Topic: Renal failure and giving meds (Read 9033 times)

DaveD · « **Reply #31 on:** January 13, 2015, 00:20:33 AM »

When I got Sonia, a cat with hyperthyroidism and kidney problems, I was a little worried that it would be upsetting when she died. It was, of course, but it was also very rewarding. The vet expected her to live for a week or two, but she lasted almost a year.
It probably isn't very scientific, but I'm convinced that what helped her most was feeling wanted. The medicines were vital of course, but wouldn't, I think, have worked if she'd been kept at a rescue. (However good they are, rescues are limited in the time they can spend on one cat.)
Sonia didn't like taking pills, but I found a way to sneak them into her. She was a bit picky with her food, but there were some things she would wolf down. Cheese, butter, ice cream, all had pills hidden in them at some point. If she got bored with one, I'd move on to the next. My newest arrival, Lily, loves yoghurt, so if I need to give her pills I know what to try first!

sheryl · « **Reply #30 on:** January 12, 2015, 19:41:08 PM »

Bless you for giving Betty a chance and Im sure she will re pay you tenfold xxx

Love and Huggles for Eddie xxx

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #29 on:** January 12, 2015, 19:25:01 PM »

I am sure she will be fine

LadyJ · « **Reply #28 on:** January 12, 2015, 17:28:12 PM »

Thank you for support I hope she will be better. I have to take her home by car and couldn't get feliway spray anywhere I hope she will be ok

don't want her to be stressed out but I suppose I can't avoid that

jezebel · « **Reply #27 on:** January 12, 2015, 16:28:27 PM »

Betty is absolutely gorgeous! I look forward to seeing more photos (once she's settled in her lovely new home).

cathycat · « **Reply #26 on:** January 12, 2015, 15:36:13 PM »

Lady J I wish you every success with Betty.Eddie was 13 when I adopted him and I haven't regretted it for a single second.Hes had afew health issues but is so loving and a total sweetheart.

Reets · « **Reply #25 on:** January 11, 2015, 21:19:01 PM »

Betty is beautiful.

Thank you for taking her on - I am sure she will give you lots of love and happiness and that she will have a lovely life with you.

Pleased to heard Eddie is doing well, too.

LadyJ · « **Reply #24 on:** January 11, 2015, 21:14:38 PM »

Her name is Betty, as it was for 14 years already so I am not planning to change it

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #23 on:** January 11, 2015, 21:06:57 PM »

She is lovely , do you have a name in mind?

I think you are doing the right thing with Eddie and his happiness is his quality of life

Helen who has just been diagnosed? 7 is very young

LadyJ · « **Reply #22 on:** January 11, 2015, 19:04:06 PM »

Glad to hear that Eddie is doing well! Makes me feel better and bit more positive.

Thanks for all nice posts, I don't want it to sound wrong, just worry to fell in love with her and if something will happen I will be heartbroken but realised I already love her! Too late have to be mine

can't wait to have her home I hope she will like it here.

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #21 on:** January 11, 2015, 18:42:18 PM »

Can I just say the rescue must think all their Christmases have come at once - it's much harder to home older cats, let alone those with ongoing health issues. I have no doubt you are a lovely person just by the very fact that you have chosen her, despite her health issues, and sounds like she's going to be a very lucky cat

My childhood cat was diagnosed with CRF/CKD (at aged 17) and lived for a year and a half, it wasn't CRF/CKD that took her in the end either. Her 'replacement' (in the nicest possible way

) has just been diagnosed with CKD aged 7 so there's no guarantee that a cat of any age will have a long life, all you can do is try your best to make it a happy one

PS pleased to hear that Eddie is doing well

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #20 on:** January 11, 2015, 18:27:34 PM »

What a beauty!!!

Delighted to hear that Eddie is doing well too

Lyn (Slugsta) · « **Reply #19 on:** January 11, 2015, 16:28:40 PM »

Awww, what a lovely girl

Thanks for the update on Eddie too

cathycat · « **Reply #18 on:** January 11, 2015, 15:23:15 PM »

Beautiful girl :Luv:I know she will be very happy and loved with you.

