Acute Renal Failure

[Honey]

Hi everyone, my name is Teresa and I'm 19 years old.
I have a beautiful and sweet cat name Honey. She is 10 years old and she's seriously my everything. Honey has always been a healthy cat, and before 2 years ago, she never went to the vet simply because it seemed like she didn't have to.

However, 2 years ago (2009) I noticed my cat starting losing a lot of weight, and throwing up white, liquid foam. After much nagging, I convinced my parents to take her to the ASPCA to see the vet. The vet took blood work, and when he got the results he said her kidney levels were off, and prescribed her Hills K/D Food. She was on the food for about a year, and then the prescription ended (2010).

I have now noticed again shes extremely skinny, even more so than before. Also she's been throwing up white foam again. After 2 years from her last vet appointment, I took her to a new vet because I feel as though the ASPCA didn't really help her.
This new vet did blood work, and 4 days later his assistant called and told me she's in early stages of kidney failure. I researched about it and read that it's called Acute Renal Failure.

His assistant also told me he has prescribed that Hills K/D Food (which obviously didn't help the first time, plus its expensive), and that her kidney failure can be treated with a lot of fluids. I asked her what she meant by fluids and she said my cat needs to come in twice a week to get intravenous fluids.

I told my mother about this and she completely opposes with the idea. She said what they're going to do to my cat is called Dialysis, and she has heard many people become sick off of Dialysis and it will only kill my cat later on. She also said Dialysis is only used while a patient waits to have a kidney transplant. She told me it's a waste of money, and the cat will become so stressed out and feel so sick that she will die faster. My mother told me to only take the prescribed food and hope for the best.

Has anyone ever dealt with early stages of kidney failure with their cat? Did you do this intravenous fluids (or what my mom called Dialysis), and did it work?


Also if anyone is wondering why I don't really take my cat to the vet often is because I'm a pretty young student living with my parents, so I don't really have the money to take my cat to the vet. Also she becomes very stressed out and starts panting and yowling when shes in a car and that makes me sad.
My parents also don't really agree with spending money on an animal (they're traditional) so I always have to put on a fight for her to go to the vet.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

[Karen]

Okay, first off, your mother is completely wrong. Dialysis is a totally different process than Intravenous fluids. And many cats with kidney problems can live long, active lives with the right care. You can learn to give Honey IV fluids at home if you are not squeamish about needles, and that can save you a trip to the vet every couple weeks. Ask for one more visit, and I am sure they would be happy to show you how and what to do.

Dialysis is a whole different thing, I'll describe that in a bit. Just wanted to post this quickly.

[Karen]

Your mom said "many people become sick off of Dialysis" - not true. Only very sick people GET dialysis in the first place. It is not as good as having a working kidney, though, so can be limited in its effectiveness. That's why people get kidney transplants when they can, but as there is a limited supply of available donors (save a life, become an organ donor!) so patients can end up on dialysis long-term while they wait. It is not a perfect solution, though.

Dialysis - to put it in simple turns, extracts a patient's blood, and runs it through a series of filters that do the kidney's job, then return it to the patient. A working kidney's main job is to filter out the blood, so things pass from our bodies as urine, for example, rather than building up. The kidney also helps regulate blood pressure and various other hormones and things, so usually a patient is on medications for other things, when they are at the stage where they need dialysis.

I hope this helps you understand. You needn't argue the point with your mother, but you should know the difference!

[Honey]

Oh I am SO happy it isn't Dialysis because I've seen cats on Dialysis and it looks absolutely awful. Okay thank you for explaining the difference, I will definitely tell my mom about this difference.
Despite Honey's health problems, she is still very active and acts like a normal cat. She plays, she socializes with the family, and even though she's skinny she is ALWAYS hungry. She always begs for food.

I just want to know, if anyone received fluids for their pet's kidney problems, and if it greatly helped.


Also I just wanted to add,
I see my mom's warnings were wrong, but I understand what she was thinking.
She is just afraid that we will spend a lot money on my cat and in the end it won't help. My parents are immigrants and didn't go to college, so money is limited and I don't really have a luxury life. I am comfortable though, however, my parents feel as though my cat's health isn't a top priority, but they do love her. I'm just adding this because I feel as though I made my mom look like a bad person, but she is not. Haha, sorry about that!

[moosmom]

Karen's absolutely right. It is NOT dialysis. Intravenous fluids are given sub-Q, which is giving fluids just beneath the skin, to help hydrate them.

Another thing is dry food can put stress on the kidneys, as it's dry. Your cat sounds pretty healthy otherwise. I've been taking my cat Maya Linn to a holistic vet who told me that dry food does put stress on the kidneys and she only feeds her cats canned food.

