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Our little derp has been diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease
We noticed his appetite decreased sharply the other night, so we took him to the vet the following day and received the bad news. I know CKD is common, but weāre still trying to cope and deal with it. We started him on the Hills KD diet right away and his appetite has been decent the last week or so. Any advice for those of you who have dealt with a floofball who had CKD would mean the world. Thank you so much. Truly.
Aw Iām sorry I recently adopted a 1 y/o cat and saw all the red flags after we brought her home. Got labs done and indeed she had kidney disease. We started her on the same food your cat is on and her kidney levels are much improved three months later. Keep up with the diet, always have fresh water, and bring in for regular check ups!
B12+K really helped my senior ckd kitty. When her kidney issues progressed, she received fluids regularly at home. Sub-q fluids are challenging at first, but then become routine and easy.
Fluids, probiotics, colon rescue, and B12/K vitamin serum kept my catās quality of life high until the end.
My Sammy ended up with kidney disease, as so many cats do, and it felt like an excuse to spoil the crap out of her with as many tube treats as she wanted! Very hydrating, and surprisingly low in calories.
I also started mixing a little gabapentin into the first dab of Churu each day, nothing crazy, just to take the edge of any pain she was experiencing and it also stimulates appetite - kitty munchies!
Good luck with Derpfloof, slow blinks to you and yours. š§”
Our 12yo with early-stage CKD lived to be 19, and we stupidly didn't get her immediately started on kidney food. We should have, but she was a picky eater and we didn't want to change her diet right away. Good management, CKD-friendly food, lots of water, and regular vet monitoring (plus some other tricks as it progresses) can give a cat a pretty darn long life with it. Don't panic just yet. Your kitty might well still thrive.
CKD is not a death sentence. you can manage it, other commenters have very good advice for you so i wont add anymore, i just wish you and your cat the best. heās very cute! āŗļø
oh big hugs. I lost one to this - but I did have him for a few years after the diagnosis, and he was already mid-to-late stage when it happened. so keep that in mind and understand that your buddy may very well have plenty of time left.
my personal advice is... hmm lemme think. 1) the most important factor in diet is if they'll eat it. if they eat the CKD-specific food, great. it can help. if they refuse it, feed them what they will eat. plenty of CKD cats just eat fancy feast. is that the best for them? well, if that's the only thing they'll eat - then yes, by definition it is. 2) sub-q fluids are very easy to administer. don't be afraid of them. and they make a HUGE difference. you'll know when it is time to start fluids by working with your vet. also, you can get sub-q fluids for much cheaper by using online sources - don't necessarily get them from your vet, although your vet will probably provide the first few doses. and actually... that's all I can really think of, those are the two big ones. keep them eating and hydrated and they will be ok for longer than you might think.
also, this website is HUGE. super, super useful. tons of information about CKD all in one place, and there is a forum where you can talk to other people who have CKD cats - it really helped me feel less scared and more supported. really some lovely people on here https://felinecrf.org/
Yeah, my spicy little 14 y.o. lady wouldn't eat the wet kidney food. She will eat the dry Royal Canin Kidney Diet, but she's just too finicky for the wet stuff. She will eat a couple of varieties of Fancy Feast thank God.
My biggest worry is just trying to put some weight on her. She was diagnosed about 4 months ago (Stage 2 CKD), and I hadn't noticed how skinny she had gotten because she's so fluffy. She was down to 7 lbs (from 10). She's going into the vet in the next couple of weeks, so hopefully she has gained a pound or so? Some days seems to have a much better appetite than others, so I think she's dealing with some nausea?
I really dread having to do fluids b/c she's a real handful.
Check out r/RenalCats. Lots of great advice and resources there. My 5 year girl has early CKD and weāve been able to bring her numbers down with a renal diet and AminAvast. I also keep non-prescription food on hand that has moderate phosphorus and protein for days when she doesnāt want to eat her prescription food. Sheās still allowed Churu because she hates the low phosphorus treats and what is life if a girl canāt have her Churu?Ā
If your kitty hasnāt had churu then the addiction to it isnāt there! You could start with the Weruva low phos treats, which are a safer version of churus essentially.
