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Old February 23rd, 2012, 02:19 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tiff123 View Post
My 15 year old cat, Fred, was just diagnosed with CRF based on the following:

BUN of 56
weight loss
muscle wasting

His creat and phosphorus levels were not elevated, in fact, his phosphorus was below normal levels. I thought elevated creat and phosphorus were something that went hand in hand with CRF. Couldn't elevated BUN be due to other problems?
A BUN of 56 is high, and yes could be due to other issues. Nearly all (but there will always be exceptions) with CRF will have elevated Cre but not necessarily phosphorus as well ~ my late CRF girl never had high phos not even at her worst numbers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tiff123 View Post
Anyhow, Fred is on the following regimen:

10 cc(mL) fluid subq
k/d canned cat food
Rubenal 75

I tried the subq tonight for the first time. Unfortunately the needles the vet gave me were 22 gauge (extremely small) and it appeared not to be working well. Also, I'm not quite sure how to gauge 10 mL off the bag since it is divided into 100mL sections - a little difficult to eyeball.
22g Monoject-type needle is better than having the vet give you 18g Monoject those are like harpoons.

The fluid will run slowly in a regular 22g but since you're not giving much you don't want the flow to be very fast & end up giving far more.

Some pointers on how to give sub-q fluids easily including the direction the slanted needle tip should be facing: http://www.weirdstuffwemake.com/weir.../catjuice.html

Take the bag hang it up & using a ruler mark off sections divided evenly into 10mL - can either use a thin strip of black duc/electrical tape or a sharpie.

Quote:
Originally Posted by tiff123 View Post
Fred is tolerating the k/d cat food well. I bought an electric, filtered, running water tray, but he doesn't seem to want to drink much.

The Rubenal pills are big. I am worried about giving them because they contain Phosphorus, even though his levels are low... I'm not sure what to think about that.

Finally, poor Fred is bleeding when he goes potty. I can smell the blood in his feces and there is blood on his anus. I wonder if this could have caused a high BUN reading, perhaps he does not have CRF after all? I am thinking about getting a second opinion.
Fred may just need a little time to get used to the new water dish, and if he's exclusively eating wet food he may not need to drink a lot during the day. Some cats tend to drink mostly at night as they are usually more active then.

The phos content of Rubenal is likely not going to cause an increase in blood phos levels - it would have to be much higher amounts.

Is the vet aware of the blood in the feces?

What colour is the blood - bright red & liquid like a fresh cut or dark red/black & tarry? If dark & tarry is may be a symptom of gastro-intestinal bleeding which can cause high BUN reading, in that case a trip to the vet is needed to determine the cause.

A second opinion is always an option

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