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Well, my vet just gave us the third "probably 7-10 days to live if untreated" speech that we've had in 3 years. Since April, Pixel's BUN is up from 57 to 167 and her creatinine is up from 2.8 to 10.3.
She seemed to be doing fine, eating well with a good appetite, active (for a 16 year-old cat), drinking constantly (we set up little fountains all over the house to encourage her to drink. However, in the past couple of weeks she's started having problems keeping her food down. She's been hiding it well by throwing up in hidden areas and the dog has been cleaning it up. So we weren't sure how bad the problem was until I noticed the smell on her breath.
So...here's the issue. We started sub-Q 4 days ago (lactated ringers) and the vomiting stopped. Unfortunately, she's also no longer eating or drinking. In addition, she's had diarrhea since the day that we started fluids. When she does eat, she seems to be having a real problem chewing and swallowing and is deliberately avoiding solids. I'm thinking that there may be some inflamation or pain that's being made worse by the fluids.
Has anyone else experienced this when starting sub-Q?
Our vet has just said "stick with the fluids" and to basically plow ahead until her followup in 5 days. But I'm concerned that she's going to crash if she isn't eating "real" food.
I am so very sorry to hear this, Pixel. Yes, your numbers are scarily high, and I can't imagine anything but fluids bringing them down. If you've got diarrhea, even more reason to replenish the fluids, I would think. I actually wonder if you don't need to go to get IV fluids instead of the sub-q fluids, just to get you through this and get your numbers to a reasonable level. I know that would mean spending a couple of nights in the hospital, but I just wanted you to know that is an option that would be more effective than the fluids under the skin. You're an amazing kitty to still be eating--that is great, and a good sign! Sounds like you might be getting to the point that food isn't looking so good, though, so it sounds as if something needs to be done to get your appetite back. If you can lower those numbers a bit, I'm sure it would help. Anyway, please let us know how your follow-up goes! How much fluid are you getting, and how often?
p.s. Have the vet take a good look at your mouth to see if there's any bad teeth or anything making chewing (hence eating) difficult. There is also metacam and zubrin, both great options for pain management should you need it. (Yes, they're easy on the kidneys, as I've taken both with no problem, though not with your numbers.) As long as you are getting some nourishment--solid or not--that's important. If you're not eating anything, I'd be afraid to let it go for 5 days. Might be worth a call. Best of luck! I'm purring for you!
Im sorry to hear about your baby, right before they put shadow on his subqs I would take canned cat food and blend it up into soup with water and use a syrenge without a needle and force feed him. It takes about 2hours and i would also give two full syrenges of water, their tummys bloat from it but if it wasnt for what I did my vet told me shadow would have died in two days. Thats the only advice I can give you unfortunately. Your vet can give you a syrenge or at most they are like 1 dollar. Um if you wanna do it little by little and dont wanna tell the vet (which I didnt until after I had saved his life its bad but was my choice) go to the thermometer part of like walmart pharmacy and get the baby medicine syrenges.
Try it, your baby might have the will to live but not the strength to do so. And trust me, they do not like being force fed but the look in their eyes says thank you.
Me not eating is how Mommy knew something was wrong. I had a very sore throat and a massive infection. It is why I crashed so bad! I get fliuds every other day in my left side. I do well as long as I get my fluids were I like them and wrapped in a towel. I went and had blood drawn today. I will know more tomorrow!
My cousin cat, Mittens, has CRF and she gets IV fluids now. She used to get Sub-Q, but her numbers didn't change enough to make Dr. Bullar happy, so he put her on IV fluids 2x a week and daily dialysis now. The dialysis is relatively new.
I remember Mom talking to Grandma (Mittens is Grandma's cat) about it one day, because Mittens had crashed for the umpteenth time. Mom is sad because Mittens is so sick, and also because when it IS time for Mittens to go to the Bridge, Grandma is going to be devstated. She has 2 other cats to keep her company, but Mittens is her best girl.
Anyway, I hope that the sub-q fluids work for you, and that you get better. 16 is a up there for a cat, Mittens is 17, and she was about 15 when she first started having kidney problems. Constant UTIs and infections, hair falling out, hot spots, seizures, etc.
It's all so much to deal with....may Dudley & I never get that sick.
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