infection. The XRs showed enlarged kidneys.

This seems to have come on very fast. Thanks for the recommendations on the websites. I haven't gotten that far yet.

[barb162]

18. oops, if they are enlarged, that is not CRF

in crf the kidneys shrivel. what did the vet say she really has? This site below goes into VARIOUS kidney diseases.

http://www.felinecrf.com/links0.htm#5


I am so sorry. I got into this really heavy when my cat got sick and I will try to do whatever I can for him and the more educated I am the better off I am, especially since I went through a few bad vets that don't know what their rear ends from their left eyeballs. I spent days on vet school sites and that kind of thing.


Oh I don't like seeing kitties being sick one damn bit. Please give her a smooch from me and an under the chin rub. MUch much love

[faithnotgreed]

19. i dont know lots about this but you mention enlarged kidneys that

would sound like they are retaining possibly and not able to get everything out as normal

what other symptoms? diarrhea or constipation, coldness, overheated, vomiting etc?

[joeybee12]

13. What a beautiful cat! I'm so sorry.

I hope she comes through ok!

[Catshrink]

14. Thank you.... she is beautiful.

And so sweet. Everyone adores her!

[barb162]

15. here is the best site, in my opinion

http://www.felinecrf.com/index.htm

it really sounds like your little girl might need some sub-q fluids asap ... I pray and hope she gets better. God bless you and her.

[jukes]

16. real sorry, Catshrink

went through that w/1 of my boys a year ago. watch for dehydration, can take hold very fast. i keep subQ supplies on hand for rehydration. had to pump 100 CCs of lactated ringers daily into spike for months.

i have some links somewhere on CRF; i'll dig them out & PM you.

good luck.

[AFSCME girl]

17. Hi Catshrink...

My kitty, Angeline, and I are sending love and prayers to you and Ryno. She is a beautiful girl. Be strong and look into those websites, I'll bet they are very informative. :hug:

[roguevalley]

20. I hope she gets better, honey. Cats are tough. She's beautiful isn't she.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

21. Lots of love to you and little Ryno

Hoping and praying it's just a transient thing and she gets better.

[UrbScotty]

22. I don't know what advice to give you.

However, I do wish you and Ryno the best.

:hug:

[Ramsey]

23. My cat also has renal failure

She got very ill due to dehydration. When the kidneys fail, they cannot concentrate their urine, and they lose blood volume, becoming dehydrated. Oral fluids will not do the trick, they cannot drink enough to make up for the fluid loss through the dilute urine.

I took my cat to our veterinary hospital and she needed an inpatient stay of a week to get her blood volume re-equilibrated. But that was 6 months ago.

Since that episode she has been on daily subcutaneous fluids and several medications. The subQ fluids are placed just under the skin and are slowly resorbed over the course of several hours, giving her additional hydration during the day. The medications help bind some of the electrolytes her kidneys don't process well, and protect her gut from increased acidity.

My vet told me cats can live a year or two on this regimen. Maybe your cat can be maintained with a similar regimen.

[barb162]

28. my cat isn't that bad yet. He's had abnormal blood chem numbers

and drinks A LOT and has gotten very thin over the last several years; the xrays and urine and other tests also confirmed he had CRF. Once he got diagnosed by the new vet about a year ago ( the old vet never told me (!!!!!) about his lousy blood numbers indicating CRF and paid no attention to me about his excessive drinking and wt. loss) and now he is on the special kidney diet food. His blood chem numbers improved for some crazy reason about six months ago, maybe the pepcid and special food. He is still half his normal wt. I give him a pepcid AC 2 times a day for the nausea and acid stomach per the vet and I think it helps greatly to get them to eat. He spits half the damn pills out all over the house no matter how accurate I am getting the pills down his throat. My cat's numbers continue to hold up for now. I also found that the yahoo groups feline CRF site has done a lot to educate me...there are vets who specialize in this disease on that site and those people are so knowledgable and keep up on the latest research.


How old is your cat? Do you give your cat extra vitamins and the prescription only food. mY cat won't touch the vitamins.

[Ramsey]

33. My cat is 16

She is supposed to be on the renal diet but won't touch it, and I've tried 5 different brands. She's very picky and I figure it's better for her to eat something, so she gets Fancy Feast. She's really small to begin with and had gotten quite skinny, although she's packed a bit back on now that she's feeling better.

I give her Alternagel, which helps bind excess phosphorous, and the kitty version of zantac to protect her GI tract, and a blood pressure pill because the kidney failure causes hypertension. And her 100 cc of fluids every day. She's been feeling good on this regimen. Her creatinine and BUN have been pretty stable for several months now.

I put the pills in, hold her mouth closed and rub on her throat until she swallows, although sometimes she hides them in her gums. I try to get liquid meds as much as possible because I find the syringe much easier to use.

[barb162]

37. my cat

is eating the "Feline K/D Prescription Diet" kibbles by Hill, actually all 4 of them eat it. It is vet precription only and costs about 25 bucks for 10 pounds. He won't eat the canned version of this special food, so I feed him any canned food with the lowest protein numbers. I stand in the cat food aisles a long time or else I take these sheets with me from a woman from the feline crf yahoo site who researched the actual protein and other important numbers by all of the manufacturers of pet food, both wet and dry. My cat's creatinine and Bun dropped to one poin below abnormal after I started feeding the prescription stuff to him. It was like a miracle!

I find pill pieces all over, he is a genius. If I put the pill any further back in his throat, it would be in his stomach already. Glad you have better success.

Yes it is better for them to eat anything rather than not eat at all. Sometimes I will do fancy feast, other high protein cans, but sometimes I give him homemade roast chicken or something I am eating just to keep him eating. I know it will be a losing battle but as long as he is happy, comfortable, etc., I will try to keep him with me. I have had him since he was 8 weeks old.


GOOD LUCK!

[flamingyouth]

40. My cat lived almost 3 years on this regimen

:hug:

[Terran]

24. Good vibes for Ryno-------->long life and good health

[annak110]

25. I'm very sorry, I know how you feel, I have a 14 year old

too, my Bunny Sue. I will be thinking of both of you.

[ellie]

26. Last year my beautiful

tortie Frances started to fail. She wouldn't eat. I had to feed her baby food. You might want to try that.

Your Ryno is beautiful. I love Torties.

[Bertha Venation]

27. Catshrink

:cry: thinking of you
:hug: Ryno :hug:

[barb162]

29. and please please let us know howtyour little girl is doing

my prayers for her tonight....

much love and good thoughts to both of you.

[Rhiannon12866]

30. Have you tried alternative medicine?

I have a vet who not only prescribes traditional meds, but, also offers herbs, special diets, acupuncture, an endless bag of tricks. My heart goes out to you, since I have been where you are, with a very sick cat. That's how I discovered the vet who offered alternative medicine, since my regular vet recommended this. I would have done anything for Rhiannon. I will also pass this on to someone I know who knows about homeopathy. You are in my thoughts, so please let us know how your kitty is doing. BTW, what a beautiful cat.:hug:

Rhiannon

[Piperay]

31. I'm so sorry

I know what you are going through because I had both a dog and a cat that I went through with renal failure. Treated them both with the fluids, was able to do the dog at home but my cat was so wild I had to take him to the vet for fluids several times a week. It was an ordeal but I never regretted going as far as I could with both of them. The vet told me that especially with cats if they live long enough the kidneys eventually fail because it is part of the aging process. You have a beautiful little cat, she looks so sweet...just love her as much as time allows you. :hug:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. I'm so sorry........

:hug: for you and Ryno :hug:

[Bertha Venation]

34. you and Ryno have been on my mind all day, Catshrink

:hug: for you both

[Kat45]

35. Oh, she is a really beautiful kitty.

Poor little girl. I wish you both well.

[flamingyouth]

36. I am so sorry

What a beautiful little girl she is.

A horrible thing to deal with. I've been there. Thinking of you.:hug:

[Jo March]

38. Oh, she is so beautiful

And it appears that she is sitting on your desk looking for love in that picture.

I hope that she gets to feeling better. I had a cat that looked similiar to your baby and she had liver disease. It was so hard to get her to eat.

I send lots of :hug: and back scratches to your baby and a big :hug: for you.

[Gothic Sponge]

41. Oh man! I'm so sorry!

Such a pretty cat. :(

[Beaverhausen]

42. She is beautiful!

Be strong for her.

Sending good healing thoughts your way!:hug: