How To Help Your Surviving Pet

Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian. This advice did not come from a veterinarian. It came from another writer whose pet has been surviving chronic renal failure for the past six months.E sent me a wonderful e-mail yesterday full of helpful information about kidney failure in pets. Her beautiful dog has been surviving kidney failure since last October, so she has some experience with the problem. From what I’ve been able to find in my research, I agree with her, but she has also enlightened me about a medication that could help. Be sure to ask your veterinarian about prescribing it for your pet! First, she says she’s learned a great deal from a mailing list she belongs to, called “K9Kidneys." Much of what they talk about would be applicable to cats, too. And there may be a feline analogue. The address is:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9KIDNEYS/

Regarding low protein diets for animals with kidney failure: Research is now showing that the most critical element to limit is phosphorus. Low-phosphorus, bio-available protein is necessary for kidney-failure animals, because without it, they develop muscle wasting. Egg whites are the best low-phosphorus protein source. Cook them lightly. I offered some to Sneezy, but she wasn’t impressed. I’ll have to become creative to get some down her, I suppose.

Phosphorus binders are essential to prevent the phosphorus the animal does ingest from being absorbed. If your pet's calcium levels are normal, a calcium phosphorus binder will work. If her calcium is also high, plain dried aluminum hydroxide gel is the best phosphorus binder. Tasteless powder. Mix with food.There is a new probiotic supplement on the market called Azodyl.

http://www.vetoquinolusa.com/pages/global_06.html


Make sure your vet knows about it! She said she doesn’t know if it does all the company claims it does, but when her dog was given three weeks to live in October, she started him on it, and he's still with her, although he's having a bit of a rough patch at the moment. We all wish him well, right? Positive thinking is so important! Or, she suggests giving your pet organic live-probiotic-culture yogurt as an alternative.

She adds that subcutaneous fluids at home can be a big help. Your vet can help you set up to do it.She also recommends the site I told you about a couple days ago:

http://www.felinecrf.com/managd.htm

I asked this writer if it was okay for me to share this information, but I haven’t heard back from her, yet. I can’t imagine she’d say no, and I believe it’s important to get help for our pets as quickly as possible, so I’m going ahead. She can yell at me later if she wants. If / when she says it’s okay, I’ll tell you who she is (and hers is a name you’ll want to remember, because her book will be on all the best-seller lists as soon as it's published.)

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Classifieds - "Kittens, Free to a Good Home" Needed

I need a new kitty. Sneezy misses Catfish, and she’s lonely.

There were some other cats, four, I think, that must live in the house behind mine, who were here constantly up until we had the thunderstorm last week, but now they seem to have disappeared. I shudder to think what may have become of them. I cannot go to the shelter and look for them, because if I found them, I would have to adopt them. I could never take one or two, and leave the others behind. I simply couldn’t. Nor can I afford to adopt them all, much less feed them, and pay for their vet bills. The good news is that the shelter in my town is a no-kill shelter. People who discard their pets like yesterday’s newspaper irk the shit out of me. When I adopt a pet, it’s for life, come hell or high water.

I’d like to get a solid black male, like Catfish. Someone told me the other day that Sneezy will know the difference. Ya think? I didn’t know whether to laugh or be annoyed. I’m pretty sure when the term “dumb animal” was coined, it’s because they can’t speak, not because they aren’t smart. In many ways, I think they’re smarter than we are. I’m certain none of them ever voted for Dubya Bush.


I checked bulletin boards and the paper today for “kitties, free to a good home,” but there were none. I couldn’t believe people want from $20 to $$$ (hundreds) of dollars for a cat, when normally, you can’t give them away. It’s why I had Sneezy spayed before she ever had a litter. God bless the animal shelters, but I can’t go there. It reduces me to tears. When I fantasize about winning the Powerball, the first item on my list of things to get are all the animals at the shelter, and round-the-clock employees to help care for them. Of course, I’ll need a big ol’ plantation to house them all.

So anyway, if any of you in the Memphis area have friends who are trying to give away kittens, and they have a solid black male, would you please let me know? Sneezy will love it to pieces.

P.S. There's an update about low phospherous diets and binders in the comments here. Hopefully, there will be an update about Azodyl next week.
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UPDATE May 7, 2007: I ran into Matt this weekend. He's the vet tech who's sharp as a tack and truly cares, and he looked into Azodyl for me. He said it works well for animals with chronic renal failure as opposed to acute renal failure. So while it would not have helped Sneezy at the time she ate the tainted pet food, it will help her now. This is worth asking your vet about.

Someone came here by way of a Google search with the term "chronic renal failure cat makes clicking ticking sound." I know nothing about that, but I'd like to, if anyone can clue me in!