kidney shutdown in a ragdoll

[c1993]

Has anyone heard of kidney problems in ragdolls or offer any advice on kidney shutdowns. Currently our cat's kidneys shutdown and refuses to eat. The vet has given him an iv (while in the office)to help and released him Friday. The cat is currently taking pills and is on KD food, but still refuses eat but a few kitty treats. Now the strange thing, the cat has normal activity, doesn't seem weak! Any advice on how to get him to eat? Tried regular soft food and beef broth too when he refused to eat the kd. He is 3-4 years old.

[4 feline house]

I know a little about it, but the term "shutdown" that you are using is confusing. It would help to know what kind of kidney disease your kitty has and if it is chronic or acute. If by "shutdown" you mean approaching end stage kidney failure (which would be unlikely since he was on IV's), your cat is probably pretty nauseous, even if he has enough stamina to seem his old self in other ways. Also, you really need to keep him on the KD because it has the low protein that is essential for a kidney patient. Protein metabolism is very hard on the kidneys, and the KD will help his kidneys heal if his condition is acute, or prolong his life if it's chronic. If you can provide any more details maybe we can give you some of the information you need to help your little guy out.

[c1993]

I will have more information tomorrow afternoon. I am really hoping it is not as serious as I am feeling it is. All I know is that the kidneys failed and he is on KD, which he will not eat.
I recently adopted a shelter cat who got stressed out and stopped eating and came down with some type of liver disease. Luckily working with her every day to eat the KD, she pulled through fine and is as healthy as any other cat.
I was really hoping he would pull through too. Tried to put the KD directly in his mouth to get him to eat and he just spit it up and refused to swallow any of it. Will let you all know tomorrow more information. I really appreciate any feedback from any onee. After pulling one cat through with liver problems, I know I can pull him through too with his kidney problems; but am running out of options. I want to get as much information as I can before it may be too late and he gets weak. Talk to you all tomorrow. Thanks =^..^=

[4 feline house]

Maybe in the meantime you can make some homemade food, some hamburger or chicken blended up with some rice and/or corn. This will cut down the protein content but may be tasty enough for him to take a bite or two.

[c1993]

Looks like it is the chronic type of kidney failure(he is on pills and an antibotic. Ate a few kitty treats last night, but no KD. Trying the chicken and rice today. His level of energy is up and drinks plenty of water. I heard there is not much that can be done for the chronic type. Hopefully, just prolong his life without much suffering. Any feedback, anything else to try, ideas???
Thanks

[c1993]

He is now eating the chicken and rice....Yeah!!!!!
Thanks for the advice and I would appreciate any other advice!!!!

[4 feline house]

C-well, I have lost a kitty to kidney failure and I have kidney failure myself. Cut down on his protein, either by feeding KD or any other kind of low-protein diet, make sure he does not miss his meds, and watch out for signs that the end may be near - such as vomiting or pronounced lethargy. You are right that the focus is on prolonging his life, because the only cure for chronic kidney failure is a transplant, and I don't think they're doing those on kitties - although some people are putting their pets on dialysis. However, with good care and a positive environment, you can have him many more years to come.

[c1993]

UPDATE:Held off on an update since life has been a roller coaster for the last month.One day he would do better the next several horrible!! Now,Boots is doing Great! After my last post, he had started eating the chicken and rice for three days and then stopped. Then started vomiting. This went on for almost a week. The tests done for his kidneys, were horrible numbers and still not eating.They flushed his kidneys and still didn't eat for another 4 days. About three weeks ago, a decision was needing to be made(his weight was down to just under 4 lbs and he was miserable) and then the vet called saying that he had started eating regular dry cat food and some dry KD. Brought him home and he has continued to eat since. Take him in for kidney flushings the last three weeks and he is now up to almost 5 lbs and doing lots better. Strange...especially when the numbers were so high on the tests they did.