Its a while since I looked at this thread so just to update alittle on Eddie.
Hes fine and still loving life.We have decided to stop the medicating as it was affecting his appetite and upsetting him so now he is fed almost on demand and is given cooked chicken,tinned fish and the only cat food he will have which is Wainwrights dry turkey food.All the wrong stuff but I feel that quality of life is the most important thing for him now and he is happy and generally doing fine so im happy with that.

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #17 on:** January 11, 2015, 14:57:29 PM »

she's lovely

LadyJ · « **Reply #16 on:** January 11, 2015, 14:43:06 PM »

I have only this photo so far, can't wait to take her home!:)

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #15 on:** January 11, 2015, 14:17:18 PM »

very true - and then older cats stay closer to home than the young ones, so are much less likely to suffer RTAs or fight injuries

so good luck with your new girl, and please let us have a photo or two when you get her home

LadyJ · « **Reply #14 on:** January 11, 2015, 14:07:56 PM »

I guess you never know but my partner says as we wanna adopt older cat anyway 8/10+ there is no guarantee they will not have the same within few months or years as its old cat issues.

So we have asked vet about roughly prices for all she might need and in the end we decided to adopt her:) I reserved her today

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #13 on:** January 11, 2015, 11:18:56 AM »

I'm afraid this one is impossible to answer - she may stay happy and healthy for a few more years, or she may not

but if you could give her a loving home, you could certainly influence the staying happy bit - the older and sicker they are, the sadder it is, to me anyway, that they spend their last years in a rescue - there are others on here who take on the oldies, and get a great deal of satisfaction from it, as well as a lot of love back

however long she has, if you love her you will grieve at her passing, but I suspect you will torture yourself if you don't take her so I say go ahead, and know you are doing a great thing

do let us know how it turns out

LadyJ · « **Reply #12 on:** January 11, 2015, 00:17:39 AM »

Hi, i was today in cats protection and I fell in love with cat which is 14years old and has thyroid gland removed (one removed one left) and she has also CRF. She is stable now though and all ok. Just on vet prescription diet Royal cabin renal.

I was told if she has home and routine and regular check ups she might be fine for next few years and I would love that. I am aware though that taking older and sick cat is bigger cost but I am ok with it - I just worry I will take her on and she will die very soon

I know it sounds silly but we fell in love with her and would love to give her home, however I have never had cat home and I am worried that it's too much to take as first cat.

Is it any chance she will have next few more lovely years or she will be with us only short term?

cathycat · « **Reply #11 on:** July 04, 2014, 14:53:15 PM »

I especially wanted to thank Susanne for all the info,but thanks to all who posted.

cathycat · « **Reply #10 on:** July 04, 2014, 14:50:30 PM »

Hello again.Thanks again to everyone who posted.So much information-im digesting it all and learning from the suggested website whch is really good.Im using the food suggestions for medicating him and we generally succeed with getting the right dose into him at the right time with minimum stress.
My main worry is getting him to drink enough.Ive put water bowls out in lots of places which I keep refreshing and sometimes bring it to him when hes in his bed and he will have a little drink but I don't see him drinking that often and my concern is that with the heat aswell he could so easily get dehydrated.Hes had one lot of fluid therapy at the vets and might need more I suppose as the illness progresses but I was wondering if there were ways to encourage him to drink abit more.
Ive noticed his back legs getting quite weak the last couple of days.I know this can be for a number of reasons but im alittle concerned.He really isn't eating well and I guess this could be a factor.
On the plus side he played alittle this morning before it got hot so his mood is good-he hasn't played for a couple of weeks so it was good to see.

cathycat · « **Reply #9 on:** June 27, 2014, 09:02:47 AM »

THANKYOU SO MUCH to all who have posted!I will do a proper post later as im at work but I really appreciate the help

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #8 on:** June 26, 2014, 19:12:41 PM »

Instead of Renalzin you could try Ipakitine as a phosphate binder. It's a tasteless (supposedly) powder that you can mix into food. Jaffa didn't seem to notice it in his food and he was very picky towards the end. Maybe Eddie will not mind that in his food. Some cats are ok with Renalzin but others seem to dislike the texture.

