[mikischo]

You said that she eats just under a tablespoon every 4 hours or so. Is that about 3 to 3.5 oz or so per day? How does that compare to the amount she was eating before she started losing weight and how large is her frame? Was 12 lbs. a good body weight for her frame size? I am just wondering if the weight loss is just due to eating less than previously or if there is something else at play here.

There are other people on this board who have had their cats put on feeding tubes for various reasons. I believe sugarcatmom is one of them and she also comes on here daily and will also give you some good information. It is possible a feeding tube would be helpful to help her to eat more if you feel that what she is getting is not sufficient, but I also do not recommend using the prescription low-protein diets. I lost my own cat this year at the age of 18. He also had heart complications. He was diagnosed with early stage CRF in 2007 and in late January of this year, I decided to follow the vets recommendation to put him on a prescription low-protein diet even though his CRF was relatively stable. By mid-March (after being on the low-protein diet for six weeks) his CRF had suddenly worsened rapidly. I'm not saying that this might not have happened anyway, but the switch to this type of diet was obviously not helpful and I sometimes wonder if it might even have been a contributing factor.

There are also medications available to help with the proteinuria. Has your vet discussed this with you? An ACE inhibitor such as Fortekor (benazepril) is sometimes used in conjunction with amlodipine to treat proteinuria.