Has anyone had a cat with kidney problems? Please help me help him.?

Question

I have a young 4 year old cat who has had ongoing kidney problems and stayed many times in the animal hospital. His last visit the vet said he's done all he can and to just take him home and comfort him till the end...as he is experiencing no pain (we hope and pray this is true), he is very dopey though, like he was drugged.
He drinks water continuously but will eat nothing. The vet keeps saying it is important to get him to eat..and he 'may' have a chance.(though slim). We have tried everything...all his favorites..he wont touch anything.
Does anyone had a similar situation and have any suggestions to get him to eat? He is a beautiful loving cat and we hate to give up on him.
Can anyone help us?? The whole family can't stop crying over losing him.
.

Answer 1

Hi I can help you as there are many things you can do but you have to be proactive in treatment. Your cat can live years with this if you are proactive. You are going to need to give fluids at home for 1, http://www.weirdstuffwemake.com/weird/st...
Have the vet teach you how and I can send you links.
Please do NOT feed that garbage the vet gives you (KD)
There are new thoughts to treating this and depriving a carnivore of protein is not the way to go about this. Low protein diet should not be given unless it is the end stage
Please read this pertaining to kidney disease http://www.catinfo.org/#common_feline_he...
.You do want to cut the phousperous down in foods and binders may help. Calcitrial os one that works if phos is under 6mg/dl. Canned foods are best. Some of the brands you want to look for,Wellness, Merrick, Nature's Variety, Hi-Tor Neo, PetGuard, Pinnacle, Newman’s Own. Stay away from fish as it is high in phosperous
A raw diet may also suit you and be even better for your cat if you are willing to go that route. You would nbeed to buy a food grinder
Here are things for you to read
http://www.felinecrf.com/what0.htm...
Here are other links
http://www.felinecrf.com/
Here is a board for you to work with other people.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felin...
another
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felin...
I hope this helps. Don't hesitate to contact me if I can help further
If he is drinking alot of water now,and not eating, go to the vets today to get some fluids in him and learn how he does it.
Buy some fluids to give at home. Expect to do it 3 times a week or so

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I have lost two cats to this disease. It is the worst for the owner to go through. If the vet is saying there isn't much you can do......well, putting food on the cats paw may work. This is very hard as it brings back memories of my cat. He was the best. I did everything I could for him, moved his box upstairs where it was easy for him to get to, his favorite place to drink water was the toilet, so I would lift him up and balance him as he got his drink. I did everything just as you are!! I made sure I got some good pictures of him. The reason he is not eating is because his tummy is upset. Actually poison is building and backing into his belly, try som milk or cream, this may help to "cool" his belly off and make him feel more like eating. Please, do make you cat as comfortable as possible, I am so sorry to say that the vet is right and your beloved kitty will not last much longer. Please, don't let you cat suffer, when you are ready to let your cat go, take him to the vet to be put down. I know, all of this sounds so cruel and I don't mean it to., But, like I said, I have dealt with this with 2 of my cats. Please take the time to love him,

So sorry.....but you really need to say goodbye. From a cat lover and owner for 50 years. This is one of the most common diseases in cats.

Again, sorry.

Answer 4

My cat had kidney failure that was very mild and didn't progress very fast - much less severe than your cat. I put her on a special kidney diet from the vet (kidney diets are LOW protein, not high protein because excess protein can speed up kidney damage) and switched her over to part canned food (instead of all dry) to increase her moisture intake. She lived another 3-4 years before we had to euthanize her for a different disease. Treatment of cats in renal failure commonly includes all or some of the following: - Increasing water intake by feeding canned food and putting out more water bowls (If she won't eat canned food, you can try adding a little water to the dry stuff - but a dry kidney diet is better than nothing if she won't eat it wet) - Feeding a special low-protein kidney diet (Hill's k/d, Purina NF, Royal Canin Renal LP, Iams/Eukanuba Multi-Stage Renal) - Medications for high blood pressure (which is a common side effect of kidney failure). Regular blood pressure checks are needed. - Potassium supplements may often be needed - Phosphate-binding medication may be needed (less commonly than potassium supplements) - Appetite stimulants as needed - Subcutaneous (SQ) fluids at home or intravenous (IV) fluids in the hospital. (If you're sticking the needle under the skin in her back to give fluids and you aren't looking for a vein, you are giving SQ fluids, not IV. Once a cat gets to the point of needing SQ fluids on a regular basis, there often isn't much time left. You may have a month, or you may have as many as six months, but probably not much longer. Looking into the possibilities of these other medications could give you more quality time with your cat. You'll need a vet's guideance to give all these medications, so ifyour vet doesn't know about them you may want to get a second opinion. If you've got a feline-only vet practice in your area, try going there. Kidney failure is one of the most common feline diseases, so a feline vet would be very knowledgeable about treatment options.