The problem with cats with kidney disease is that their appetite is affected so it can be so hard getting them to eat at all. Jaffa was such a good eater until his kidney problems. It's generally nausea and/or excess stomach acid that makes them not want to eat so worth addressing those problems and asking your vet if there's anything else you can give to help those, although I realise that might not be helpful if it's a problem actually getting things into him. I was recommended this product on another site. Apparently it is used a lot in the US as an appetite stimulant. I never got a chance to try it with Jaffa

http://www.weldricks.co.uk/product/2380566

It's possible that if you can improve his appetite he will be more willing to eat food with medication hidden in it. Have you tried pill pockets?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Greenies-Feline-Pockets-Salmon-1-6oz/dp/B000JOE224

There are meds that can help with excess stomach acid too. I gave Pepcid AC. There is a yukky syrup that vets tend to give but I can't see Eddie taking that as it's mint flavoured and the majority of cats seem to detest it! It is easy to go over the top with too many meds, especially if you are struggling to get them down him, but some of them can really help. Jaffa wouldn't eat treats much and sniffed everything very carefully before perhaps nibbling them (he also had dental problems) so hiding meds never worked and the only way I could rely on getting them inside him was the direct method so I just went for the shove it down his throat approach as I reckoned it was worth a few seconds distress to be sure they went down him. Then it was all over and there were kisses and cuddles to make up for it. He seemed to get over it quickly and never held it against me. I also bought some empty gel capsules so that I could put more than one med in a capsule and therefore have only one thing to give him. He had blood pressure tablet and Pepcid tablet for stomach acid in the morning, then he had his nelio (like fortekor) and more Pepcid at teatime. Then his Ipakitine in his food 3 times a day. But if Eddie finds the direct method too stressful that might not work.

Do you know what stage renal failure he has? In early stages the outlook can be very positive and cats can live for years with medication/renal food slowing down the progression of the disease. There is debate about whether cats with ckd need a low protein diet (especially in the early stages) but most agree that a diet low in phosphorus is helpful. High phosphorus levels tend to result in feeling nauseous so affect appetite as well as the progression of ckd. Generally it's advised (by vets at least) that cats are fed specific renal foods but these tend to be unappetising to cats and the most important thing is that they eat something. An alternative is to feed the cat's regular food with a phosphate binder but binders don't bind with all the phosphorus in the food. Because Jaffa's ckd was quite advanced (he was stage 3 at diagnosis) and he had very high phosphorus levels too, he had renal food plus a binder. He would eat the royal canin renal food but wasn't keen on any of the others. Tanya's site mentioned above has a list of foods with phosphorus content etc.

http://www.felinecrf.org/canned_food_uk.htm

Zooplus also lists the phosphorus content for lots of foods. Jaffa liked the porta 21 and Applaws so I gave those to him as a treat or sometimes mixed a bit in with the renal food. The Applaws tuna fillet was very popular. There were a few others I found on zooplus that had a fairly low phosphorus content so I mixed those in with the renal food. I found that it took a lot of persuasion to get him to eat anything most of the time and I learned not to give up if he only ate a mouthful then walked away. I would follow him with the dish and he would often eat a bit more in a different place or if I stroked him. At tea time he would eat a tiny bit in the kitchen and walk away but I would take it to him and he'd eat a bit more in the living room and eventually we'd get most of it eaten. Sometimes we'd end up with him standing with back legs on my lap, front legs on the coffee table and tucking into it despite having shown little enthusiasm five minutes earlier. Eventually I just accepted that mealtimes would always be a bit fraught!

What are you feeding Eddie? The most important thing is that he eats and that he enjoys his food but if you want to try any renal foods to see whether he will eat them I could send you some samples. I have lots of renal food left - Royal Canin pouches (tuna and beef), Hills k/d pouches, Eukenuba tins and some Specific Vet Diet renal food. Just pm me if you'd like to try any of these.

Sorry I've waffled a bit. I'm not an expert on ckd but over the past few months I've had to take a crash course in it. Tanya's site is very good and full of information (don't let it overwhelm you - you don't need to take it all in at once!) and there is also a support group. If there's anything at all you want to know just ask.

LouiseJ · « **Reply #7 on:** June 26, 2014, 09:51:52 AM »

Please do read Tanya's site it has a wealth of information.

The only advice I can add is that the best source of food for cats with renal problems seems to be on Zooplus where there are also reviews. Chelsea wouldn't eat much of the prescription food but did like the Happy Cat brand I bought from there.

Best wishes for you and Eddie

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #6 on:** June 26, 2014, 09:30:56 AM »

One of the many problems with CRF is that each cat handles the loss of kidney function differently. Some cats can cope with only very limited kidney function, others are not so lucky. Our Fred survived about 18 months following diagnosis although he had lost maybe 1/2 kilo before I took much notice.

Have you come across Tanya's site yet? I found it initially to be rather scary but in time relied on it very much as a reliable source of information and support. I'm not sure I agree with the fluid therapy though although possibly OK for a very docile cat.

http://www.felinecrf.org/

I found with Fred that his appetite went up and down like a yo yo. He ended up occupying an enormous amount of my time including feeds around 3am and such like. I can email you some notes to give you and idea of our experience if you want? I got to be pretty skilful at obtaining urine samples from him using a jug when he assumed the position

We didn't use Renalzin but someone I work with had great success with it. One of her persians living with CRF for 5 years or more I think which she put down to Renalzin and Fortekor.

Eddie having other complaints including HyperT will complicate matters of course. Having said that, having a slightly raised thyroid function can assist his kidneys.

In any event, I send you and Eddie my very best wishes

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #5 on:** June 26, 2014, 07:29:06 AM »

My boy was diagnosed with advanced kidney disease and high blood pressure about 3 months ago. Sadly I had to let him go a couple of weeks ago as he deteriorated very suddenly. I don't have time to post much now so I will do so when I get home from work.

cathycat · « **Reply #4 on:** June 26, 2014, 00:19:23 AM »

Thanks for your reply Liz.We have a local M&S so will have a look-I will eat it if he doesn't!

Thanks Gill for your reply.Eddie is 14.Im worried I suppose as I know so little about CRF and theres lots of scary stuff on the web.He lost lots of weight suddenly hence the tests and diagnosis and without Mirtazapine he eats very little,so if I can just get that down him as well as making sure he has plenty to drink,anything else is a bonus.I totally agree that a balance needs to be made so that what ever time he has left isn't spent constantly going to the vet.The best indicator, I suppose, of how hes doing is if he can maintain his weight ok as well as his general mood.Im glad your cats did so well with the condition.i didn't realise they can manage without meds like that

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #3 on:** June 25, 2014, 22:01:32 PM »

How old is Eddie?

Only ask cos I have 3 cats that could not be pilled at all who had CRF and one had thyroid probs too and the vet said just keep her away from vets as much as possible cos she was so terrified of vets. was able to crush a tint bit of tab and mix in her AD for blood pressure.

None were medicated and they lived to 17, 19 and 20

Some times one has to decide what is best for the quality of life and for how long

Liz · « **Reply #2 on:** June 25, 2014, 19:23:36 PM »

Having a wiley nearly 16yo Hyper Thyroid feral and a 14yo who was a git to pill also Hyper T both on different tablets I am now pillong with no issues using corned beef and human Tuna Pate both from Marks and Spencer and nop we have tried every other sort and they look at me like nope not eating the cheap stuff so its M & S allnbthe way as I wormed 40 cats with the corned beef wish I had tried it years ago works like a dream

cathycat · « **Reply #1 on:** June 25, 2014, 19:02:22 PM »

Hi all.My cat Eddie has just been diagnosed with renal failure to add to his long list of ailments :(Anyway he has 3 meds which are proving difficult to give.At first he would have them all mixed in alittle bit of tuna but now as his appetite isn't great and hes realising that there is "funny stuff"in his food.Ive tried roast chicken,tiny dab of butter,white fish and tuna but hes either sick or will just have a small amount and I don't know how much of his meds hes had so cant give him more.

Hes on Simintra liquid,Renalzin paste and Mirtazapine tablet.
Hes also Hyperthyroid again so will need more meds for that soon(we are trying to support and stabalize his kidneys first.Any suggestions on hiding/giving meds will be appreciated.He finds direct medication so stressful so im trying to find a less stressful way for him which will work long term.

Also any personal experience of looking after a cat with renal failure would be very welcome.Thankyou x

Author Topic: Renal failure and giving meds (Read 9033 times)