Acute Kidney Failure

Hello,

This post is about my other cat, Fudge, a 7 year old male Himalayan. Last Tuesday (a week ago) he started showing symptoms of acute kidney failure. We suspect toxic exposure (ate some lilies that weekend). My soon-to-be ex husband didn't do anything because he didn't have time to take him to the vet. I then picked him up and took him to the vet on Saturday. Vet did bloodwork and gave SubQ fluids. Sunday, I took him to an animal hospital where he has been ever since for the standard 48 hour re-hydration protocol. They got his bloodwork and confirmed acute kidney failure. They said he didn't look as bad as his bloodwork would lead one to believe though. The past 18 hours he's been there, he has been drinking and peeing, and this past night he started eating again. My original vet from Saturday called me this morning to give me the bloodwork results. I told him that I got them through the 24 hour emergency clinc on Sunday (nice of him to call on Tuesday :roll: ) since they called the lab to get them for me. My regular vet told me the prognosis is not good. He said the other clinic can re-hydrate him, he'll be better, he'll come home, then it will start all over again. Given the prognosis and the cost of keeping him alive, he suggested......

I don't know what to do. I have one vet telling me the prognosis is bad, then I have the animal hospital (which is costing me an arm and a leg) giving me hope that maybe he could recover.

Does anyone have experience with acute kidney failure due to toxic exposure, and has their cat recovered?

Sophia

 

Sophia,

While not from eating lillies, many years ago I had a beautiful black persian named Aubrey that someone fed meat tainted with anti-freeze, he also went into acute renal failure, after about 4 days in the ER hospital he pulled through, he was 5 years old at the time and lived to be 17 before he passed quietly in his sleep. When we first found him I didn't truly except him to make it through the ride to the ER but he did and 6 months later you would have never known there had ever been anything wrong with him. Hope that helps.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette & The Fur Gang

 

Sophia, I would give him this first chance and some time and see how he does. I wouldn't PTS if there is a question of recovery.

 

Sophia,

I also think you and your vet should give him a chance and see how he is responding to treatment if there is any chance of recovery. Sending you both positive vibes.

 

Bloodwork is being done at noon, so this afternoon I'll know if there are any signs of improvement in his blood work. nailbite_smile

This is what the vet at the hospital told me after I told her about my conversation with my regular vet:
- Chronic kidney failure, problems show when they lost 75% of functionality (kidneys down to 25% functioning)
- Acute kidney failure, problems can show when they lost 25% of functionality (so kidneys are down to 75%), so they can bounce back to tolerable functionality since a cat only needs to keep 25% of kidney function to survive.

I definitely don't and will not regret giving him a chance. I just fear it was too late, since my ex waited four days before asking me if I had time to take him to the vet. I then waited a day to give him proper treatement since we were awaiting confirmation of the diagnosis.

Now the interesting thing will be, how do I give my sugarcat high protein food, while giving my kidney cat low protein food. :shock:

 

This is mostly to bump this to the top, because there are others here who know a lot about kidney failure and will help you, but I wanted to add my impression (which could be mistaken... and I'm not sure this applies to acute renal failure) that phosphorus is more of an issue for kidneys than protein content. I know that there are a few canned foods out there that are low in phosphorus while still being low in carbs. Maybe one of those will end up being an option?

ETA: Here is a recent thread that lists some resources and foods that might be of use. viewtopic.php?f=28&t=54729 Again, not sure if this all applies to acute renal failure or not. And I am so sorry you and your kitty are going through this.

 

Many years ago, I had a beautiful black cat named Black Beauty, or BB for short. He became very sick about the age of 17, the vet said it was renal failure, not sure if it was acute or not, they did fluids, and tests, and kept him a few days, he came home weak, but lived to be 23 years old.

if at all possible, don't give up, you never know...and you will know you have done everything possible.

hugs to both of you.

 

I got the results from today's bloodwork.

Creatinine: Saturday: -2100, today - 1000+ (50% reduction). Normal is below 210
Urea: Saturday - 93, today: 40 (also ~50% reduction). Normal is below 13

She said his values are still high (5x normal), but the fact they have dropped so much makes her think it's more than just the fluid therapy they have done, but also that his kidneys have regained some function. She says the kidneys can take up to 14 days to regain function after toxicity, but realizes that keeping him hospitalized on IV for that long isn't ideal. The longer I leave him, the better (she'd like another night), but I can also take him home and give him SubQ fluids. I could also transfer him back to my regular vet (where instead of $200 a night, it would be more like $90 a night). Not sure what to do...

