Dear Dr. John,
My husband and I had 4 cats and misplaced one to pancreatitis. Now our 15-year-old cat has apparently developed continual kidney illness. Our vet has positioned him on a prescription weight-reduction plan referred to as Okay/D. Our cat’s most up-to-date blood numbers of significance are SDMA 17, BUN 42, and Creatinine 2.9 and had been barely elevated since its earlier blood draw.
Our cat doesn’t just like the prescription meals in any respect and can barely eat it. We have an appointment to discover ways to give him fluids below the pores and skin, however our different cat appeared to wince each time we did that, and we don’t need to trigger our cat any ache. We have even considered searching for the remedy by an acupuncturist. How ought to we proceed? D.S.
Dear D.S.,
Chronic kidney illness (CKD) is a situation that afflicts many older cats. The optimistic information is that these sufferers may be maintained for pretty lengthy intervals of time with good supportive care. I had one affected person that lived for nearly 4 years on particular diets and subcutaneous fluids. If your different cat winced when being given fluids, you may simply want a lesson in approach as a result of it isn’t painful if achieved correctly.
The blood values you’ve got shared usually are not too dangerous for an older cat. SDMA needs to be below 14, BUN below 37, and Creatinine below 2.3 below the lab values I take advantage of however they’ll differ barely relying on the lab and their reference ranges. So you possibly can hopefully hold your cat maintained for a while to come back!
The Okay/D weight-reduction plan is a superb renal help weight-reduction plan, however I’ve seen it have some palatability points. You can contact Hills, who makes it, about bettering the style or add one thing like water or tuna juice. You can discuss to your veterinarian about making an attempt an urge for food stimulant similar to mirtazapine. Alternatively, your veterinarian may assist you discover different industrial renal diets made by Purina or Royal Canin. Lastly, there are do-it-yourself diets that you could find on-line. Acupuncture is documented as a useful integrative method to CKD, however I’ve no expertise with it. Good luck.
Dr. John de Jong owns and operates the Boston Mobile Veterinary Clinic. He may be reached at 781-899-9994.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”
