Wow you guys certainly zoom in on the topic, more so then the vet??
Anyway I'll just answer all the questions here with a starting story.
We moved from Ontario to NB last Sept/08, moved into new house Dec/08, I noticed Tus losing weight around Feb/09 and her breath was just terrible. She was not eating well and she would eat on one side of her mouth, so my first thought was teeth. Took her to first vet, we did blood work and they cleaned her teeth and took one tooth out. Charged an exorbitant amount of money for that $700.00 and I never took her back there again. At this point we are eating dry food and a different type then when we were in ON.
The weight continued to drop, found another vet, did the blood work. The Oct. ones and as you guys noted not a big indicator for CRF, but with the weigh loss and nothing else showing up we were leaning towards CRF.
At this point I was switching all of them to wet food and going through the "not wanting to eat this crap" hassle so I figured maybe that was why the weight loss.
I went back again in Aug. that's when they did the blood work in the office and then the urine test and arrived at the CRF. I was sent home with protein reduced food, (which of course she did not eat and I stopped giving
) Benazepril for blood pressure and suggested to get pepid ac, as CRF cats are known to have stomache upset.
As for behaviour, the only real change is in the morning she is very agitated, I have to get up feed her and then she will settle down. I noticed she was licking her lips a lot and trying to vomit ( she vomited the first time about a month ago in 15 years). So she gets fed at around 5am then every 4 hours until 11pm. Most of the time she is looking for treats and if she is looking I give her food. If she snubs it, I put Sasha's blend on top and that does the trick. She likes the wellness Turkey and Salmon and there's one that has sardines in it, stinks real bad and I can't always get, it but that one goes down well. The BC (Before Grain) wet foods are a hit but can be expensive as they only come in small cans. The cooked meats are snubbed but I continued to try new things.
Her gums around her teeth seem pale and when she eats her food, which is wet, plus I add water to it, it's like she has to chew it, like it's too dry?? She is dehydrated. I talked to the vet about Sub-q fluids and she is hesitant due to the Sub-q's causing hyper tension in cats and screwing up the electrolytes in the body?
There is no phosphorus reading on the blood work, I guess they forgot that one?
As for drinking more, not that I noticed and as for peeing more not that I noticed and with a muti cat house hold I can't tell by looking in the kitty litter. I don't think she is going any more than usual. No one is the house hold has loose bowels, sometimes the stool can be dry and small.
If there is a way to track it let me know. In some ways she seems more in tune with her surrounding and I don't know if it's because she wants something and therefore is around more?
I guess that's the scoop, so where to go from here? I'm waiting to hear back from the vet on the info I sent her on the appetite stimulant and the ACE Inhibitors. Until then I'll have to continue with the feeding every 4 hours. Any suggestions on the dehydration?
Thanks again guys I can't thank you enough for helping me out with this. Takes a hugh weight off my shoulders. As you can tell I'm very new to the forums as I don't even know how to inset the quotes from others
Sorry if I did not answer the questions properly or to the correct person. I'll get it eventually. I'll even get some Pic's of the old gal so you can see who you're helping out
