Posted by Dr. Magnus on September 28, 2002 at 12:12:25:
MEDICAL INFORMATION On FELINE ACUTE KIDNEY FAILURE Requested by Henry K.
Dear Henry,
I am not a veterinarian, and I may be treading on forbidding grounds here. I cannot suggest whether or not TF Feline Complete will help the cat with kidney failure, because I am not qualified to do so. The cat’s veterinarian may not think your cat is sick enough to suggest any serious intervention.
I had hoped that one of our Veterinarians would be able to help with this request. We have their testimonials on the tf Animal Health Website, if only there is a way to contact them. Who knows, there may even be one who visit’s this bulletin board regularly, among our large family of Professional Networkers.
However, I have access to many, many sources of information on several human and some animal ailments; and I try to write a simple, researched medical explanation/information, hopefully, helpful to the inquirer and others interested in the information. I am happy to do so, but obviously, it is not possible for me to do so in many/all cases; I just don‘t have that kind of time. I hope the following information will be helpful to you.
Good luck!
ACUTE AND CHRONIC FELINE RENAL (KIDNEY) FAILURE
Kidney disease can surface at any age and may be the result of congenital abnormalities in a cat. The major kidney problem treated by veterinarians as cats age, however, is either acute or chronic kidney failure. When the kidneys fail, waste products from the body's metabolic processes are no longer filtered out and eliminated through urine, but accumulate in the circulating blood. Water and electrolytes are no longer conserved as they should be, but lost in the urine.
SYMPTOMS: Early Stage---May include increased water consumption, increased appetite, increased urination, vomiting and dry skin, leading to significant damage.
The initial condition may not be very severe, but recurrent episodes over a long period of time lead to Chronic Kidney Disease.
The animal compensates for its kidney failure with increased consumption of a lot of water and increased urination.
MANAGEMENT: Your veterinarian may prescribe a diet with lower amount of- but high quality protein, and with higher starch; vitamin and mineral supplements; and frequent office follow-up visits.
The recurrent bouts of inflammation associated with renal failure lead to progressive scarring of kidney tissue. The kidneys shrink in size and eventually deteriorate into the severe condition called "end-stage kidneys". The filtering mechanism stops working, toxic wastes accumulate in the blood, the animal suffers from imbalance of fluids and electrolytes and develops a life-threatening condition known as "uremia".
This may be associated with increased thirst, decreased appetite, foul uremic breath, depression, listlessness, dehydration, skin sores, ulcerations in the mouth, vomiting, anemia and become extremely emaciated. Without professional care, the condition will progress into coma and death.
The cat may improve with the administration of intravenous fluids, antibiotics and other medications. The condition, however, is irreversible; and sooner or later, the cat will no longer respond to any form of treatment.