Just received a phone call from the vets with Trubs blood test results.She does have kidney disease but it is in the early stages. All her major organs are working fine and her blood work is good. She does seem to have a gastro-intestinal issues as she is intermittently bringing up bile.
So we are going to try her on a soft food specially formulated for kidney disease. If she will eat it, it will help slow the progress of the kidney problems and be easier to digest so hopefully less vomiting.
The vet recommended an endoscopy might be useful if the vomiting becomes frequent rather than intermittent.
So things to do:
- Stop using the arthritis pain medications (summer soon)
- Try more soft food in her diet instead of the kibble (difficult)
- Monitor progress - if vomiting bile resumes, then endoscopy (expensive)
- Repeat all tests in 12 months time (can budget for with annual vaccinations)
- Give lots of love and cuddles
30 comments:
Grumpycat pic :-)
Glad it's been caught in the early stages (despite the vet's efforts). She may have a long time with you yet (touch wood).
Getting her to stop eating her kibble is going to be the hard part of that list above.
I "have a moment" whenever I hear of diagnoses like this & then I think of Pi in intensive care 12 months ago & he's still with us , so "early stages" is GREAT news!! I think there are some kibble for kidney issues too but they're ridiculously expensive so transitioning to soft may be the better option. The soft food may also help with the gastro issues as it's gentler on the insides too, so fingers crossed for you both.
Trubs is home. She has used the litter and checked the house out to make sure Abby and I didn't touch her things while she was gone. She has turned her nose up at the soft food, picked up her toy and headed outside into the sunshine :)
She's always preferred kibble over soft food always. So the ridiculously expensive dry food may be the end result, but we will persevere with this first as I really don't want her to have a gastro-intestinal blockage.
Grumpy cat is much thinner than when you took this pic last year :(
Yay for turbs. I am so pleased she is much better than thought.
Janine
My heart goes out to you because I know how much Trubs means to you. At least you know early and can manage her diet (and stress) to maintain her health. The kidney kibbe may be expensive but it is worth it. The only problem is that for a while at least, Abby will also be eating it as she will doubtless nick Trubs food. As for the vomiting, it is pretty normal for a cat with kidney problems. Harry used to yack in an inopportune place at least once a week and it was never a real problem. Now Mum is now dealing with the kidney issues with Mildred as she ages but that cat had a hard life for years so I'm not really surprised. As usual, Mum is saying no more cats once TinyCat has gone but we'll see. Have you thought about a small amouny of live yoghurt to try settling her stomach? It works a treat on my dogs these days and I have used it on cats before.
I've not thought of that. I have live yoghurt here all the time now as its part of my breakfast. i'll check out its suitability for cats and then see if she is interested .... Thanks for the idea!
Would Trubs eat fish? Some friends of ours have a 22 year old cat who can keep down baked fish when his tummy gets touchy. They freeze individual filets, bake in under 10 minutes, then pull it apart to check for bones. They catch their own fish, so no additives and no hormones from farm raised fish. And that cat does not like soft food either. But he does like his fish. :) They use bluegill, but I imagine any mild white fish would work.
At least there are some answers now, and a plan of sorts. All of mine have gotten wet/soft food as a treat, but their main diet is the kibble. I can't imagine a cat that won't eat wet food...? Anyway, I have nothing helpful to add, other than good luck to both of you - Booger had that urinary tract crystalization when he was quite young, which often leads to other issues later, but a switch to the really expensive stuff, then the more reasonably-priced Purina offering added a decade or more to his life, so a small change really can make a difference!
At least you know the problems now. Fish may be an answer but it shouldn't be given as a total diet as too much of it can cause problems with eczema. What about chicken? I cook chicken for Boris, usually in water in the oven but it could be boiled.
No arthritis drugs in the winter could make life difficult for her. Delbert has arthritis (most labs do) but I give him cod liver oil in his food and that seems to improve things. Its not as good as drugs but does help. The other thing come winter would be to look at a homeopathic solution. We used to contact a vet when we had cows and he always made up prescriptions for us and dropped them in the post. They always worked too.
