cat/crf question-vet techs,experience with cat kidney probs please?

my 9 year old cat has just been diagnosed with kidney problems.she will be put on a special diet at our appt.with the vet this saturday,she may also get pills if her b/p is too high.the vet said we have caught it at a very early stage(i noticed increased water drinking lately.) is there any additional things i can do to help her?tips/advice/things that worked for ur cat?she has no symptoms at this stage,except for the extra drinking.i am hoping to keep her well as long as possible.any advice greatfully received,thanks to all in advance! from,hilda's mom

Kidney problems are very common in older cats. Our old cat has been on the kidney pills for some time now and they have really helped him. He wouldn't eat the special diet biscuits or the wet food, but the pills on their own are doing a good job. All you can do is take the advice of your vet and make sure the cat always has access to clean water. And try not to worry!

The vet diet isn't the best. A diet that includes high quality protein instead of less protein in general is better for your cat. Discuss sub-q fluids with the vet. Here's a website with excellent information and links http://www.felineoutreach.org/Education/Kidney.html Read it and discuss it with your vet. Also, join one of the Yahoo groups for CRF. There, you can compare notes and get info and support from people who are dealing with the same issues you are. http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=cat+crf Best wishes for your kitty.

DON"T feed that stuff Start feeding proper food CANNED food no gravy and if you can afford it NO grains. That food will cause many many other problems If your cat had full blow crf this would be what you needI am sorry you are going through this. This advice applies for crf cats not kidney failure.Treatment of Chronic Renal FailureIf your cat is not in final stages, this is not want you want to do. You do not want to put your cat on the Vets low protein diet. There are simply so many better options out there than to hand the poor cat a low amount of poor quality protein - which often results in a poor appetite and muscle wasting since the body is now robbing its own muscle mass to feed itself a decent quality and amount of protein.. There are new thoughts on this and the thinking is it is not the amount of protein but the quality of protein that matters.The Merck veterinary manual [www.merckvetmanual.com] says that cats need "4 g of protein of high biologic value per kg body wt/day". That's about 7 calories from protein per pound body weight per day. If a cat isn't a good eater and consumes, say, 20 calories per pound per day, then 7/20 = 35% of calories can safely be from protein. It must be high quality protein, which means meat, milk, and eggs, and not grain or soy. I am under the assumption that you have been feeding mostly dry foods. Many use a vegetable based protein instead of animal and that is part of the problem.. Your cat needs protein as it is a carnivore and cutting down on it will lead to other health issues and may cause faster degeneration.You want to cut down on phosphorous (no fish allowed now) The best way to do this is with a raw diet which you can make yourself or buy. (Making yourself is better) link provided at the bottomIf you are unwilling to do that then something like the non fish flavors of Wellness or Merrick with NO grains are good alternatives. Wysong is also a good canned choice. This list gives a breakdown. Remember you want low phosphorous http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodOld.…http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodNew.…You should be giving sub-Q fluids as needed.You also will want to look into phosphorous binders. Something like aluminum hydroxideAsk your vet or look into calcitrolYou may want to talk to the vet about having injectable Pepcid AC on hand or you can buy it in pill form (ac not plain pepcid) and give 1/4 tab for stomach upset which happens a lot in crf cats due to acid in the stomach.I hope this stuff helps, here are many links for youMaking cat foodhttp://www.catinfo.org/makingcatfood.htmother links. Read, read, read!!!!http://www.felineoutreach.org/EducationD…http://www.marvistavet.com/html/kidney_f…http://www.felinecrf.org/cAbout that vets diet. This report is for dogs but applies to catshttp://mousabilities.com/nutrition/crf/b…http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Opera/21…

I'm sorry your cat has been diagnosed with this but glad you caught it early. One of the biggest things is keeping your cat hydrated. I would feed canned food and even add a little warm water if she will tolerate that. and keep a few fresh water bowls around. When it gets to the point that Hilda might need sub/q fluids do not hesitate at all, it really helps so much and is not hard to learn. Cats seem to tolerate it well in fact they seem to soon learn that it helps them feel a lot better not long after they get the fluids. But she is probably not needing them yet. Re diet, I would NEVER again put a cat on the low protein diet like hill's k/d .at least I sure would not do it for a cat in an early stage This used to be the standard treatment, but 3 yrs ago when my cat was drinking a lot and I thought he might have crf (he turned out to have diabetes instead), I talked to a vet at our feline only practice who said that many vets now do not recommend a protein reduced diet, or at least not until the end stage of CRF , because cats need protein to function - that's their primary energy they run on - so cutting it so much causes some serious problems of its own like anemia, muscle wasting and weakness - - (which I saw in my cat that had CRF 11 years ago - - plus I think it is not as appetizing to them which is a problem since keeping weight on CRF cats is a major issue. another thing about the muscle wasting is that since cats need a steady amount of protein and use it whether or not it's in their diet, they start to break down their own bodies for the protein - - which their kidneys then have to process anyway. often i think then problems get ascribed to the disease that are really at least partly from that diet. Rather than low protein which is so hard on a cat especially when fed over months or years , many vets now are saying the most important thing is the quality of the protein (easily digestible proteins like in poultry and rabbit) and to control the phosphorus level. and if the cat is getting high phosph. levels in blood you can get phosphorus binders. I would do some research on the diet issue starting on these sites: