Hello everyone. I know this is a Canadian site and I'm posting from Chile, South America, so I hope it's okay! Anyway, I'm here because today my 8 year old female, indoor/outdoor(yard) cat was diagnosed with CRF. Here's the story:
It all started in mid-January when I noticed my cat, who once was told to be overweight at 10 lbs, started losing weight. She looked skinnier, but her healthy attitute was still there: eating, drinking, pooping and peeing normally, playing, sleeping, etc...Also, it's still summer over here and some days have been terribly hot, I thought it could be related to that. I called her vet and asked if it was normal she had dropped from 9 lbs to 6 lbs during this time, and he said yes. Since she was her normal self, I didn't worry that much. But this last monday or tuesday (can't really tell) she stopped pooping, still peeing though. She pees and poops once a day normally. Wednesday she stopped eating. She started looking lethargic. So her vet came to see her Thursday and said it was probably a hairball that wasn't allowing the poop to come out. I wasn't satisfied with his answer, so I looked for another vet, a new one, recommended by him, since he was out of town. I took her there Friday and the vet was really worried, said she was extremely dehydrated and that it was probably CRF. I couldn't believe it. I kept my cool while being there, but when I got home I cried because I've read info about CRF and it doesn't look very good. Also, she's only 8, most cases I've read are about much older cats. Anyway, he started IV treatment on her, took blood samples and removed her poop. Also, he told me she has gingivitis.
Today I went to see her and she looked very good, her eyes were bright again, she looked like her old happy self, but with an IV. He even removed a rotten tooth. But the vet didn't have good news: she was diagnosed with CRF.
Her creatinine and BUN levels are high, which he tells me means she has kidney failure. He prescribed Hill's k/d (dry or/and wet), which she was eating and seemed to love, and told me she could mantain a healthy life even with this condition.
I can't deny the blood tests results, but he told me that cats with CRF pee a lot, and my cat didn't pee that much, only two or three times a day in the last two days. Also, I understand that cats who pee a lot change places to pee because their litter is dirty with pee. Not the case here.
Does any of you guys have a cat with CRF? What are your experiences or thoughts? I was also reading about cats who eat toxic plants that experience high levels of creatinine. Perhaps my cat lost weight because she had a rotten tooth? Any ideas?
Thanks so much.
Danny