Good luck with Trubs. I hope she continues to plague you for some time yet
In another life I had a cat with dietary/vomiting problems. We used to buy IAMS cat food (relatively expensive kibbles) and the vet recommended that we pour a little boiling water over it and leave to cool off. Cat could never wait, the smell, to him, was irresistible and he would go nuts for it. Stopped his problems over night as well.
A lot of my "executive cat" friends swear by IAMS. Our vet recommends Science Diet (and Pi certainly is doing quite well on it). I did find this piece of common sense on the mighty interweb
Furthermore, there is one big problem with using the protein-restricted commercial diets: many cats don't like them, and won't eat them. Obviously, it does little good to provide a special diet if the cat is going to starve to death! Experts emphasize that it is much more important to feed the cat what he likes and will eat, and maintain weight and body condition, than to be overly concerned about protein content. (Please note that if you add any other protein source to the diet, it will completely negate any possible beneficial effect from the low-phosphorus renal diet. It is useless to feed both a renal diet and a normal protein food or meat-based treats at the same time.)
Let me say this again, because it is the single most important thing to know about CRF: feed the cat anything she will eat! IF THE CAT WON'T EAT IT, IT WON'T HELP THE CAT! Weight loss is your cat's worst enemy in this disease; so let the cat eat what she wants!
Because water balance is so crucial, it is best to feed a high-moisture diet to help keep the cat hydrated; do not feed only dry food. Feeding mostly or only canned food, even though it is high in phosphorus and protein, provides the moisture and calories that these cats need, in a very palatable form that most cats will happily eat. You can also get low-phosphorus renal diets in canned form. Dry cat food causes dehydration even in healthy cats, and is not appropriate for CRF cats (unless, of course, it's the only food he will eat!).
Thanks everyone!
As far as wet food goes there are a couple of tins she will eat. All of these tins are fish variants and all are chunks in sauce. She licks up the sauce or juices or jus or whatever that can calls it and sometimes eats a little bit of the actual fish. If I could buy cans of meat juices I think she would love it!
She wont eat and has never eaten any of the tins that have a paste-like quality. She is very much a texture connoisseur. Unfortunately the cans the vet gave us were a "chicken" paste that looks and smells unpalatable. Neither of my cats will touch it.
Trubs has been fed Science Hill diet for the past 6 - 7 years. I recently switched to Royal Canin brand because they have a kibble called "joint support" which I thought would help her arthritis. Abby is of course on "active outdoor adult" cat kibble.
Trubs will, like most pets, eat mostly any meat that comes off my plate. In an effort to increase her weight, as she is now officially underweight, I've been eating more baked fish and chicken meals at home. Some sausages she likes and sometimes she will eat a whole sausage but that is rare. She often will eat an entire piece of whiting by herself.
I usually feed the cats first and then cook dinner for myself. Abby hasn't yet worked out that there are sometimes side benefits to hanging around until my meal is ready - so Trubs often gets a chance to eat alone at that time, and I think that helps the digestion.
Thanks Julie, I read the same info. I was dubious as to the agenda of the website given that it was anti-established veterinary practice in so many areas. However they are correct, there is no need to starve an already underweight cat. I'm going to feed Trubs a smaller amount of kibble and a large amount of the paste for the next few days and then give up. My pet food store although not local, is associated with many regional rescue operations, so I will take a drive up there on the weekend and see what they can recommend in terms of kibble.
Oh and Kay, in terms of the arthritis, we live in a very mild climate and it is coming into summer so she should be right for a while. Once the nights start to cool down again, she'll start getting monthly Cartrophan shots. I just can't use the metacam anymore. She has here heatpad, and I will be buying a second one next autumn. I'm also looking into a glucosamine supplement for her as well. Powdered and mixed with her wet food doesn't work.
I've never had a cat that will eat that "chunk-o-food" stuff. It doesn't look like real food to me & I think cats are the same on an instinctive level. Damn, I wish I could remember the liquid joint suplement that our cat-physio recommended (shut-the-hell-up...I know how insane a cat-physio sounds). It was great.
