Quote:
Originally Posted by OtisIsMyCat
Upon diagnosis his BUN was at 70, creatinine was at 1500. After 24 hours of IV those figures went down to 55 and 1100 respectively. After 48 hours of IV they were down to 33 and 690.
|
Oh wow. Glad that Marshall pulled through, and my fingers are crossed that he continues to recover. Did he have any other symptoms prior to the bad breath, like increased drinking and urination? He's pretty young to be in such an advanced stage of renal failure from natural causes. Is there any possibility that he ingested something toxic?
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtisIsMyCat
Turns out nearly his entire mouth was in ulceration as a result of the high levels of toxins that had built up in his body from his deteriorating kidneys.
|
If there were no prior CRF symptoms, I really have to wonder whether the mouth ulcers were actually caused by something he ate, and his current state of renal failure is a symptom of that, not the other way around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtisIsMyCat
Even the vet was surprised because she told me that when a cat comes in with levels that high (I believe she said his kidney function was 5-7%) they are emaciated, in muscular atrophy, and half-dead.
|
Exactly! More reason to think this isn't a case of CRF, but ARF (Acute Renal Failure - brought on suddenly by something external). Did the vet bring up this possibility at all?
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtisIsMyCat
The cat food I'm referring to is "Felidae" Chicken & Rice. The exact product is HERE. If you scroll a bit you'll see the guaranteed analysis as well. |
Ah okay. You're looking at the Guaranteed Analysis, which isn't too terribly useful. What you want is Dry Matter, and you can find that if you click the "Detailed Nutrient Analysis" just below it. It takes the "As Fed" values, which are more accurate than the Guaranteed Analysis, and removes the moisture content, making it easier to compare to other foods. So the true phosphorus content of the Felidae is 1.16%. Not too bad. Since Marshall already likes regular Innova EVO (the one that's too high in phosphorus - Turkey and Chicken), perhaps he'd be okay with the Innova 95% Venison, which is even lower than the Felidae. Do you think he'd go for a raw diet? Nature's Variety makes pre-made frozen raw that is also low in phosphorus ("Chicken and Turkey" and "Beef" flavours in particular).
Phosphorus binders are another option to consider, particularly if Marshall's blood phosphorus is above normal, or even at the high end of normal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtisIsMyCat
the sub-q therapy I've been doing every 2nd day.
|
What's the volume of fluids that he gets per session? You might want to consider giving smaller amounts more frequently to provide more even hydration.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OtisIsMyCat
This has been quite the ordeal, in fact, I think I'm still recovering from it!
|
No doubt! Scary stuff indeed. You're doing great though
. Give Marshall some good chin rubs and bum pats for me and tell him to keep prancing and cuddling.
Here are a couple more links with good info that you might be interested in:
http://www.felineoutreach.org/Education/Kidney.html
http://www.holisticat.com/crf/Diet-w...in-issues.html