My Kitty may have the beginnings of kidney failure. Sorry for this long post.

[Elaine]

Originally Posted by Kazz

Opps see now Elaine has already popped onto the thread serves me right for taking so long to post.

You snooze, you lose

I am not an expert by any means but made it my business to understand as much of the jargon and terminology as I could coz i had a really crap vet also, he had little compassion and no social skills.
The vet I changed to was brilliant, she would simply start by standing back and asking me to tell her exactly how Winston was where as others have the attitude that they are the vet and they know better.

CRF is an emotional rollercoaster, each cat is different and each cat copes differently, whether it be to medication, food etc. No one can tell you how long Kitty has and you are her advocate so stay strong, learn fast and love her to the end.

As Kazz said, any time you wanna talk, rant, cry, we are here for you.

Elaine xxx

[dandysmom]

Don't apologize for post length, it was nicely detailed and gave enough info for people to respond! I've been fortunate enough never to have had a case of CRF, but a close friends cat was diagnosed with it (at Kitty's age, 17!), and she's responding well to treatment with a sympathetic caring vet. I'm shocked that the vets dismissed your concerns as "well, she's old" ! !! Definitely change vets and get a copy of her lab tests! Best of luck, and please do keep us posted!

[sarahd]

Good luck with the new vets on monday and I really hope you get to the bottom of Kitty's excessive drinking and that its nothing too much to worry about.
Some people need to learn the word and meaning of compassion. So what if she is an old cat, just because she is old doesn't mean she is any less needy of medical attention than a young cat. As for saying you should think yourself lucky she lived this long is beyond belief.

Good luck and lots of hugs to Kitty

Sarah
x

[Grete]

I can't believe how your vets have treated you. I would definately change vets! Saying what they is condescending and shows absolutely no empathy with your cat nor you. As for not wanting to look in her mouth... hello, you are a VET! Cats do have mouth and throat problems occasionally so how they can say that is beyond me.

I would ask for copies of all the latest test results which you are entitled to and you can then show them to your new vet.

I do understand to a certain extent why they are reluctant to share the results with you as a little knowledge can sometimes be a dangerous thing *but* with a cat that age I would want to be on top of it too and fobbing you off the way they are doing is just wrong. Showing you results from a terminally ill cat with cancer - where is the relevance?? If it had been from a cat with CRF then at least you would have some basis for comparison.

I wouldn't worry too much just at the moment but DO get a new vet. Cats do drink more in winter because of central heating etc and because her urine output is normal and not smelling any more than usual, eating well and seems her usual self, if she is in renal failure, it's very early.

Good luck, let us know how she gets on

[Elaine]

Originally Posted by catmadjax

I took Kitty back last night and saw a different vet, he showed me the blood results and showed me that the Creatinine was 119, i managed to catch a glimpse of the whole page and noticed that it said "High" by the side of some results but i didnt know what they were, i think Phrosphus level was 11. In a very condisending attitude the Vet said that this was nothing to worry about and said "so what if they were on the high side? they are still quite low for a cat of her age" He said he couldnt see the point in doing more tests either as its stressful for the cat.

He then showed me some results of a terminally ill cat to compare, and this cat had levels of Creatinine at 859! this cat had cancer.

So basically, although some of her results were described by the lab as high, the vet says they are still good for a cat of her age. he told me to stop feeding dry food and see how her thirst is in 6 weeks time.

There is absolutely no comparason there and it was unrealistic and irrelevant of the vet to show you those.
Creatinine shows the levels of toxins in the cats blood stream which the kidneys have not been able to filter out, so to show you a cat with cancer's blood results has no relevance to your cat at all.
Are you sure the phosphorus levels were 11 and not 1.1? 11 is very high and if this is the case I would be asking about phos binders etc to reduce this level. If it is 1.1 than I wouldnt worry too much as it is within range.
B vitamins are extremely helpfull to CRF cats, because the urinate more they lose alot of B vitamins.
What are you feeding Kitty? Is she eating ok?
http://www.felinecrf.org/diagnosis.htm#ranges

[catmadjax]

Gosh thank you everone! My vet told me it might be the central heating making her thirsty too! the idiot toldme to stop feeding her dry food for six weeks and see how i got on! how rediculous! shes always had dry and wet food, its like a running buffet for the cats in our house! so what difference would that make to comparing her water consumption? geezzee.

[Elaine]

All that would do is make her obvious water consumption a little less obvious as she would be getting more water from the wet food
I would deffo change vets and asap. Print off as much info as you can find that is relevant to how she is right now, arm yourself with info on treatments, causes and effects so that you know what you are talking about. It has been my experience that by doing this they are a little less likely to fob you off with rubbish like they have been doing so far.
Its is generally considered better to feed CRF cats wet food to dry because of water content. But there is no harm in adding a little extra water to her wet food.
Its also a good idea to write some of the questions you want to ask when trying to find a new vet also, make sure you think you know or have an idea of how you'd like them to answer so you can weed out the good from the not so good. If they start directing you to CRF sites on the internet etc, this can be a good indication that they are trying to learn more about it too.

[catmadjax]

Right, ive had a look online and there are 5 potential vets near by. Alex has recommended me one and this one is included. They all have email addresses for contact and im wondering if it might be a good idea to email a few basic questions to see who responds the best. I thought of something like this.... (Please excuse the spelling i will spell check it etc and i need to re-word it). CAn anyone think of anything else? or do you think this is OTT?
--------------------------------------------------------
I am looking for a vet near to where i live.

I need a vet that is compasionate and gentle and it would be a bonus if they had a particular interest in cats.
I am a very caring owner who is very pro-active when it comes to veternary treatment and like to be involved and
work as a team with the vet.

I am not in favour of using drugs unnecessary, however I am a great beleiver that prevention is better than cure
and catching things early. The most important thing is that i am looking for a vet who not afraid to try or look
into alternative or new treatments in order to prolong quality of life, nothing should be too much trouble.

Also, it is important to a caring approach towards our oldies, my cat is 17 and unfortunatly ive come accross
vets and their staff that take the view that they dont consider it necessary doing further tests dispite
having symptoms of illness and I am told "I should be grateful they have reached that age." and one nurse
even said "what do you expect at her age". I personally dont think old age is a disease, so if she is 17,
why not aim for 20? Im not prepared to write my cat off because of her age, and i dont want my vet to either.

If you are the sort of vet that shares the same views as i do, then i would like to register my cats with you,
and look forward to meeting you.
---------------------------------------------------------

What do you all think? should i send this off?

[smudgley]

I deal with haygate on a regular basis & aslo Companion Care on the Telford retail park. I find them both good vets, although companion care vets bend over backwards to be obliging to the needs of us as an organisation (this is for a dog charity I work for) - I have never had complaints about either of these practices.

However there is one vet in telford that I wouldn't be so keen to recomend, because we had a newborn pup that needed to be PTS & they wanted us to make an appointment for evening surgery & wouldn't see us straight away. (this was at 9am) Every other vet I have ever dealt with has always been willing to see a client fairly quickly for a newborn PTS. (Not that we have that many newborns needing to be PTS)

[catmadjax]

thank you for that advice, I know Companion Care had to put down my birman down a couple of years ago, i had never taken her to that vet but it was after midnight and her airways collapsed. They were good and sent me a sympathy card too which helped. Can i ask which vets you would not recommend?