My name for Feline Chronic Kidney Failure - Polar Bear Amory's Disease

[Valerie5555]

I called it such, since if you have ever read "The Best Cat Ever," by his owner or that guy he owns, Cleveland, you would know that in the end, poor Polar Bear the cat was "done in" by some sort of renal disease and eventually had to be put down. :( :cry:

[REP]

1. CRF Is Treatable

CRF = chronic renal failure. Cats in CRF can be treated with a form a CAPD (continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis) called subcutaneous hydration and live for years. Transplant surgery for cats is now also available, although the donor cat must be adopted by the person who cares for the recipient cat (and who wouldn't be glad to adopt the cat who saved the life of another cat?)

My mother has a cat with CRF who is doing just fine, thank you and I myself have kidney failure. It's definitely something to avoid, but the news is a lot better than it was when Amory wrote his book.

[Valerie5555]

2. A little more than 4 years ago, we tried the Sub - Q route with Midnight

but we had to have the poor kitty put down as well for he was quite far gone with nausea and like in the case of Polar Bear Amory, Midnight's kidney troubles were quite ADVANCED and we now have another pussycat named Merlin who is now a year and a half old.


Wouldn't it have been cool if there were 4 planeloads of people who were dog or cat owned and they were flying their pets to California for kidney transplants for they refused to take any "crapadoodle" from CRF and they also refused to take it from any sort of highjackers either.

[KT2000]

3. I think most cats end up

with that illness. The vet was explaining to me that from the moment of birth, kidneys lose function because they do not regenerate after injury. As we all age, the kidneys still have to do the work of fully functioning kidneys even when they are not.

I used to think that cats were especially prone to kidney failure but now I think that they live so much longer and with fewer illnesses as romm-mates and family members with humans, that they have much longer lives.
I have been through this with a few cats and it made me feel better anyway.

[Valerie5555]

4. Had another kitty who had that from an unrecognized case of Feline

Hyperthyroid syndrome, she died before she was ever put down.

[yellowdogintexas]

5. male cats are more prone to it esp if they have been neutered

they get stones which plug up the little tubies. The lady kitties have short fat little urethras and have much less trouble. I lost 2 cats to stones, however the second one had a little surgery which essentially made him look like a female and gave him a little plastic urethra so he could pass the grit. He lived three more years after the surgery and it was worth it. When he did finally fall ill, he went very fast, and to this day I am not sure if it was renal failure or something else.

My females have all lived much longer than my males.

[Valerie5555]

6. Was sure the he cats usually had difficulty with something known as Feline

Urological Syndrome. I am sure if any cat keeper had to deal with that, that could be a fairly :scared:y experience that I luckily had not had with either Midnight or even Merlin.

[REP]

7. CRF is Different From FUS (Though Both Suck)

FUS is caused by recurrent renal calculi and crystals in the urine; no one is really sure what causes CRF, though as another poster stated, with better nutrition and veterinary care, cats live longer now and are more likely to die from CRF.

The best way to prevent FUS in male (and female cats; females get it too but it less likely to kill them) is to feed them a high-quality diet that is loaded with high-quality protein from meat (not meat meal, by-products, or ground yellow corn) and food that is supplemented with DL-methionine, an amino acid that occurs only in meat which helps cats maintain proper urinary pH. Methionine supplements can be obtained from a vet, and they can be added to the cat's food. I use Nutro Natural Complete Kitten (even though all the cats here are adults); Royal Canin's Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice (Adult or Kitten formula) and Nutro Natural Complete Adult are other foods that meet *my* *personal* requirements for not sucking.

As with humans, there doesn't seem to be any way to prevent kidney disease in cats; high blood pressure and diabetes do occur in felines but nowhere near as often as they do in humans, where they are the top two contributors to kidney failure (the third being "we dunno'). Not every cat who makes it to senior kittyhood will develop kidney disease, and for many who do, it has become a manageable chronic illness. In addition to subQ fluids, Phosamax, Maalox, Clinicare, B12 supplementation and other drugs and supplements (which are not that big a deal to get into the cat - many can be added to the Ringer's used for the subQ) can make the cat with CRF very comfortable - comfortable enough to play and otherwise enjoy life! I'm not an advocate of any procedure that merely prolongs death, but am one of any that extends meaningful life, and I've seen many cats really enjoy life, even though they were in CRF.