Kidney Disease

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Jeff	Kidney Disease		Lead	[-]
Posts: 1 Jun 22, 2008 22:09:35 Littermate	Tags : diarrhea, kidney disease in cats, crf Hello, I recently found this forum in my search for information that would help me with my cat's current condition. My boy XTC (stands for Extraterrestrial Cat - yes, there is a story behind it!) is about 12 and has been in fine health until a few of months ago when he lost weight, became lethargic, lost his appetite and was running a fever. He was also experiencing intermittant diarrhea and vomiting. The vet tested him and diagnosed CRF, but after various treatments (including IV fluids) he felt and acted much better and subsequent blood tests showed his kidneys to be closer to the normal range. The diarrhea continued and the vet then concluded it was more likely he has cancer, though an ultrasound did not show any tumors, nor have several physical exams. Whether or not he has cancer, I'd like to find a way to minimize the chronic diarrhea. To date I've administered a couple of different antibiotics which had little to no effect and he's been on daily doses of Prednisone for about a month. Has anyone else had any experience with this kind of situation and if so, what did you do and what happened? We keep treating him with the fluids, but it's like it runs right through him on account of the diarrhea. He is a lot less active than he was just a week ago and is resting most of the time, but does not appear to be in any pain or discomfort. He remains affectionate and good natured and he is still eating and drinking, although sometimes I have to coax him a bit. Any experiences you can share will be greatly appreciated! Many thanks. XTC's Dad, Jeff Edit to add tags Last Edited By: joanne r Jun 23, 2008 02:42:21. Edited 2 times.
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joanne r		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 4417 Jun 23, 2008 02:41:30 FF&F Staff Administrator Upside Down and Backwards In Ozland	Jeff,Sadly sooner or later all cat owner have a kitty that has this condition.It may be cancer but just the kidney disease can cause all these symptoms.The antibiotics can easily inflame the tummy's of many cats and that takes some time to settle again.Has he been put on a special diet,this may be a factor too,even if you have to coax XTC (love that name) the fact that he eats and drinks fairly normal is a good sign,it is not a all unusual for relapses to occur.This link covers many of the questions you may have http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/chronickidney.html and we are always ready to listen and hopefully give you advise when needed,please keep us updated.
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striped tail	kidney disease	#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 20 Jun 23, 2008 04:24:51 Littermate	Hi Jeff- I am sorry about your cat. We have a cat that has lymphoma and she's had problems with diarrhea and vomiting for about 6 years. First of all, I think you need to get the exact diagnosis. Our cat was misdiagnosed for over a year. Finally, we went to a veterinary oncologist and he diagnosed the lymphoma. The way we control our cat's diarrhea is to give her clavamox and prednisone. This works about 85% of the time, excluding right after a chemo treatment. Also, I experimented with at least 20 different brands of cat food until I found a good combination for our cat. I feed her regular Iams and a certain flavor of fancy feast. Nothing else. With her medications and specific food she is diarrhea free most of the time. If she even takes a bite of a different kind of food she gets diarrhea. It took me ages to figure all this out though. At one point she was down to 7 lbs and I was feeding her with a syringe. Now she is 12 lbs, which is the weight the vet likes her to be at. She was diagnosed with the lymphoma 5 years ago and has chemo periodically. The treatments don't seem to bother her all that much. At first, what they were giving her was much too strong and she was always sick from the side-effects. I made the vet lower the dosage and she copes much better. Good luck! Let us know how your cat is doing! Michele
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big cats		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 3728 Jun 26, 2008 12:06:47 Critter Companion	One simple thing you could try with your cat is canned pumpkin added to the food. I use it a lot for rescues with diarrhea, in addition to whatever medication they are on. It worked wonders with my Shakespeare who was in sorry shape as far as weight and diarrhea she had when she was suffering from stomatitis. My theory is that sometimes if you can just stop the diarrhea for a time, you can get the intestines to heal themselves enough so that it does not recur later even once you take them off the pumpkin (or whatever other drugs they're on). Good luck, and I hope you get some clearer answers on your boy soon. Keep us updated.
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firemanslady		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 4573 Jun 29, 2008 20:00:10 Critter Companion	Glad you joined us, Jeff! I'm sorry to hear your kitty is having problems. Pumpkin works like a charm on diarrhea and many cats like it. The best part is it won't interact with medications, so it's safe. I do hope you get a definite diagnosis and things improve.
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