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

[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.

[AbbyMom]

Carole, my RB Quasar had kidney failure, too. My vet told me to give her fluids three times a week and at first I couldn't do it. I couldn't stand to "hurt her" like that all the time.

But I did learn to do it because it made her feel so much better. And took it like a champ. But, Quasar had only one kidney from birth, so she did not last much longer even with the treatments.

Like Emeraldgreen said, if you use a very fine needle, I don't think it hurts much at all. In fact, it has to be very sharp, too. She never put up a fuss, which amazed me at first.

Good luck to you and Ash.

[Medusa]

Like Emeraldgreen said, if you use a very fine needle, I don't think it hurts much at all. In fact, it has to be very sharp, too. She never put up a fuss, which amazed me at first.

I've chosen to use a heavy gauge needle. Yes, the initial prick hurts a little but the treatment itself lasts only 5 minutes or so as opposed to much longer if you use a very fine needle. I use a fresh needle each time, to make sure that it's really sharp and Puddy now takes her treatments like a champ. It would be much more stressful on her to have the treatments take up to possibly 30 minutes as opposed to 5 minutes.

[AbbyMom]

I've chosen to use a heavy gauge needle. Yes, the initial prick hurts a little but the treatment itself lasts only 5 minutes or so as opposed to much longer if you use a very fine needle. I use a fresh needle each time, to make sure that it's really sharp and Puddy now takes her treatments like a champ. It would be much more stressful on her to have the treatments take up to possibly 30 minutes as opposed to 5 minutes.

In thinking back (this was 12 years ago), I believe you are right--the larger needle was best because it didn't take as long. But it did have to be sharp. I had forgotten that I started using a fresh one every day.

[Emeraldgreen]

I've chosen to use a heavy gauge needle. Yes, the initial prick hurts a little but the treatment itself lasts only 5 minutes or so as opposed to much longer if you use a very fine needle. I use a fresh needle each time, to make sure that it's really sharp and Puddy now takes her treatments like a champ. It would be much more stressful on her to have the treatments take up to possibly 30 minutes as opposed to 5 minutes.

In thinking back (this was 12 years ago), I believe you are right--the larger needle was best because it didn't take as long. But it did have to be sharp. I had forgotten that I started using a fresh one every day.

It is important that the needle be changed each time for comfort and for bacteria that can grow in the needle inbetween treatments.

The needle I used to use was a 20 gauged one I think and it was a pink colour. It didn't take that much longer for me to get 100 mls into her, maybe about 10 minute total. In the end, it was a better choice for both of us because I had a harder time pushing the larger needle in and then she in turn had a harder time. We did the treatments for years and the 10 minutes sessions turned into her massage time as well. I would hang on to her so she wouldn't take off and would massage her in different parts of her body to distract her from the fluids going in. She seemed to put up with it very well and after the 'bulge' of water disappeared in a few hours, LOOK OUT!! She was full of beans and would race up and down the stairs like a crazy cat. It was so great to see her feeling good at those times.

[carole]

I have not made any decisions regarding sub Q's at this stage,(i also read some negative sides to Sub Q's which worried me as well) i will be seeing the vet on Wednesday for Ash's post dental check up, and will discuss it with her, i have the utmost faith in my Vet, so will be following her advice, however i am not opposed to other suggestions either, whatever works and is best for the old fella, having read about it online,it sounds like they really do not feel great most of the time, which is apparent in Ash at the moment, of course he is still on antibiotics and his new pill which may well indeed take some adjusting to, i know kitties can live a long time with this condition, but i have to ask is it really the ideal thing to do, please don't take this the wrong way, there is no way i want to put Ash to sleep, but i certainly don't want him miserable either.


In my opinion Ash has not really picked up much since we came home from his dental, he had a couple of days he seemed happier, but in general he does not seem himself, i do think his new pills are affecting him somewhat,he has been keeping his food down much better though, but i guess that will be temporary, i did give him a little treat today,and i think it was the wrong thing to do because he had his first vomit to my knowledge in a week, i felt bad afterwards and wish i had not given it to him.

The whole thing really concerns me and frightens me,even though you have all given me hope and advice, i cannot help but feel despondent about his condition,and extremely saddened by it as well.