[Karen]

Sooo glad he seems better! What a wild time you've had!

[4 feline house]

c1993-

Okay, ya gotta help me out. Like I said before I have kidney failure and I lost a cat to kidney failure. I also used to work in a dialysis center. I regularly post on a kidney patient bulletin board and receive period mailings from the Kidney Foundation. But I have never heard of the procedure "kidney flushing". What is that?

[c1993]

From what I understand is the vet hooks up an IV to him for awhile and pumps him full of fluids. I believe that washes out the bad toxins in his kidneys. I don't have much more information than that. All I know is that it seems to help.

[goody2shoes]

That happened the last cat I hd to. The Vet said that she was in pain and so we had to euthanize her, her name was midnight. Our family was unhappy for a long time. (we got a new kitten named Nikki a couple monthes ago.) The Vet said that it happen because she was the runt of the litter, and runts sometimes have this problem. Well I guess what I am trying to say is that you should just euthanize your cat, no matter how hard it is. I'm sorry and I hope it doesn't happen to you again.
p.s. Midnight was 4 years old to.

[c1993]

That is a possibility in a couple years or whenever if he starts to suffer. For the last 7 weeks, he has been eating, playing, running and back to his old self. He had dropped to 4 lbs back at the third week of May. Now he has gained since he has started eating again. He is at 5.2 lbs and still gaining weekly. It is just so odd that his numbers were so bad and he was so weak and he mysteriously pulled out of it. I have no idea. Maybe his guardian kitty angel was watching over him. :) :)

[TheAntiPam]

Yes, kitties do bring mystery to your life! My big orange tabby got very sick and went from 18 lbs to 10 lbs in just a couple days. He went up on the roof of my carport, which was a bad sign. I got him down and to the vet, and his kidney function was very low.

The vet gave him some IV fluid, then sent us home with antibiotics. My cat went back up on the carport again, but I could just reach him with food mixed with the medicine. He continued to eat just enough to help him get better.

Today, 3 years later, he's up to 15 lbs and holding. He has been fine, and after about 1 year, his kidney tests were back to normal.

Although I have no idea what really caused it, I know that medicine and patience and love helped. Try to find out all you can, but don't be too surprised if you continue to have only part of the story. Kidney trouble can be bad, but there is hope!

[4 feline house]

C1993-

In humans, it usually takes many tests, some invasive, to tell definitively what kind of kidney disease a person has, and whether or not it is chronic. Many times it is obvious- especially acute - severe dehydration will almost always cause acute kidney failure, so after a bout of dehydration, it is a pretty sure bet that kidney failure would be due to the dehydration. But without xrays, pyelograms, biopsies, etc, it is very often only a very informed guess. In my case, only a biopsy would tell my doctor what caused my chronic kidney failure - it could either be from the insulin-dependent diabetes I've had for twenty years, or it could be from a bout of acute kidney failure I had ten years ago, or it could be a synergistic effect from both. But both me and my doctor feel a biopsy would really not change the outcome, so we have decided not to do one. It is clinically clear that I have chronic progressive kidney failure - the reason doesn't matter at this point.

The short story of what I'm trying to say is this: your cat may have had acute kidney failure. In fact, I have been so tempted to post back for a long time, becuase if your cat had chronic kidney failure with very high numbers it would be extremely unlikely he would be put on IV's. It sounds to me like he has acute kidney failure due to dehydration caused by an infection, that would be when IV's are indicated, and that would explain the simultaneous antibiotic administration. The dehydration alone would make his numbers high. This can sometimes cause such severe damage that it becomes chronic, and maybe your vet was in fear of that. If his failure is acute, he will more than likely eventually get better. I didn't want to say anything before since I don't know his history, since I am not an expert, and since I always fear looking like a know-it-all. But I certainly don't want you to think you have to put your cat to sleep!! Even if he is chronic and progressive, he may still have years ahead of him! I hope all my blabbing is making sense.