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Originally Posted by dogmelissa
One of my kitties was just diagnosed with renal failure last week. She also had a UTI, potential kidney infection, so I am hesitant to assume this is chronic but I'm also operating under the assumption that it is due to her age. Today she went to the vet for antibiotics (they did a culture to find out what would kill her infection,), subQ fluids and for me to get advice on hat to fee her.
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Do you have a copy of the BUN, creatinine, phosphorus, calcuim, & USG plus anything else out of normal range from her test results?
Sierra will need to have her urine cultured again a few days prior to finishing the antibiotics and again 2 weeks after finishing. UTI can be hard to erradicate especially in CRF kitties. It may take a longer course of treatment than the standard 2 weeks, sometimes between 6-8 weeks.
A ultrasound is pretty much the only way to definately rule out a kidney infection, and if there is already renal failure noted I would recommend having one done. The UTI can travel fairly quickly up from the bladder into the kidneys & from there it is much harder to erradicate.
An ultrasound will also give your vet a clear "map" of the kidneys size & condition that will be good to refer to with any subsequent ultrasounds.
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I am hesitant to assume this is chronic but I'm also operating under the assumption that it is due to her age.
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Kidney failure is either acute or chronic.
- Acute renal failure (ARF) happens suddenly, severely with the cat crashing in need of several days of IV hospitalization & is most often due to antifreeze poisoning etc. Usually it is seen in young pets & if treated early & aggressively the pet may make a near-complete recovery with a higher incident of kidney related issues later in life.
- Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a gradual progressive deterioration of the kidneys that is terminal & happens with about 10% of cats over the age of 10. Most cats develop CRF as a result of aging, though some young cats may have a genetic predisposition or as a result of severe infection.
If the reason for the kidney failure is age it's chronic.
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Originally Posted by dogmelissa
The vet *said* igh protein food but then handed me reduced protein food, so I'm a bit confused there. So that's my first question - her current/previous food was Horizon Legacy (dry) with 40% protein (good quality). Is this too high/low? I understand about phosphorus and I have emailed the manufacturer to ask about it - no reply yet.
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I'm more concerned with the phosphorus content of the food, please post the value when they respond.
Protein should be of high quality actual muscle meat (chicken, turkey etc not chicken by product etc) so Horizon is good in that aspect & the protein level looks alright but the % phos still needs to be considered.
It is not recommended to restrict protein below 400 kcal
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB...00/PR00124.htm
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Originally Posted by dogmelissa
However when I was out today buying food, before I realized the vet had said one thing but given me the opposite, I picked up some Go! Natural food with higher protein - I remembered about phosphorus and I am happy to report that the phosphorus levels are listed on the Go! Natural's bags. I got the fish formula - 50% protein & I think 1.2% phosphorus; its not on the website and I can't get to it right now. Assuming this is an 'as-fed' number, it will work out to less than 1% by dry matter, so is this good?
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If 1.2% is as fed phos it works out to 1.3% dry matter that is too high.
100-moisture = dry matter; phos/dry matter * 100 = dry matter phosphorus
Go! Natural Trout Dry:
100-10 moisture (per website) = 90 dry matter; 1.2phos (per your bag)/90 = 0.013*100 = 1.33% dry matter phosphorus - too high
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Originally Posted by dogmelissa
I know you say fish is bad but I don't really understand why, and when we're talking about commercial food, how can that create any imbalances? At this point, I just need her to eat and know she likes fish food so that's what I got.
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As covered by scm
You may get to a point that you need to change foods to find one w/less phos than fish based, it is better to try to switch her to a non-fish food now rather than when she isn't feeling well. But yes she needs to eat in good healthy quantity, at some point it may come down to feeding whatever she will eat regardless of phos/protein level, just so she does.
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Originally Posted by dogmelissa
Continuing with my thought above, is the protein level critical or is it just phosphorus? Is it better to have higher protein if the phosphorus is low? Or does it matter? I also got some Innova Evo - I don't know the phosphorus level but it is high protein (fish) too.
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Phosphorus level is critical, protein less so as long as it is not restricted too low and it is quality protein.
Cat with protein levels restricted too far may start losing muscle mass & become weak, plus alot of the low protein foods aren't flavourful enough to be appetizing to many cats. If you offer a renal diet low in protein & phosphorus but the cat refuses to eat it - it does no good to the cat that won't eat it.
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Originally Posted by dogmelissa
Sierra (the crf kitty) gets 'supper' of soaked kibble with canned added so its not a problem to increase her water intake that way. So, is it ok for me to do this, in terms of water intake for her? I just can't do canned food for all of them and there is no way to only give it to her.
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If you are already giving her canned in her supper, why not increase the canned amount add some extra water & remove the dry from that meal? That way she is atleast getting 1 meal of just canned.
The problem with adding water or canned to dry is it needs to be consumed in a short amount of time, not snacked upon for more than 20-30 mins as scm mentions.