fancy feast causing urinary problems

Hello, Coconut and I have not been on for awhile because he is doing well. In 08 when diagnosed I went on this site and learned lots and about food. So in addition to the Insulin(PZI) i changed all 3 cats to FF.
Jump to 2009, vet said in treating civie that FF causes urinary problems. In April 2010, in treating same cat for inapporiate urination, I explained to other vet in practice how I'd learned that dry food was bad for cats. ( she was very skeptical). In a phone call, she said that his kidneys were slowing and since Iwas against dry I should fed him precrip K/D. This was on April 26. Never got started on that.
The morning of May 11, I found him unresponsive on my kitchen floor. I rushed him to the Emergency vet - I had to let him go. My heart is breaking, he was my love for 14 short years. Diagnosis: "intracranial lesion, seizure,toxins"
I have asked for a consult with my vet to discuss what happened. Before that I am trying to get all info. Did I in trying to aid one of my children harm the other?
Sadly,
Olivia

 

(((Olivia)))

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I can't answer your questions, but I did type intracranial lesion feline into the google search bar, and there are many articles so maybe one of them will help you.

I'm not sure there was anything you could do to combat a brain lesion, so please, don't beat yourself up over this.

You might try pm-ing Jess & Earl and see if she can shed some light for you.

Again, I'm so sorry. We have so little time with them...

Pam

 

I'm so sorry for your loss ((Olivia))

i'm not exactly following the FF part of the post though. are you afraid that the FF played a part in the loss of your baby? with the thousands of cats here over the years i would think if FF caused urinary problems, this board would be inundated with those problems but i don't recall anything before about FF & urinary problems. so no, i don't think you can nor do i think you should feel any guilt over the loss of your baby. it sounds more like it was something beyond our reach. again, i'm so sorry.

 

Thanks Cindy and Pam for your replies, it helped.

Yes, I realize (will look up about the lesion) that was beyond anyones control. On tuesday I was told a brain anyeurism and i googled that and there was reference to connection with CRF. My vets were disapproving of the FF not being good for kidneys.
It was good to read that there hasn't been reports of problems with it. I will let you know what my vet says when we meet.

The emergency vet said Tiger's heart was strong but his blood pressure was over 200. I googled Blood pressure and found that BP of diabetics should be monitored. The emergency vet was the Prince of Kindness!

Coconut (diabetic) and Lucky (civie) have been sniffing were he lay and was found. I know they miss him. And I am grieving.

Struggling,
Olivia

 

I am so sorry for your loss Olivia! Please take comfort that your kitty is no longer hurting and you did everything you knew how to do for him!

If your vet is pushing a prescription food instead of stating kitty needs low phosphorus food, I would be warry of anything they said about other brands of food. K/D is supposed to be lower in phosphorous, which makes it easier on the kidneys, but it also means high carb, which isn't good for a diabetic. There are many FF flavors that are a compromise between FD and CRF. Unless you were feeding a fish flavor, the FF you were feeding probably wasn't that bad in all actuality. Many vets wear blinders when it comes to the prescription food they sell. :YMSIGH:

 

Olivia,

I'm so sorry for your loss. I agree with everyone else, I've seen no evidence that FF is bad for the kidneys or UT. The only thing I'd say about it is that I personally won't buy any of the flavors with wheat gluten, as I believe that is a terrible thing to feed cats. If you recall, there was also a scare not long ago when some pets died from eating food made with tainted wheat gluten from China, although I'm fairly certain that FF wasn't affected by any of those recalls.

I don't know anything about the lesions you mentioned. I do know that with CRF, the toxins can build up in the bloodstream to the point of causing seizures and death, which is why most CRF kitties are treated with sub-Q fluids at home. It sounds like the vet thought your kitty was in the early stages of renal failure from your description, but maybe he was further along than they realized, or he had another issue that caused his kidneys to fail very rapidly. In any case, it wasn't your fault! You did everything that you could for him, and I'm sure he knows that. I don't think that feeding him FF had anything to do with it.

I'm glad that Coconut is doing well!

 

Olivia,

I wanted to add something else about the FF and CRF question. It's true that FF is higher in phosphorous than the prescription foods for CRF, but of course not all CRF kitties are also diabetic. Since the FF varieties that I fed Angel are also low in carbs, I mixed aluminum hydroxide with it to bind the phosphorous so it would pass through the GI tract instead of the UT. Many people do that, rather than buying the prescription foods. It's better to be able to keep giving your kitty a food he likes than to try to get him to eat something he doesn't like. And like Kelly said, many vets will only recommend the Rx foods, either because they're ignorant about the P binders or because they make $$ off selling the Rx foods.

I've been trying for a while to get a coworker to switch to using a binder instead of buying K/D, since her cat loves FF and doesn't eat enough of the Rx food. Sadly, this woman won't listen to me, since she doesn't understand how much I've learned from this board and other sources, and she feels more comfortable believing whatever her vet tells her.

In the unfortunate event that Coconut has to deal with CRF in the future, at least you'll know a little more about it.

 

I'm so very sorry for your loss.