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My 19 year old Russian Blue was diagnosed with crf(bladder cancer) 2 weeks ago and the vet said 3-6 months maybe less, this has crushed me and left me spinning. the vet was ruthless and left me very little information and only seem to care about her money. he was peeing blood a couple of weeks ago and i gave him the medication and it seemed to stop for a few days, now this morning it was bright red, he does not appear to be in any pain and is still spunky, what i am struggling with is what to feed him-he has been on fancy feast for 16+years and i thought it might be bad to feed him so i Gave him some white albacore tuna and some turkey breast and he loved it for about a week and now is backing off it---------What can I feed him to make sure it is low in phosphorus and protein and will help the crf-please help as this is the only person left in my life and i am willing to accept this for what it is , I know he will tell me when it is time to go, But he and I are not ready to give up yet . I just need to know what is ok to feed him
I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty, pacportland.
Here's a good resource for food analysis for cats with CRF.
This is another excellent resource for CRF information: http://www.felinecrf.com
Send me a DM if you'd like to chat, or have more questions. My kitty, Mew, was diagnosed at 17 and lived to be 22. But she didn't have the bladder cancer with it, so that's a complication I can't speak to.
Wishing you all the best, along with all the other CRF kitty families in this thread.
Yoiu need a new vet! Giving a cat w/CRF sub-cutaneaous fluids is very easy to do and keeps them healthy. I don't know about the bladder cancer aspect, but I have been giving my Katrina fluids for about 1 yr now.
Funny - I had the following question on a biology test when I was a kid:
Why are dessert animals so small?
The teacher walked out during the exam. Everyone entered, "so they fit can in the sundae bowl." We all got extra points for noticing the typo. Although we should have had points deducted for sharing the answer.
Thanks so much for the Fancy Feast recommendation. I have a cat with issues who has not been eating and needed to start eating canned food. You are right - it is kitty crack. She is eating a couple cans a day.
My 23 year old cat has shown signs of poor appetite and has lost a lot of weight. He will eat anything I am eating (although, I am careful that it has no spice). I finally decided to let him have whatever he wants and I cook accordingly. I add sauces and spice after the cooking so he gets beef and chicken and ground turkey and hamburger with cheese but unspiced. He has gained weight and is much stronger. I still feed him his cat meat and he eats a little dry food, but I decided he is already 104 years old so why not let him be happy. He is in his last few months.
Hello, my cat just got diagnosed with crf 4days ago and we are devasted it!!! she is too young only 5yrs old and has always seemed to be healthy. It broke our hearts that the vet right away mentioned euthanasia without even explaining first. She showed us the blood results that were shoking because her phos.,bun and creatitne were really high. But i wasnt going to give up and called every place in the planet to help us to understand her disease. A vet from the humane society called us back and they told us there were many alternatives and treatments for it and that i shouldnt panic. Depending on the cat, they all do differently and there disease can be slowed down dramatically...and some will not improve with treatment. I spoke to the vet again and she recomended me to give my cat subc iv fluids.. 200cc a day..antibiotics clavamox..pepcid ac and hunger stimulant...which we did and within 2 days..she showed improvement..its been 4 days and today she got up and walked around...she is eating and drinking as much as before if not even more...urinating and having bowel movements again..we are so hopeful for our cutie. We love her so much and we are willing to do every we can thats onj our reach to slow the disease. It is sad that some vets only care about money and not about the actual needs iof a sick pet..they see it all the time so any cat is just an animal to them and forget that animal means so much to a family just as a reg. Member of the family. Would you give up on your daughter or son? No..i understand you dont want your pet to suffer,,,but you also arent just going to put them to sleep and not know whether u couldve enjoyed them many more years withoyut them suffering. They will not be 100%healthy..and will probably have their ups and downs..but who doesn't? We give our little animals so much love and we know they can sense our will to help them..i have done every research there is..and nothing tells me i should put my cat to sleep right away.,. She is imroving from how she first got..which was vomiting..then lostn of apetite..weight and constipation..lethargic and so forth..and now within 4 days..she is acting almost like before..there is treatments out there people..dont give up on your little animals unless they show you they are ready to go..they are loving creatures that make our lives so much better..why not fight for them???? If there is anyone out there that can also give us more info. On how to bring a better quality of life to our car with cfr..it will be appreciated..the one thing we are still trying to improve for her..is her energy..she still looks like she gets tired more easily..and likes to lay down alot, maybe muscle weakness???..tomorrow we are taking her to have her potassium levels checked to see if maybe thats what has dropped...any advices on what to do about that..thanks
Wishing all the best for you and your furbaby, LOVEFORKANDIE.
This site (http://members.verizon.net/%7Evze2r6qt/supplies/potassium.htm - broken link) gives a lot of information on potassium supplementation. But before administering, discuss it with your vet.
Buying sub-q supplies online is almost always cheaper and more efficient than buying them through your vet. Here is a great resource for information and vendors.
We also found that adding a high calorie vitamin supplement called Nutri-Stat to our cat's regimen helped her immensely! In order not to have to shove too much stuff down her throat too many times a day, we got a small glass, squirted in the Nutri-Stat, then added the Pepcid AC that we had ground into a powder with a mortar & pestle, added maybe a drop or 2 of water to slightly thin it, then put it in a syringe to squirt into the side of her cheek so she'd swallow it all at once. (Eventually we had to add Norvasc, which is a high blood pressure medicine, which is something you'll have to have monitored as her disease progresses, too, and you can add the potassium supplement, whether it's in gel or tablet form).