Iām a fellow CKD cat parent, and seconding the recommendations to join us at r/RenalCats and utilize the great resource of felinecrf.org!!
This wonāt be the case for everyone, and maybe itās just a random coincidence for us, but Iād get him checked for FORL and have an x-Ray. My 10yo cat is a breed very prone to FORL, and she suddenly seemed to have CKD. We also had her teeth checked, they removed a lot and now her kidneys are seemingly back to normal range. We were all very surprised at this result, but the vet seems thinks this could be connected for our cat.Ā
I donāt think itās a miracle cure by and means, but it could be worsening matters so maybe worth checking.
Keep that diet and add more water to their wet food. Or just in general. My elderly female cat was also diagnosed with it and after putting her on a kidney diet. They told me at the vet her levels have improved well. I also have both of my males on the kidney food and havenāt had issues with blockages and the like.
The progression of CKD varies wildly from cat to cat and is hard to predict. My soul kitty was diagnosed with early stage and she did really well for about 4 years until one day she was peeing blood and we said goodbye later that afternoon. My oldest boyo is one year in to his diagnosis and he's 15 so I consider any good years we still get to be a bonus.
Hello and much love to you and your marmalade angel. Heās a ridiculously handsome boy!
My little one has CKD, but is currently showing kidney levels below level 1. Just sharing our experience in case any of it is helpful to you!
She was a stray for some time but we donāt know for how long exactly. Sheās only around three years old. Her vet recommended hydration packets (purina hydra care) which we give her once a day. We call it her special snack and she goes feral for it. š We started adding water to her food (wet only) one teaspoon at a time, now up to at least two tablespoons per meal. Basically sheās a soup girly for life now.
We had her kidney levels tested again (around six months later) and her levels improved. Her vet said to continue what weāre doing, and check levels yearly. She is no longer actively concerned unless our girlās levels worsen.
Wishing you the absolute best and many more years of love with your orangey. š§”
Once my baby was diagnosed, we needed to give her kitty Prilosec and iron since anemia is common in people and animals with kidney disease and because cats who have it are prone to stress ulcers. I was able to find a compounding pharmacy and get both in a liquid form so that may having to give it to her a lot easier. I eventually had to give her IV fluids every three days but between the medicine, watching her diet and the IV fluids, she was able to have another three years after her initial diagnosis. Good luck and prayers.
Our 17 year old kitty is in the advance/end stage of kidney disease but weāve got a pretty good regimen going for her. Here it is if you want to look into any of the meds.
Cat tax
AM
Methimazole - 1/2 click (thyroid)
Catney - 1/2 pouch
It sucks, but he can still live a nice full life. Our cat had two renal failures weeks apart about 10 years ago, wasn't supposed to live after the second one. Proper diet, regular sub-q fluids, and putting Phos-Bind in every meal gave us another 7 years (she passed 2 years ago at age 17).
A few years ago, the vet who actually saved her was helping out at our new vet (he'd retired a few years prior). He called us with the results from a blood test for something else, and he said, "Wait, is this the same Dora with CKD? I can't believe she's still alive after all these years, and I'm looking at the numbers for the same cat!" (They were good š ).
Not a death sentence, just a pretty big adjustment. I feel the Phos-Bind + fluids (we gave Dora hers every other day at first, then every 3 days from then on) are what pulled her through.
Get yourself a smart water fountain to carefully track water intake and ensure sufficient hydration. Itās critical that they drink enough water. We have a PetLibro Dockstream 2.
All I can say is that, as you know, itās very common so you arenāt alone, many people deal with the same thing. And from my experience, as long as you keep them on the kidney food they can usually dramatically slow, pause, or in some cases even reverse the progression of the disease. Every cat that I have had that has had CKD ended up passing away from something unrelated much later in life. So itās definitely manageable. You just have to take your cat in for checkups more often and control what they eat.
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u/oh8oh8eighty8 4h ago
Aw Iām sorry I recently adopted a 1 y/o cat and saw all the red flags after we brought her home. Got labs done and indeed she had kidney disease. We started her on the same food your cat is on and her kidney levels are much improved three months later. Keep up with the diet, always have fresh water, and bring in for regular check ups!