It can get expensive to bring your kitty into the vet twice a week for sub-Q fluids to be administered. It's not that difficult if you know what you're doing. Maybe your vet can show you how to do it and give you an IV bag of Ringers to take home. It's more scarey than it looks. I was nervous the first time I did it, but it gets earier each time you do it.

I wish you luck. The best thing you could do for your furbaby is to keep him happy, loved and fed.

[Freedom]

Welcome to PT. Sorry that it is at such a stressful time for you.

When your cat had the initial diagnosis, the K/d prescripton food is FOR LIFE, to continue her good quality of life as long as possible. You really should have continued that.

So now she is in early stage CRF - chronic renal failure. Fluids will help her, and will prolong her life and slow the progress of the disease. This is not like a cold, that she will recover from. This is permanent, and progressive.

My cat, RB Mr. Amber Cat, had this and I did the subcutaneous fluids at home. We started at once every 3 days. By the end of 8 months, he was at 3 times per day and that wasn't enough. At 4 times a day I called a halt and had him PTS. At that point in time, he wasn't enjoying life. Amber was my first cat ever, so the disease was pretty far along by the time I realized there was an issue. Up to that point, he would ALWAYS be hungry, even learning to open the cupboards to help himself to food. He was liek a warm toasty oven next to me in bed at night. All these were early warning signs, but I didn't know that. It cost him quite a few years of his life.

Because the first problem he has was an over active thyroid. And leaving that untreated overworked his kidneys. It would have been so easy if I'd taken him in to the vet promptly at the first signs - a small pill once or twice per day to replace the hormone he wasn't getting, and all would have been well for several years.

Age 10 is young for a cat to develop kidney issues. Sometimes it is genetic. Other times, it is brought on by the food the cat lives on. Grocery store quality foods are horrible for pets, and for cats those sorts of foods overwork the kidneys daily, leading to kidney issues. I learned my lesson the hard way, and I now feed a high quality kibble with lots of added canned (also high quality) food. Cats are not used to drinking water from a bowl or stream in the wild; they rely on their prey to provide the fluids they need. So the house cat also needs to get their fluids with the meal.

High quality cat foods contain NO grains. Cats are obligate carnivores - they MUST eat "meat" to obtain the protein they require. Cat food also contains taurine, required for proper eye maintenance. Taurine occurs naturally in the liver of mice - a prime ingredient in a wild cat's diet. So again, a high quality cat food is necessary to have the nutrition a cat needs.

Getting your kitty back on the prescription food, and on the fluids, will help improve her current condition, and slow the progress of the disease. How long? There is no magic formula. The sooner the disease is caught and treatment starts, the longer the cat will live.

As Karen says, you can learn to do the fluids at home. Use a small "S" hook, and make a loop of string, and hang the IV bag from this. I used a kitchen cabinet, so I could have the cat up on the counter. It was easy this way. I left the "S" hook and string loop in place, just removing the IV bag until it was needed again.

The smaller the needle you use, the less "pinch" the cat feels - but this means a slow drip. A larger needle makes for a faster process, but the cat is definitely going to feel that! These are things you can discuss with your vet.

Good luck, and feel free to ask more questions, here AND at the vet!

[moosmom]

Great advice, Sandie!

[Honey]

Thank you for the reply, everyone.

I guess thinking back, Honey has eaten poor food. Most of her life she was on MeowMix. I had my cat since I was 8 years old, so obviously I didn't choose the food. About a year ago I started wanting to buy healthier food for my cat. I put her on Purina, and then I tried MaxCat Senior for older cats, but she hated it and wouldn't eat it so I just stuck with Purina.

My cat is now on a complete canned food diet. She has been for about three months. Hard food completely ruined her teeth and gums. When I took her to the vet actually, he checked her mouth and her gums were bloody, and inflamed. After the doctor let go of her mouth, her whole mouth started to bleed! It was absolutely terrible and put me in pain as well.
He gave her cortisone to reduce the swelling, and I had to give her medicine at home for two weeks. I notice her breath doesn't smell now, and she is always so hungry. She also seems happier though, as she used to never play (I just figured she never played because she got older). When I went back a month later, the doctor checked her gums and they're red, but they're not swollen and bloody. He said he can clean her teeth, but she has to be put on anesthesia, and it's going to cost $120. So I don't know when I will do that. But right now she's eating one 1/2 can of Purina Fancy Feast.