 

Just called my dad, who generally is the "let nature take its course" type of guy and was against me bringing him to the hospital on Monday. He says to give him a fighting chance and supports my decision to keep him at the hospital. That's good to know So more hospital it is!

 

Last year our civvie twix ate a lilly petal .. unknown to us at the time how deadly they were to cats ... Thank goodness I got online and quickly realized she needed to be at the vet's asap. They ran tests on her and all came back normal .. She did have charcoal put in her to absorb any poison? And she had to go back to the vets for five days for fluids after that. Luckily all tests have come back normal since then. I say give Fudge a chance :YMHUG:

 

I am glad his numbers are getting better, and he will be staying at the hospital longer. Will you be able to visit him daily?

 

Yep, I get to visit. I visited yesterday and will visit again today after work.

 

Just keep an eye on his hematocrit. IV therapy after 3 days can start lowering it. May need longer term fluids than IV therapy will allow so then it would be sub-Q's.

 

I recently had Squeak test out with some insane liver values and he wasn't eating....4 weeks later after meds, syringe feeding and subq fluids, many of his values have recovered, to the point that the pathologist actually asked the vet what the heck we did to the cat!

Livers are not kidneys, and so are situations aren't quite the same, but honestly, if you can bring him home and give fluids then I would. the cost will be lower and your cat will be happier at home.

Good luck!!!!!

Jen

 

Please consider bringing him home.
I'm sure all he wants to do is come home.
I made a big mistake once by not bringing my kitty home and the words my vet used was,
"give him a chance."
I still cry over that decision and that was years ago before i knew what i know now.
If i could only go back and do it over! what i would give to be able to do that...

 

If he wasn't getting better, I'd definitely bring him home. He has improved with the IV therapy, so I will give it another two days. I saw him today and he was in better shape than yesterday. He's also not stressed at the vet's because he's a people watcher and loves being around and watching people. Having come from an animal hoarder's home where he spent his first six years, he's also fine surrounded by animals. But yes, we did discuss bringing him home tomorrow instead of giving it another full 48 hours.

 

Got another update. After four days on IV and an appetite enhancer, he's eating and drinking well, and his values dropped again

Creatinine: Saturday - 2100, Tuesday - 1000+ (50% reduction), Today - 660 (Another 30% reduction). Normal is below 210
Nitrogen: Saturday - 93, Tuesday - 40 (50% reduction), Today - 30 (another 25% reduction). Normal is below 13

The vet says generally the prognosis with acute failure due to toxicity is not good, but he's surprised by how much the values have fallen. He says normally you see a small drop or even a bump, but in Fudge's case, the results are encouraging. He's staying at the vet's a bit longer...

 

Praying for Fudge....get better little buddy.

 

Sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers to Fudge.

 

Day 6 bloodwork:

Creatinine: 400+
Nitrogen:22

 

Hi Im new here but my cat Tigger had acute kidney failure from a urine infection (he has many infections) and this one wasn't caught soon enough for me to get him meds and he stayed at Emerg overnight than my vet overnight with fluids etc also and Im happy to say he recovered from that, so yes give your cat a chance Im sure he'll pull through and you will too.

 

that is encouraging, the numbers continue to improve!

Carl

 

Im really glad you gave kitty a chance. My Latte had Acute Renal Failure due to toxicity (metacam). I had to give her a fighting chance, too. She did have permanent damage, but managed another 3+yrs with her kidneys being the least of the problems in the end.

I dont know the number conversions to help with the labs. It does look like there is improvement. Eating is a wonderful sign. I pray he has a full recovery and you have many more years together.

There is a great resource and discussion board on yahoo. If you have any specific questions about different values, symptoms, treatment and/or just additional emotional support you will find it there!

Yahoo group:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/tanyas-crf-support/

Tanya's website filled with info!
http://www.felinecrf.org/

 

Today's bloodwork, 48 hours after the last one, showed no change at all, so the vet sent him home. Figured he won't benefit from the IV anymore, so we'll see how he does at home!

 

I'm wishing you The Best Of Luck.

 

Just thought I'd post an update. We did SubQ fluids for a week. Then we stopped. So far, so good! He's still a little skinny, but eating, drinking, and the terrible breath is gone, so I think he's officially a severe acute renal failure survivor!

 

I'm so glad Fudge is getting better and that you did go through with it and give him a chance. Great news and hopefully no major damage to kidneys.

 

Awesome news!

Thanks for the update,
Carl