Answer 5

Do you know what the nature of the kidney problems is?
Has the cat been ultrasounded by a specialist, or has he just had bloodwork done?
Most of the above given tips on how to feed are great, and could help a great deal with some conditions, but with for instance Polycystic Kidney Disease your cat will eventually die from it - even though you can prolong his life and make it still enjoyable for him.
4 years old is pretty young to suffer kidney problems/ failure if there's no external cause (e.g. poisoning)- that's the reason PKD came to mind.
I sure hope that that's not the case though, and that you can get your cat to eat and enjoy him for a very long time to come!
All the best to you, your cat and your family.

Answer 6

I understand how you feel. Kidney failure can have a very sudden climax. Unfortunately, I haven't had a good experience in this area. I have lost a cat and a friend (human) this way. But the vet had told me that miracles do happen sometimes. So don't give up hope, just try to feed him food for kidney problems.

Also the advice of old cat lady sounds good. Hill's a/d is appetizing and easy to eat for sick cats. You can try with a syringe, I gave my cat some yoghurt with a syringe when he was sick.

Answer 7

Just as a suggestions for foods, try giving him meat baby foods. It has vitamins that he will need and it is easy to digest. You can also try squash baby food. Also, I have read online that a lot of sick cats enjoy canned pumpkin. It is loaded with vitamins and fiber.

Also, I had a cat that was ill with kidney problems (it was due to having FIV), and when he wouldn't eat anything, we could still get some store bought rottissery chicken into him.

But please, before you try any of these foods, ask your veterinarian what he thinks. Also, start doing some research online about the disease. About.com has some good articles on different feline diseases.

Good luck with your cat, I hope it all works out.

Answer 8

I have a cat with CRF. I've listed a couple of websites that should help you. You can buy something called Nutrical and put it on your finger then smear it on the roof of his mouth. This is a very high calorie nutritional supplement meant for cats that won't eat. You can also try baby food WITHOUT onion. Check the ingredients carefully. You want something like "Ingredients: peas, water." That's it. This shouldn't be used as meals but rather as a jumpstart to his appetite. Feed him whatever you can get him to eat just to get his strength up. Try some boiled chicken breast cut into small bits. This is quite tasty and healthy for both of you. Feed as much wet food as you can. Get rid of all the dry food. That is the worst thing for cats, especially CRF cats. Good Luck to you.

Answer 9

My Doctor Told Me the depressing news - "Your Kidneys Are FAILING!"

My worsening kidney disease symptoms included:
- Nausea and vomiting and constant stomach upset
- Passing only small amounts of urine and stopping and starting while urinating
- Swelling in my ankles and lower legs
- Puffiness around my eyes with brain fog and moodiness
- Chronic fatigue and shortness of breath when exerting myself
- Loss of appetite and not wanting to eat at all
- Increasingly higher blood pressure
- Bouts of anxiety and depression
- Muscle cramps which were worse in my legs

That a friend of mine sent me a link to a website (http://NatureHomeCure.com) that helped his Mother. She was just like me, and was suffering with failing kidneys and experienced the same worries and fears I was going through. All I could do was try it and see if it worked.

Here's where the story gets a little strange. Two months later, Instead of my kidneys sliding down the slippery slope of kidney failure and getting progressively worse, they started to get better.

My Doctor could not believe how much improved my kidney function output had increased and my GFR was UP and creatinine levels lower. My kidneys were starting to work again, and removing all the toxins in my body. I got my life back!

Now, I am using this 100% all natural protocol which restored my kidney function and did it naturally, without the use of unnatural man-made pharmaceutical drugs or dialysis. In less than two months my kidneys were on the mend. Now six months later, My kidney's are back to normal again.

Check Website Here : http://NatureHomeCure.com

Answer 10

Have you tried the Hill's a/d which you can get at the vet office? Another option is baby food - straight meat with no onion or garlic added (Gerber's Stage Two)? Try feeding either or both from your fingers.

I hope you can get him to eat. Syringe feeding to either of those foods with filtered water added to make it "syringable" is another option. I would have the vet or vet assistant show you how to do this properly as there is a possibility of getting food into the lungs and causing pneumonia if it is not done properly.