Regarding you post, Freedom, I don't think I can ever put a needle in my cat. When my cat had to get medicine for 2 weeks for her mouth, every time I try to give her it my heart would drop and I would get so anxious. I have a hard time handling her when she wants to be let go, because I feel bad and I want her to still love me so I always let go. Giving my cat a shot, oh my god, I just don't think I could do it.
You wrote saying it didn't help for your cat, so that really discourages me. I'm very sad about my kitty, because she still has half a life left and she has to have this curse. My poor baby.

[Taz_Zoee]

My kitty Taz, that I told you in your other thread looks like Honey, had CRF. His came on fast and furious. Although, he had some other kidney issues that I believe were related (even though the vet didn't think so). I had to do the sub-Q fluids. And after being here on Pet Talk and hearing others talk about it, I swore I'd NEVER be able to do that to my cat. But you know what....I did it! My boyfriend helped hold him and it was really very simple. The only time I missed was the very last time we did it. I began the drip and it went all over the place because I had stuck the needle all the way through.
He hardly flinched when I put the needle in (and they are not small).
It's amazing what you can do when it's necessary. Otherwise, you would need to pay the vet to have it done as often as she needs it, which would be expensive.

Don't be discouraged by the sub-Q fluids not working for someone else's cat. If you could see all the stories of kitties that it DID work for.....it's amazing. I know there are several people on here who had cats with Renal Failure who lived for several years. You just never know how quickly it can happen. And I know if either of my other two cats got it, I'd do whatever I had to in order to keep them comfortable and with me for as long as possible.

Good luck to you and Honey.

[Barbara]

With my Filou, kidney failure was diagnosed when he was 9. He went in to get sub-q fluids every week as I could not get him to hold still- he was such an active kitty. He survived the diagnosis for 5 years and in a very good life quality.

This
http://www.felinecrf.com/
is an excellent website about renal failure.

Don't give up- renal failure cannot be healed but the symptoms can be helped for a long time.

[Freedom]

Sorry, I tried to explain that the disease was well progressed by the time Amber was even diagnosed. Sub q fluids DO work and DO help - but you have to get on this, and not put it off and put it off.

I'd say the same thing for the dental cleaning. Inflamed gums, bleeding mouth, all suggest the gingivitis is advanced. Clearing it up and then not finishing the job, well, it will return and you will have to start over with the antibiotics and get the swelling down again before the dental will be able to happen. So you just make kitty suffer over and over, and spend more money on vetting which you could have avoided.

Meantime, something you CAN do is research and get educated! Here is a link to cat food ratings:
http://www.petfoodratings.net/cattable.html

Take a look around and start to learn what to look for in the labels. For example, the first one is 9Lives. Click on that. I mean the food name, under BRAND on the left most column. (not the website on the far right).

Read through that and you will learn a bit. Go back and click on another food, maybe a 3 or 4 star, to see what the different reviews look like. Poke through a few more and you start to learn what all those "ingredients" really are, and what you want to have, and what you want to avoid.

Just as for humans, spending a bit on good food can limit your medical expenses down the road. I think you will it interesting reading about the foods!

[Lizzie]

Teresa - you are a smart young woman who can think for herself and makes good decisions (I read your thread about the foster kitten). You can learn to give sub-q fluids. I've given thousands now but years ago I was so hopeless at it that I'd keep taking my first cat with CRF to the vet techs because I couldn't keep the needle in, or I couldn't control the cat. You will learn as we all learned because it is to the very great benefit of our cats.

You don't want to watch Honey slowly get sicker and sicker from CRF. She will stop eating, vomit several times a day, develop sores on her tongue and ultimately have seizures as the toxins build up in her body. It's possible you will have to make a mad dash to the vet to euthanize her with her seizing in her carrier. Think about how you feel when you are dehydrated - headaches, nauseated, weaker than usual. Fluids are easy, cheap (I'll get to that later), and work really well.

You will lose her to CRF, but it can be years before that happens if you start her on fluids therapy now and by the time her kidneys fail you will know her so well that you will recognize signs of ultimate failure and can get her to the vet before she goes into total distress. She will stop absorbing the fluids or she will stop urinating and you will know you can't help her any more.

My latest CRF foster cat, Sam, was 4-1/2 pounds when I took her, barely eating and with little will to live. On fluids therapy she changed completely, gained 3 pounds and eats like a horse. She's still going strong 2-/12 years later.

The cheapest route to give fluids is to have your vet write a prescription for a case of Ringers Lactated fluids from a pharmacy. Call around and see which pharmacy has the best prices. I use Costco and a box of 12 bags costs about $25. Let's say you give 150cc every other day which will mean a bag will last 2 weeks. You can get needles and lines from the same pharmacy. You should use a new needle every time but lines, if you make the switch over carefully, can be removed from the empty bag and pushed into the new bags several times.

