Priscilla's failing kidneys

[elizabethann]

Thanks for the good wishes and suggestions, Barbara, Karen, orangemm, Gina, and Sandra.

After I take Priscilla for her blood test (5:20pm), I will stop by Whole Foods and pick up a bit of raw organic beef. Should I just cut off a little tiny baby-grape-size chunk and offer it to her? Cut the little piece up into smaller bite-size pieces?

She didn't want to eat at all this morning. I syringe-fed her her 5cc of MaxCal. When I got here this afternoon, she wanted something to eat, so I gave her kibble, first KD and then Fancy Feast. She ate a little of both. I then tried one of those new Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys: White Meat Chicken Florentine in a Delicate Sauce With Garden Greens (who names these things?). She ate a little of the sauce off the top of her serving. The other cats took care of the rest. So then I syringe-fed her some more MaxCal.

Thanks, all, for the pep talk and the cheers.. I'm telling her too, You Go, Girl! (as well as how much I love her).

Pat
Pat

I thought for sure your cat would eat the Fancy Feast Medleys since that is the only thing Cosmo would eat after he was diagnosed with Kidney Disease. Have you tried just giving your kitty some tuna juice? Or putting some tuna juice on the cat food? Just a thought.

[sandragonfly]

yes, just one at a time.. see if she likes it. if she does - don't give her more than three chunks a day for about one or two weeks, it depends all on how she's looking, adjusting then you can increase little by little. along with, what she seemed to like, medley food too. remember, it's a SLOW progress and she needs it to be sure she's going on right path as far as can be. her mommy's heart will know.

anxiously waiting to hear the outcome, I hope anything you tried for her today will work!

thinking of you all..

[kb2yjx]

Hope Priscilla ate a tiny bit of the raw meat and that her blood results are good!!!

[rg_girlca]

Come one Priscilla, please start to eat a bit more. You HAVE to get better.

Prayers and positive thoughts on the way for your precious Priscilla.

[phesina]

Thanks, Elizabethann, Gina, Sandra, and Lorraine, for your suggestions and instructions and good energies.

We're back from the vet's now. AND GUESS WHAT: Priscilla has gained a bit of weight: from 5.0 to 5.3 pounds.. and her hematocrit has risen from 11 to 13. !!!!!!!! Hallelujah! !!!!!!!!

The vet said we should keep on doing what we're doing.

She also had some of the urinalysis results: it determined the type of kidney damage. One type involves damage to the cells that do the filtering; the other to the tubules that keep the liquids flowing. Priscilla's is the tubule damage, which is better because it means the sub-Q fluid helps with that. We should get the rest of the results this week.

I didn't get the meat yet.. it took a lot longer than I'd expected at the vet's. (Anyway, I wanted to see if there was anything else to keep in mind about what to get.) I'll pick some up tomorrow. Thanks for the detailed instructions on how much to give her, Gina.

I have another flavor of the Fancy Feast Medley to try on her tomorrow. I've given her tuna juice on occasion, but she's usually not interested (though sometimes she is). That's a good idea, Elizabethann, to put some on cat food. I'll give that one a try.

See, all the good advice and encouragement and prayers and love that Priscilla and I are getting from all you wonderful PT folks is really making a difference! We can't thank you enough.

Love,
Priscilla and Pat

[rg_girlca]

Oh gosh, this is great news.

Come on pretty girl, keep up the good work and keep on eating sweetheart.

Prayers continuing for you to get well.

{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} Pat.

[kb2yjx]

That is wonderful news!!! Priscilla, do the best you can do!! (((hugs)))for Pat for all her hard work!!! Sandra

[phesina]

Thank you, Lorraine and Sandra, for the hugs and prayers and good wishes and encouragement.

Today I went to the meat counter at Whole Foods. I discovered that their organic meat is all prepackaged, such as a package of 4 ground-beef patties for $8-something and on up. The person behind the counter (I don't think she was a butcher) said all the meat is "natural" (that overused, meaningless word), pesticide-free, chemical-free, hormone-free, from free-range cattle, yadada, yadada, and I could get whatever amount I wanted. There were many different kinds and cuts of beef and other meats. I wound up getting a few chunks of stewing beef as a starter.

I brought it home for the Taste Test: I took a little chunk and tore it into tinier chunks and put it in a bowl before Priscilla. She sniffed it, moved away, sniffed it again, moved away again, did this a few times more, then finally settled down and ate them! So I brought some more over for her. She sniffed, then pulled back and just looked at it. I tore off tiny pieces and put them in her mouth. She ate them but was not interested in eating more on her own.

Meanwhile, the other cats are hovering around, homing right in on this. I finally served them each a small chunk in a bowl. Sydney and Poppy ate a little, testing it out to decide what it was and if they wanted to eat it. Elmer just vacuumed his up, then headed for the others' bowls and finished what they hadn't finished yet. I brought a bowl in to Peony in the bedroom. Later it was empty, but I don't know if she ate it or one of the others did.

About an hour later, Sydney threw up a small portion of beef along with a hairball. Maybe the stuff has sort of a Laxatone effect?

This afternoon Priscilla's appetite seems to have picked up in general. She ate a fair amount of KD kibble on her own, before the meat trial. After that, I gave her some wet Eukanuba Multi-Stage Renal food. Again, she sniffed, pulled away, sniffed and pulled away again, a few times more. I put a bit on her tongue a couple of times and she then ate the rest on her own.

So, I'm not sure whether to try another type of raw meat on Priscilla.. some real organic meat.. I'm sure in Ann Arbor there must be some place(s) much more organic and alternative and groovy and holistic and all that than Whole Foods.. or some other cut of beef, or some other type of meat..

It certainly made a big hit with Elmer, anyway! He thanks you all.

Priscilla and I do too.

Pat and Priscilla and Elmer (and Peony and Poppy and Sydney too, of course)