My old Ash has kidney failure...advice plse..

[Medusa]

As for Sub Q's i am absolutely terrified of the thought of having to do that, i don't know that i can, the vet never mentioned it to me, i think i will take him to the vets if absolutely necessary, i am hoping the pills will help him alot, they are for his heart condition and renal failure.

I know, I said the same thing but, after a few tries, I mastered it and now I do it w/out even thinking about it. It can be expensive if you have to take Ash to the vet for them because, given that he has only 25% kidney function, he may need them quite often. Puddy needed them twice a day in the beginning, then daily, now she's on them every other day. My vet was charging $10 a visit and that was cheap. My other vet, a specialist, would've charged a lot more. This way, I pay $10 a bag, plus the cost of lines and needles, and the bag lasts for 6 treatments. It definitely saves money. Talk to your vet and see what s/he says and I'm sure s/he'll be happy to show you how to do it. Have no fear. It's easy.

[kb2yjx]

Please do not fear the sub q's, if in time that is what needs to be done. I taught my husband how to do them!!! However, all the cats that Barry could do, have gone to the Bridge. The current ones, Norrton and Raven, are a bit difficult and he leaves them to me.

Regarding diet. I have come to the understanding, that if the cat refuses to eat the
" kidney " diet, then the diet does no good. Right now, I have one kidney cat on I/D(also have liver problems), and the other, absolutley REFUSES to eat the K/D, so is eating Pet Promise Chicken, and loving it!!! Our Molly Meu ate Friskies for years, before she decided to stop, and then ate Fancy Feast!!!

There is a nice site, Tanya's Feline CRF Information Centre. It is site that is run by a woman who has dealt with kidney disease in 2 of her cats. The section on nutrition is excellent!!!

GOOD LUCK, and prayers for your Ash....

[momcat]

I'm very sad to hear that your sweet Ash is not well. I'm sorry but all I can offer both of you is many, many prayers. Could I ask you to give Ash some gentle feel better lovies from me? And [[[[[HUGS]]]]] for you

[catlover32648]

Sorry to hear about ash!! I hope days get better for you & her

[phesina]

All our prayers for dear Ash.

[carole]

Thank you everyone, Ash is doing ok, he is much the same as he has been for a while now, up and down, he is eating quite well, little and often, and seems keen on this gourmet wet canned food, it is mostly salmon flavoured, so for now that is what he is getting, i do want him to have some biscuits later on when his mouth is healed, i am amazed at how great his teeth now look, so sparkly and white, and even his gums look good, the dental has done wonders for him, i just have to keep them looking that way.

I am seriously considering buying some animal toothpaste and toothbrushes, the vet nurse said just buy the babies ones from the supermarket and cleaning my furbabies teeth once a day if they will let me,i am sure i will be in for some fun, but it would be well worth my efforts if indeed i did not have to have expensive dentals done on them and better for them too, well we might give it a go later on.

I bought these treats for the two kitties getting pilled, then i remembered Ash cannot eat biscuits yet, he smelt them and seemed keen, all other three turned their noses up at them, they were catnip biscuits,hmm some treat indeed, feel like writing to the makers and telling them three out of four cats would not even touch them,Ash might not even like them either, we shall see, he gets his teeth check up on wed, so hope that all goes well.

I really cannot afford to have Ash on a special diet, i just have to do my best, i already have one kitty on a special diet, and the pills are 35 dollars a month, so that is the best i can do for him at this stage, however i am going to look for low protein food if possible, i see most of the biscuits are very high, so would be better he only have a little of those for his teeth i think.

As for the sub Q's, no mention of that so far from the vet, i cannot imagine myself ever doing that, i cannot stand the thought of putting a needle into him at all,but i guess if it makes him better and has to be done, i will step up to the mark,shivering in my boots lol.

[Emeraldgreen]

I'm in agreement with what Mary and others have said in their posts. Fluids, fluids, fluids! My RB cat Jade was diagnosed with kidney failure and it was found during blood testing for an upcoming dental as well! My vet gave her a poor prognosis. She was 16 at the time and I was devastated. At first my vet wanted her on Benazapril chews for her organs and fluids done by the techs and low protein diet.
BUT... she wouldn't eat the special diet and was losing weight so my vet said just feed her whatever she likes. Fancy Feast and Friskies were her favourites and she ate that with gusto! I stopped the meds because they were very expensive and I simply couldn't afford them at the time. (Jade didn't have a heart murmer though like Ash and my vet wasn't entirely sure the meds would help her condition anyway).
I also started doing the fluids at home and it's really affordable this way and much less stressful on the cat. Jade went on to live to 21 years old. Don't give up hope!!
p.s. I know you said you're not sure about giving him fluids yourself but if you see that he is getting dehydrated (has that separated fur look and can be more lethargic) you can ask your clinic to set up a time with the tech and they can do a treatment in 10 minutes or so and show you how. You could watch them do it for a few weeks and then decide if you want to give it a try or not. You can get a smaller gauged needle that is very fine and it goes in very smoothly. I used to give it to Jade just between her shoulder blades. Once you've put the needle in, that's the worst part. After that the fluids drip in for 5 or 10 minutes and then the cat tends to feel so good afterwards and have much more energy.