Although KD is prescribed for kidney failure cats because it is low in protein and phosphorous, I've never used it. I want the cat to feel they can eat any time and whatever they want so I feed high quality canned and dry food. For me it's a psychological issue, and vets in general believe it is better that the cat eats than that they eat a low protein diet.

If Honey is still nauseated even with fluids therapy, you may want to give her part of a Famatodine (Pepcid) tablet once a day. Your vet will tell you how much.

You should be proud of yourself for taking good care of Honey. You just need to take one more giant step to make her feel almost as good as new.

[Freedom]

Great explanation, Lizzie! Wow, I didn't know HALF of that.

[Medusa]

Welcome to PT. Sorry that it is at such a stressful time for you.

When your cat had the initial diagnosis, the K/d prescripton food is FOR LIFE, to continue her good quality of life as long as possible. You really should have continued that.

So now she is in early stage CRF - chronic renal failure. Fluids will help her, and will prolong her life and slow the progress of the disease. This is not like a cold, that she will recover from. This is permanent, and progressive.

My cat, RB Mr. Amber Cat, had this and I did the subcutaneous fluids at home. We started at once every 3 days. By the end of 8 months, he was at 3 times per day and that wasn't enough. At 4 times a day I called a halt and had him PTS. At that point in time, he wasn't enjoying life. Amber was my first cat ever, so the disease was pretty far along by the time I realized there was an issue. Up to that point, he would ALWAYS be hungry, even learning to open the cupboards to help himself to food. He was liek a warm toasty oven next to me in bed at night. All these were early warning signs, but I didn't know that. It cost him quite a few years of his life.

Because the first problem he has was an over active thyroid. And leaving that untreated overworked his kidneys. It would have been so easy if I'd taken him in to the vet promptly at the first signs - a small pill once or twice per day to replace the hormone he wasn't getting, and all would have been well for several years.

Age 10 is young for a cat to develop kidney issues. Sometimes it is genetic. Other times, it is brought on by the food the cat lives on. Grocery store quality foods are horrible for pets, and for cats those sorts of foods overwork the kidneys daily, leading to kidney issues. I learned my lesson the hard way, and I now feed a high quality kibble with lots of added canned (also high quality) food. Cats are not used to drinking water from a bowl or stream in the wild; they rely on their prey to provide the fluids they need. So the house cat also needs to get their fluids with the meal.

High quality cat foods contain NO grains. Cats are obligate carnivores - they MUST eat "meat" to obtain the protein they require. Cat food also contains taurine, required for proper eye maintenance. Taurine occurs naturally in the liver of mice - a prime ingredient in a wild cat's diet. So again, a high quality cat food is necessary to have the nutrition a cat needs.

Getting your kitty back on the prescription food, and on the fluids, will help improve her current condition, and slow the progress of the disease. How long? There is no magic formula. The sooner the disease is caught and treatment starts, the longer the cat will live.

As Karen says, you can learn to do the fluids at home. Use a small "S" hook, and make a loop of string, and hang the IV bag from this. I used a kitchen cabinet, so I could have the cat up on the counter. It was easy this way. I left the "S" hook and string loop in place, just removing the IV bag until it was needed again.

The smaller the needle you use, the less "pinch" the cat feels - but this means a slow drip. A larger needle makes for a faster process, but the cat is definitely going to feel that! These are things you can discuss with your vet.

Good luck, and feel free to ask more questions, here AND at the vet!

Everything she said is right on the money, Honey. (little rhyme there) My cat Puddy had chronic renal failure and I administered subQ fluids to her off and on for 5 years. They feel so much better after a treatment. Acute renal failure means that it comes on suddenly and ferociously. Chronic renal failure is ongoing and a cat can live for many quality years w/the proper treatment. Your vet can show you how to administer the fluids. It's much less stressful on the cat and you and it saves a LOT of money. Good luck w/everything. I'm sure you'll do just fine and so will your kitty.

[AvaJoy]

I see this is an old thread, but my Schuyler was just diagnosed with CRF and I thought I'd see if there was a thread about others dealing with this diagnosis among Pettalkers.

I found the website www.felinecrf.com (mentioned in a previous post) to be very thorough, addressing all the issues pertaining to the cat, and the cat's caregiver(s). It truly enlightened me and has been a source of knowledge and inspiration. So, please visit that website and it will give you encouragement to help Honey have a good quality life despite CRF.