A cat physio sounds great! If you find out what the liquid joint supplement is, let me know please!
One of my previous cats (Turtle) went nuts over yoghurt and it never hurt her. She would stick her head into one of the small tub and lick as much as she could out. Then she would tilt her head up, wait for the dregs to drip over her face and then push the tub off and clean all the drips off her face into her mouth :-)
I'm glad you at least know what you need to do to help Trubs now.. but I know how worrisome it is when our furkids aren't feeling well. Molly still doesn't act her age most days, thankfully, but I know the time will come.. hugs and scritches to all three of you!
Sigh...yoghurt.....that would be beige, so Pi loves it...he goes nuts for anything beige. When we painted the old house he had to be physically restrained from sticking his head in the paint tin......Have I mentioned he's not really bright.
This would again be Stephen - probably using the laptop I borrowed from him earlier this year - so it would still have my login on it. Thanks for the advice regarding yoghurt. I'll try Trubs tonight.
Oops, sorry if I wasn't clear. :) No, they only give him the fish for a day or two until his tummy settles. I don't think any one food would be good as a total diet.
I understood what you meant :) I need to increase the amount of fish in my own diet, so this works for both of us :)
It is a good lean protein. I like mild white fish myself. Not very fond of the 'meatier' fish. Are you still doing the Wii Fit? I slacked off on mine lately with as hectic as things have gotten, but I am still down 15 lbs on the year. I wish you well on your goals. I know you can do it. Just give it time.
Having problems doing anything aerobic due to migraine kicking anytime I get the heart recing. However I am doing the stretching and basic yoga poses.
According to our Vet there are two types of glucosime. There's the sulphate and another one which I cant remember the name of. The sulphate is reasonably priced; the other is far more expensive. Of course, its the more expensive one thats any good!!!!!!!!!
OK have given up on the paste-like wet food as a bad joke. Even Keifer was eating it under sufferance, and he's a garbage guts! There is a kidney disease dry food but it is sold via vetrinarians only. So I dropped in today, piad Trubs bills (ouch) and ordered the dry food. I'll be able to pick it up on Monday. Its a Hills Science brand so I think we'll be OK - Trubs eats other types of Hills Science diet quite readily.
I was also given a sample of Sasha's Blend joint health for Trubs arthritis. Its a powder containing green lipped mussels, Abalone and shark cartilage. I've got to read up a little bit more before using it, but it seems a step in a positive direction.
Got a response back from Mal (my cat physio) as follows
The Oil which I think is FANTASTIC is called, Melrose Organic Flaxseed Oil. Must be kept in the refrigerator in its original black cardboard container. Start with just a dash on the finger to enable pussy to get use to the taste. Just a little for a cat until they get use to the taste. Flaxseed Oil for a cat can sometimes give them the runs, so little bits to start off with.
I also sell a wonderful powder – Bovine Collagen – safe to use on humans and animals. Would suit Pi and this WA chap.
Give your friend my email address and if she wants any further help, am happy to respond to her.
Mal lynch's email is maldaisy@vic.australis.com.au. (you can tell a proper pet person by the fact their pet's name is in their email). Mal is AWESOME!! Highly recommend having a chat.
Kewl! Thanks so much Jules! I know the flaxdseed brand he mentions so I'll look into it next time I'm at the health food store. Haven't heard of the bovine collagen before. Of to do some research ..... THANKS!
Trubs is loving the Spring weather and I'm feeling far more optimistic. We're changing her dry food, her appetite has increased now she's back on her favourite brand of wet food, she hasn't thrown up at all in th past few days ad she's purring more than she has been lately.
She even bestirred herself last night to stand in the doorway and glare at a young Tom until he slunk away.
I've also been given so many good ideas from you gals that I feel more secure in knowing what to do next time she starts going down hill again ...
Sorry about the previous confusion. I hadn't logged on to Multiply from this PC in a long while and it looks like Mel was the last one who did. All sorted now.
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