If you have more questions, let us know, as many of us have been through this and we're all happy to share our experiences and advice.
Our kitty, Mew, was diagnosed at age 17 and the first vet gave her 2 weeks to 2 months max to live. I switched vets a couple of times until I found one who really cared about Mew's continued health, and we were blessed with having her another 5 years, during which time the vet said she looked better than most 13-15 year old cats she treated! Good on you for not giving up!!
Thanks so much for your advices!!!!!It means alot. We took Kandie to get her potassium checked and they said it was normal..so idk what to do to maybe help her boost up her energy. I also got her blood results and her bun,creatine went down..they are still high but thats a good sign...her phosporus levels were still really high so they started her off with renal diet..She seems to be liking the Hills K/D and Royal canine..so far...one thing we still notice too is that sometimes she seems to get this "hiccup" like reflux, maybe acid reflux? not as much as before..I told the vet but they said to give her pepcid ac but it happens sometimes even when we pet her...she kinda makes that hard swallow expression...but for a short amount of time..did that happen to anyone with their cat? Thanks!
Thanks so much for your advices!!!!!It means alot. We took Kandie to get her potassium checked and they said it was normal..so idk what to do to maybe help her boost up her energy. I also got her blood results and her bun,creatine went down..they are still high but thats a good sign...her phosporus levels were still really high so they started her off with renal diet..She seems to be liking the Hills K/D and Royal canine..so far...one thing we still notice too is that sometimes she seems to get this "hiccup" like reflux, maybe acid reflux? not as much as before..I told the vet but they said to give her pepcid ac but it happens sometimes even when we pet her...she kinda makes that hard swallow expression...but for a short amount of time..did that happen to anyone with their cat? Thanks!
Great news that the BUN and creatinine levels went down! Our Mew's levels went down and stayed in the high end of the NORMAL range for the duration of her illness. We were so happy!
As for energy, try adding the Nutri-Stat. It really helped a lot for Mew.
Give her the Pepcid AC on a regular basis, even when she doesn't show symptoms. IIRC, we gave Mew 1/4 pill twice a day, every day.
My 15 year old Gato cat was diagnosed with crf during a regular check up. Gato was my mom's cat, a stray she took in before she died in 2000, so he is my last connection to her and I love him so much. He is quite the bruiser! Our vet mentioned teeth cleaning, did blood tests to make sure Gato was ok for anesthesia and discovered crf. Our vet is a long term vet/friend of ours who I trust. He says to move Gato to low protein Royal Canin dry food and a potassium supplement and routine blood tests and we will get many years left with him. The internet tells me differently. Gato is still very active, playing lots, good coat and eating well. And once again had no symptoms prior to diagnosis. He loves his treats (soft Frisky treats) and cheese and bits of raw chicken along with his regular food. So do I add Fancy Feast to his diet?? Anyone's advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!
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she is too young only 5yrs old and has always seemed to be healthy. It broke our hearts that the vet right away mentioned euthanasia without even explaining first. She showed us the blood results that were shoking because her phos.,bun and creatitne were really high. But i wasnt going to give up and called every place in the planet to help us to understand her disease. A vet from the humane society called us back and they told us there were many alternatives and treatments for it and that i shouldnt panic. Depending on the cat, they all do differently and there disease can be slowed down dramatically...and some will not improve with treatment. I spoke to the vet again and she recomended me to give my cat subc iv fluids.. 200cc a day..antibiotics clavamox..pepcid ac and hunger stimulant...which we did and within 2 days..she showed improvement..its been 4 days and today she got up and walked around...she is eating and drinking as much as before if not even more...urinating and having bowel movements again..we are so hopeful for our cutie. We love her so much and we are willing to do every we can thats onj our reach to slow the disease. It is sad that some vets only care about money and not about the actual needs iof a sick pet..they see it all the time so any cat is just an animal to them and forget that animal means so much to a family just as a reg. Member of the family. Would you give up on your daughter or son? No..i understand you dont want your pet to suffer,,,but you also arent just going to put them to sleep and not know whether u couldve enjoyed them many more years withoyut them suffering. They will not be 100%healthy..and will probably have their ups and downs..but who doesn't? We give our little animals so much love and we know they can sense our will to help them..i have done every research there is..and nothing tells me i should put my cat to sleep right away.,. She is imroving from how she first got..which was vomiting..then lostn of apetite..weight and constipation..lethargic and so forth..and now within 4 days..she is acting almost like before..there is treatments out there people..dont give up on your little animals unless they show you they are ready to go..they are loving creatures that make our lives so much better..why not fight for them???? If there is anyone out there that can also give us more info. On how to bring a better quality of life to our car with cfr..it will be appreciated..the one thing we are still trying to improve for her..is her energy..she still looks like she gets tired more easily..and likes to lay down alot, maybe muscle weakness???..tomorrow we are taking her to have her potassium levels checked to see if maybe thats what has dropped...any advices on what to do about that..thanks
