The mystery of Oliver the cat

[Emeraldgreen]

The vet called yesterday to say that Oliver is not diabetic but he is showing some renal insufficiency. His urine specific gravity was 1.011 but she said it should be around 1.045 and 1.050. I don't know alot about this so I'll have to do some online reading. I've had a cat who was diagnosed with this who seemed fine but it was picked up on some pre-dental bloodwork, otherwise we would not have known. She went on to live for many more years until she got progressively worse and stopped eating but she was 21. But this was 10 years ago so maybe there is more info to learn these days.

The vet said his BUN was slightly elevated and his creatinine was creeping up but still in a normal-ish range. His white blood cell count was normal but his monocytes were a little higher than should be indicating some 'inflammation' somewhere.

It seems so surprising that he could lose so much weight just from kidney issues. His hip points are sticking out and I can feel his spine. The vet felt that this could be the reason though and we can't seem to find any other reason. I'm supposed to limit his protein but it seems like a catch 22 because he needs to also gain weight. The vet said I should focus on a high quality protein and to give him some probiotics. I asked her about giving him Hills K/D for kidney issues and she said he wasn't there yet and didn't need that diet as of now.

I'm relieved that he does not have diabetes and relieved that he doesn't have serious renal problems yet but I'm still very worried about how skinny he is and he eats so much! She said that is one of the problems with kidney issues like this because the body doesn't use the protein the way it should.

Well, I'd better get researching here and find out what high quality proteins are out there so I can help get Oliver straightened out. I want to check out the CRF site felinecrf.com. It has quite a bit of info available.

Just wanted to post a quick update about Oliver.

[Randi]

Oliver and George are such gorgeous boys and I hope they can be together for years to come! I can see how it's a catch 22, since Oliver needs to gain weight, but I hope you will find a perfect diet for him, or possibly some medicine that will help.

Sending you hugs - and kisses for George and Oliver.

[Moesha]

Hopefully you've found the problem for Oliver. I do hope that he and George can spend many more years together. I know how hard it is when there is one cat that doesn't get along with anyone else. I'm glad they have each other and you.

[pomtzu]

Can't go wrong with fresh chicken and eggs, Lara. I don't know if you'll find what you're looking for in a commercial cat food - you just might have to start cooking for Oliver.

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks everybody for your posts and kind words. I'm hoping to find out some good information from the petstore when I go there in a few days to see what different types of quality protein foods they have available. And if I don't find anything suitable, chicken and eggs it is! But hopefully I can find some canned and dry food that will work well for him. And I'm going to see if Oliver's cough subsides with Lysine. He just coughs every now and again but it bothers him. All this time, I never knew coughing was a symptom of the upper respiratory herpes virus in cats! I knew he had this virus but didn't make the connection about the coughing. So I'll keep on with the Lysine and see if that helps.

For now, Oliver has a huge appetite which to me, seems like a symptom but the bloodwork and urinalysis and exam didn't show anything else going on. But he is so ravenous, it is odd. But at least he is eating rather than not eating. So I'm grateful for that.

As long as my stripey boys can have more time together and with us, that will be a blessing. Thanks again everybody.

[katladyd]

Wilderness cat foods are high in protein and lots of other good things! I highly recommend this brand!

[Emeraldgreen]

Thanks for the recommendation on the Wilderness food. I went to the petstore and oh my gosh, there are so many different foods for cats!! I ended up getting a bag of dry grain free Chicken and Green pea (George can eat this too- he has allergies but this food will work for him). I'm going to also pick up some higher protein wet food (higher than the not so great Friskies wet food Oliver's been getting) tomorrow because I've been reading online and found this really interesting article that talks about how western medicine might have it wrong in prescribing low protein food for kidney cats. It also recommends acupuncture. I wish I had the funding for that but for now that will have to wait. But I might look into the herbal treatment in conjunction with the mostly wet, high protein food. If you read the article it writes about two types of kidney problems, 'inflammatory' and/or 'deficient/ischemic'. The vet didn't say which he had but just said 'kidney insufficiency' although she did mention that the bloodwork showed some inflammation 'somewhere' in his body. If he has the inflammatory type, the vet who wrote the article advises medium protein (not low though) along with acupuncture and herbs.

If anyone's interested or has a cat with kidney issues, here is the article:

http://www.allthebestpetcare.com/kid...ilure-in-cats/

Seems to make sense and I'm going to try this approach with Ollie. Hoping this will help him out a bit.