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Old June 26th, 2010, 11:55 AM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Location: Calgary, AB
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Quote:
Originally Posted by driver8 View Post
Her liver function was normal, but her creatininine was elevated, thyroid normal, no diabetes. The vet said it was "mild to moderate" chronic renal failure.
Do you have any other lab values, such as BUN, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, etc, and the urinalysis results (particularly the urine specific gravity)?

Quote:
Originally Posted by driver8 View Post
Because she's had dry food most of her life, we're trying the dry food first - Renal LP from Royal Canin. She seems to like it so far, and hasn't thrown up at all since we started introducing it.
What was Lucy eating before being put on the Renal LP?

Any way you can try offering her some quality (ie non-prescription) wet food? It would be so much better for Lucy if you could transition her off of all dry food, which is problematic for even healthy cats. More so for those suffering a chronic illness. You might want to check out this link if you haven't already, particularly the section on health problems caused by dry food, and the part with tips for transitioning kibble addicts over to wet food: www.catinfo.org

Here are the ingredients for Renal LP dry:
Pork Meal, Corn, Chicken Fat, Rice, Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Natural Flavour, Wheat Gluten, Chicory Pulp, Fish Oil, ....
Tons of grains (corn, rice, wheat), fillers (chicory pulp and powdered cellulose - aka sawdust), and a poor quality meat source (pork meal). A much better idea would be to feed one of the lower phosphorus canned foods like Wellness Turkey. To compare, here are the main Wellness ingredients:
Turkey, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Chicken Broth, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, .....
See the difference? Plus it's 78% moisture, compared to the 10% or less moisture in the Renal LP. Water is a crucial ingredient in cat food, and for those cats with renal insufficiency, it's an essential aspect of their treatment.

Quote:
Originally Posted by driver8 View Post
She drinks tons of water on her own, so I'm not worried about dehydration so far.
That can be deceiving. The reason that she's drinking so much water is because dehydration is already a factor. She's trying to catch up to all of the peeing she's doing since her kidneys aren't able to retain as much moisture as they should. I have a cat with diabetes, and prior to him getting regulated on insulin injections, he would camp out at the water bowl drinking several cups of water a day. How could he possibly have been dehydrated with all that water consumption? In order to get rid of all the glucose building up in his blood stream, he was peeing it out faster than he could replenish it. Very similar with CRF kitties.

Quote:
Originally Posted by driver8 View Post
But it's sad to know there is a tangible sign that she is becoming and older, more frail cat.
Many cats can live for years with compromised kidneys, so even though you may have to modify some things in Lucy's life, take heart in that this isn't necessarily a death sentence. Just love her and appreciate each day with her, as we all should with our beloved furry friends.
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