RE: Bad Breath. He's had bad breath for the last several years. And, just before I moved to Vancouver from Ottawa I took Marshall and Otis to the vet to make sure they were healthy for travel in the plane. Turns out Marshall needed to get three teeth pulled and he would have been 8 then. So I guess I always attributed his bad breath as something more to do with his specific physiological make-up. But, now I'm wondering if it was just gradual kidney disease? Although the vet in Ottawa did a blood analysis before putting him under for his teeth extraction, and those results have since been faxed to the vet here and nothing in his kidneys stood out, although his liver enzymes were a little bit off. Otis is the same age and you can't ever smell his breath. When his mouth was in that state, that was the first time I ever noticed that carcass-type of smell.
On the day I started to notice smell and discharge from his mouth he was drinking a lot more than usual.
I too have wondered about acute. When I first brought him in and she realised how quickly the symptoms had come on she asked me about him ingesting something toxic. I wracked my brain and couldn't think of anything. Marshall's unique in that he has no "hips." The tips of his femurs were removed when he was a year old after he developed Legg-Perthes disease. So a) he can't jump up on anything to even access my plants and 2) I don't have any toxic plants in my apartment.
I live on the ground level of a two-story home I share with my landlady upstairs. She's got a fenced off front-yard garden that I let the cats roam around in. They're always attracted to the same leafy plants, or the grass shoots, and I've been living here for three years. If it was something outside, Otis should have been affected too, no? And why now?
Although, there is one specific instance I can recall which I think about often and am wracked with guilt. I use Nair on my legs and will often walk around my apt doing things while I wait for it to set. Marshall had brushed his tail along my legs about 3 days prior and did get some Nair on his tail. I wiped it off but I worry it wasn't enough. What if that's what it was? What if he was cleaning himself and became poisoned from the Nair because I didn't get all of it? That's about the only toxic thing I can possibly think of - and probably the only toxic chemical I have in my place! Even my cleaning and beauty products are non-toxic, all-natural.
Maybe it was ARF but I think the level of deterioration his kidneys endured is past the point of repair. I do believe though that usually at initial diagnosis, if the cat is really in a crash, the kidney functioning will be extra low because at that point they are so dehydrated that the percentage can be much worse than after they are stabilized. After I get the results from his Wed blood test I will ask the vet what his kidneys are functioning at.
Re: Food. I did some more searching through this forum and found some strange reviews on Felidae, some with people finding bone and cartilage matter in the food? Gah!
I'm going to look into the Evo Venison or Beef. I hate keeping him on this K/D garbage. Especially since I know the primary reason that food is even endorsed by the clinic is because some rep went there and made a good sell.
It's full of junk and $56 for a case of 24 mini cans? What a rip.
I wonder when retail pet foods will make a food specifically for kidney issues in cats. Rather than just via the vet. They have food for weight, shedding, diabetes, I've even seen food specific to the breed! It would make my life so much easier.
I haven't looked into Nature's Variety, but I will.
RE: sub-Q. The vet prescribed 150 ml every 2 days. We've been doing really well on them. He doesn't seem to care as long as I'm tickling his face and his ears and he just purrs away in ecstasy. But today he got startled for some reason and wriggled sharply away from me. I had to let the needle go before he did himself harm as his upper body strength is powerful (with no hips in the back he compensates by climbing and pulling himself up rather than jumping). So, he only got 50 ml today, but I may try again later. It was funny though because after getting free he just ran straight to one of his water bowls and lapped water on his own. He's very independent apparently.
Thanks for those links as well. I'll check them out. I'm going to try to pay more attention to the 'Detailed Nutrient Analysis' vs the Guaranteed now as well.
Marshy... for bragging rights. ha
