4/2 Aria

Well, sent Ari in for her teeth cleaning today in the hopes that maybe she had some gingivitis or something going on with her teeth that was causing her elevated levels. Our doc ran her blood again and her BG's were good, but her creatin (sp?) and BUN were more elevated than 2 weeks ago, so they are worried about her kidneys and are going to keep her overnight to do fluids. I'm heading in with all her supplies to see exactly what's going on and to see if any of that can be done at home (or if with the kids around that it would be better for her to stay there overnight.) My first vacation day and my girl's in the hospital. Not cool.

 

Hope, make sure they do a urinalysis and get the urine specific gravity. This will give more info about he kidneys. And please post the blood work results when you get them. Even if Aria does have some kidney issues, you have caught it early and there are things you can do to help.

Sorry about your vacation day. I hope Aria is well.

 

Thanks Ele. I put a call in to find out. Our vet thinks that we caught whatever is going on early (that her numbers were slowly creeping up) and that a night of IV hydration will get her back on track. I'll post any info I get.

 

Oh, and she was looking into putting her on Purina K/D which I told her I did not want to do because of the FD. She didn't say she wanted to switch her (especially because she eats the FF so well) but she wanted to look into it. I checked the chart and want to get some information together before I see her tomorrow, so I can intelligently relay why I wouldn't want her on K/D and give her alternatives and why. Because I'm on a time crunch, does anyone have any info on this?

I do have to give my vet a great big kudos as she's willing to stay on the tight TID shot schedule and come in at 10:20 tonight and 6:20 tomorrow morning for her shot times. I left Ari's meter with her to see if she can grab her numbers pre shot, just so I know what I'm dealing with when she returns. If she runs high for the next 24 hours, at least I'll know I'm fighting down numbers instead of maintaining.

 

Well as for the reasons, it is too high in carbs. Alternatives are potentially Wellness Turkey or chicken which is one of the lower phosphorus commercial foods [but still not low enough IMHO], or to make your own. FF is typically high in P - P is bad for CRF/CKD.

You should read the SACN 4th ed here:
http://www.markmorrisinstitute.org/atta ... ts%20b.pdf
Cats with overt renal disease can have P levels as low as 0.3% DM. You will be lucky just to find a food or a way of feeding food that is in the 0.5-0.7% DM range that is suggested for normal cats. Wellness Turkey for instance is 1.05% DM P.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/view ... 324#p17324
Basically cats should get way less P than is in most food [including most raw with bones].

Obviously the best option is to make your own. I use the http://www.knowwhatyoufeed.com site and their product to make my own with the nutrient profile I want for H. Another avenue are P binders.

And of course while you are there get a lesson from your vet tech on how to give SuQ liquid [LRS]. As for equipment I order Terumo 21g x 1" needles and their basic 62" or 72" IV admin sets that are 20 drop/ml from www.shopmedvet.com. I buy cases of LRS [12 1,000ml bags] from a local pharmacy. More info here: http://members.verizon.net/~vze2r6qt/su ... ompare.htm

 

(((((hugs))))) hope she is doing better soon

my understanding is that if they have certain health problems and need a special diet for that it trumps the diabetes, and you would feed what they need for the other issues and shoot more insulin if needed to compensate - that varies of course by illness, sometimes the vets say "special diet" when it is really a s*cky diet, but other times it truly is what will help them

I don't know enough about kidney issues to comment on that specifically... there are a ton of peeps on the board though with cats with both FD & CRF (?) so you might want to post on Health (if you haven't already) to see how others handle it if you are still looking for additional info...

 

I'll be keeping Aria in my thoughts. I do not know enough about kidney issues, but I hope it's nothing serious. As far as keeping Aria hydrated - do you add water to her food? I believe Gator had mention this to me at one time and I've been doing it ever since. I find that my kitties like the mushiness, so they go to town when its feeding time.

I also wanted to mention that I've switched Prudence to Sophisticat canned food. I use Country Style or Liver & Chicken. I still give Friskies time to time, but I am wondering if the food has made a difference in Pru's BG#'s?

Hugs to Aria cat_pet_icon

 

Hey Michelle Ari's on Fancy Feast Chicken Feast which is one of the few she'll eat well (except for the fish, which she gets once a week.) We've always added extra water to her food.

I'm heading out to get the waterfall water dish today. Ari used to love it, but when ours malfunctioned, I never got another one.

 

Hope, my old vet wanted Blackie on KD and I said no. The KD canned actually lists glucose as one of its top ingredients. There is some controversy over the "kidney foods". Everyone agrees that it should be low in phosphorus, but not everyone agrees that it should be low in protein. All of the studies have only been done with food that is low in phosphorus and low protein. There are many members here that have CRF kitties on low carb/low phosphorus foods. Like Gator said, Wellness Chicken or Turkey and there is also Merrick Cowboy Cookout, Friskies Special Diet turkey & giblets, Chicken & Liver, Beef & ? (can't remember right now). J&B's food list shows the phosphorus levels in all the canned food - try to find something under 250. Personally, I don't believe the low protein foods are good for kitties. Most advanced CRF kitties are losing weight and have muscle wasting - I would think they need more protein.

For more info on kidney issues go to www.fellinecrf.org. I have heard that just because numbers are elevated, doesn't mean the kitty has kidney disease. You also need to check urine specific gravity (USG). At that website, there is a lot of info about how it is diagnosed, treatment, etc.

Please let us know how Aria does.
Ele