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Old August 22nd, 2011, 11:11 PM
Rumor Rumor is offline
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bladder stones + CRF

I posted a bit ago and got some advice on my kitty's newly diagnosed CRF. Sorry this is so long.... my worry is making me ramble!

Gollum is 16 1/2 years old, a fat black domestic shorthair. I have had her since she was born. We currently reside on an Air Force base in Japan, along with her two younger step-sisters. While I always tried to feed my babies well, I was ignorant for a long time on proper cat nutrition, and so they have grown up on dry food, various brands that I (wrongly) believed to be "good" along the way. About 2 years ago, I decided to switch them to a healthier diet, so they all began eating the Evo Wild Cravings Chicken and Turkey dry. All 3 loved it.

Several months ago, Gollum was suspected to have the beginnings of CRF. With extremely limited choices in a foreign country on a base, I immediately switched her to Science Diet Mature Adult Active Longevity cat food (as they are the only offering that was low phosphorous). She started getting canned food mixed with water regularly, and some kibbles on the side. The vet says her blood test numbers are good (not too high) and her urine concentration is okay as well, so she just has early signs, not major failure yet. I also ordered several cases of the Organix brand canned catfood (Turkey & Salmon, Turkey & Spinach, Turkey & Seafood, and Turkey, Brown Rice, & Chicken.) While not my first choice (I wanted to stay grain-free...) it was one of the few that was low phosphorous, organic, and could be mail ordered and shipped to me!! All 3 cats now eat that, although they don't care for it. *sigh Next round will have to be something else... The two cats without CRF still get some EVO dry as well, and Gollum has been getting the Science Diet Active Longevity mixed with Now! Grain-free Adult Cat food. But this switch is only in the past couple of weeks. She was mostly on the Science Diet (canned and dry) when the NEW problem occured.

About 4 weeks ago, Gollum started going back and forth to the litter box, peeing in tiny drips and drops. Squatting on the floor. Crying. And then I noticed blood in with her urine. We went to the vet and she was diagnosed with a UTI and placed on Clavamox for 2 weeks. She seemed to be better, all cleared up. Less than a week after her last dose, the symptoms came back. Another urine sample to the vet, bacteria detected, back on the Clavamox. Today, I took Gollum in for an ultrasound (which turned out to simply be some x-rays.) The x-rays detected several stones in her bladder (2 bigger ones at 5mm and approx 4 smaller ones). Unfortunately, she is not finding crystals in the urine samples, which means they are probably not struvite. However, she does not know what kind of stones they are.

I have been told to keep Gollum on the Clavamox for another month (as the infection will return as soon as I stop) and was told to keep her on a STRICT diet of only Hills Prescription Diet c/d multicare bladder health. The vet is out of the canned (and won't get more for over a month), so she can have ONLY dry (which seems counterproductive to the CRF; I also don't know what the phosphorous of the c/d formula is.) The vet is hoping this will dissolve the stones in a month, but has scheduled surgery in early October if it does not. Our concern (both the vet and I) is Gollum's age (nearly 17) plus the CRF may complicate the surgery.

My mommy-worry is that by changing her catfood to the Science Diet in hopes of getting the CRF under control, I caused her newest problem of stones! But now we must deal with that...

My question: What are some GOOD foods that I can give my poor Gollum? Something for stones/bladder health that is also low phosphorous for her CRF. I would prefer something organic and grain-free, but I'm sure I'm asking for the impossible at this point. I also give her a little Omega-3 supplement every day, some canned pumpkin for fiber (the Clavamox was making her constipated) and Dasuquin 2x/day for arthritis. Is there a good "bladder health" supplement that I could give her to help with the stones as well?

I'm not ready to lose my baby girl, and the stress of all these health issues is driving us both crazy!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Old August 23rd, 2011, 01:33 AM
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growler~GateKeeper growler~GateKeeper is offline
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According to the Hill's site http://www.hillspet.com/products/pd-...ealth-dry.html the c/d dry has a dry matter phos of 0.65%

Having not dealt directly with bladder stones I don't have as much insight with them, though I have an article here http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1741 which states that if they are oxalate stones they can not be dissolved by diet & must be surgically removed. The prescription diet is supposedly to re-balance the urine pH to check to see if they are struvite or oxalate.

If she does go in for surgery be sure to have a blood test done before hand to recheck the kidney levels, ensure they will have her on IV fluids during the surgery & there is someone there just to monitor the anaesthesia.
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Old August 24th, 2011, 04:59 PM
brianfester brianfester is offline
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crf in cats

I saw that your cat has CRF. Do you know what the creatinine and BUN level is? We have 2 cats with CRF. Also, our cats used to get tons of urinary issues until we got them off all dry food and any food that has any fish in it... including any fish oil. This has made a HUGE difference! We only feed wellness canned and raw. We started them on RenAvast about a month and a half ago and this has been great for them. Their appetite is better and their coats are looking better. They go back in for a blood test next month and we are hopeful that their creatinine levels have gone down.
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Old August 25th, 2011, 03:15 AM
Rumor Rumor is offline
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Back in Jan 2010, her CRE = 1.6 mg/dl, and BUN = 40.0 mg/dl. At that time, the vet didn't seem concerned about her numbers.

However, in May 2011, her CRE = 2.5 mg/dl, and BUN = 43.5 mg/dl. This is when she said she thinks she has CRF.

A re-check in July 2011 was CRE = 1.7 mg/dl, and BUN = 35.1 mg/dl. This was after I switched her from EVO Wild Cravings dry to Science Diet Active Maturity canned and dry (which is low phosphorous but full of junk fillers....)

The UTIs started about 2 months after I had switched her food, and I suspect it may have unfortunately been caused by the excess grain/filler (corn and soy are high in oxalates) in the Science Diet food.

It is unfortunate for both me and my cat that I am in Japan where I have access to only one vet (on base) and she is Japanese, so communication is occasionally difficult. I also have very limited access to a variety of catfood.

Gollum is now on the Prescription c/d for Bladder Health dry and I guess we shall see what is still there in a month. Still junky food in my opinion, but I have no choice now.

Once the stones are removed, I will go back to a high-quality low phosphorous canned food for her (I'm thinking the EVO 95% chicken and turkey; she doesn't care for the Organix and they all have seafood which my cats aren't used to anyway.)

That is interesting that your cats had urinary issues from seafood. I just recently started the Omega-3 fish oil after reading that it was a good supplement for CRF cats. I'll have to look into the RenAvast.

That link describing oxalate stones is very useful. Thank you. I tend to suspect that the stones are indeed oxalate (not struvite) and that this change in diet is not going to help. But I will certainly be happy if they do dissolve and surgery isn't necessary!
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Old August 25th, 2011, 11:02 AM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Originally Posted by Rumor View Post
I'll have to look into the RenAvast.
There's a good discussion on the Feline CRF Yahoo group about RenAvast. Personally, I'm rather suspicious of this product and wouldn't waste my money until more is known about it (the company that makes it won't disclose the ingredients). Their so-called "study" (self-published) was extremely small (19 cats) and there were no controls in place. As well, they appear to be targeting desperate CRF cat caretakers by doing a big internet blitz, targetting message boards, creating Facebook profiles, and emailing rescue groups, claiming RenAvast has helped their cats but failing to disclose their financial interest in the product. Buyer beware.
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