Oscar rarely makes the health news, and at least this is minor, so far.

In the last couple of months I noticed he truly wanted to eat more often (as opposed to, "Mom, you're in the kitchen so it's food time for me! ) and then last week his pee biscuits got a bit bigger. He's lost about .88 of a pound in the last year. He is not TOO thin but I have been giving him extra treats and second helpings to keep his weight from dropping too much.

I was thinking both thyroid and kidneys so I made an appointment for blood work to be done. I had to take him back a second time as they hadn't run the thyroid level.

Thyroid is normal, kidney values are slightly elevated. No protein in the urine, which is a very good sign! He can stay on the same food at this point.

He will be taking a supplement called Semintra. It supports the kidneys. At the age of 18, Oscar is doing well, I'd say. The off-ramp is down the highway but it's not in sight yet. I'll keep you posted.


For anyone interested here is a link to the supplement. It reduces the amount of protein the kidneys secrete in chronic kidney disease. It says "new"; that was 2014 in the U.S.

https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.ca/...eim-canada-ltd