Supplements for Cat with Early Kidney Disease....

We have a 10 lbs male tuxedo manx cat at least a decade old who has recently been diagnoses with early stage kidney disease. So far the Vet has only recommended sub-cutaneous fluid injections but not yet any prescription diet or medications. He is the best cat & deserves a long healthy & happy life as long as possible so we are looking for a great vitamin, mineral, enzyme, probiotic, OMEGA supplement to help support his body while it’s hopefully trying to heal.

Thanks for any help.

Is there a Vet school around?

If you are reduced to Dr. Google, please be aware:

CATS ARE NOT HUMANS

Their chemistry may or may not resemble human chemistry, and their kidneys may or may not respond to the same things human kidneys do.

The fact that your Vet is calling for subq fluids is a big tip-off.

I have kidney failure and nobody has even hinted that fluids (let alone subq injections) are indicated.

Ask your Vet what comes next if the condition worsens - then broach the topic of “How about we start now?”.
If you don’t trust your current Vet, find another.
Do not ask strangers on a message board about Feline CKD. You may actually find an expert on that topic.
I would not take my Nephrologist’s advice and apply it to a cat.

The sub-c fluids were advised by the Vet.

Straight Dopers can be amazing at times in finding things. I am looking for supplements made for this for cats- not human remedies.

I have to tell you that by the time my vet was recommending sub-q fluids, my cats were at late stage kidney failure, not early. Early stage is usually treated by switching diet. If you are being told that sub-q fluids are a treatment for early stage kidney failure, please seek a second opinion from another vet.

Note that I tried this with one animal. She hated it. We gained a few extra weeks with her, but she really didn’t enjoy being grabbed, held down, and injected. It was definitely we were doing for us, not for her.

Subcutaneous fluids are an excellent way to relieve some of the burden from your cat’s already overworked, failing kidneys. As kidney failure progresses (and in most diagnostic tests it is only evident after 75% of kidney function has been lost), kitty will drink and pee more. Toxins are slowly building up as kitty’s kidneys lose the ability to filter them out, so subcutaneous fluids provide extra help in flushing them out. I am impressed by a vet that has you starting earlier rather than later. It really is one of the nicest things you can do for your cat.

Did the vet go into needle specifics? I highly recommend Terumo ultra-thin wall 21-gauge needles, used only once, as the tip does bend once it’s inserted. But they slide right in.

Sorry, you were asking about supplements, weren’t you? There is a fantastic website http://www.felinecrf.org and a couple very very good FB groups full of knowledgable, supportive pet owners. PM me if you’d like more info.

Thanks, actually, I’ve been reading through that site for the past few days. There is just so much to navigate there.

Finn has been on sub-cuts before for regular dehydration with good results & my partner who actually owns him (or is owned by him) is pretty good at doing the injections.

What foods would you recommend? Or supplements?

This is the link for one of the feline renal failure groups on Facebook. It’s run by a friend of mine and is very, very good:

There is a new test called the SDMA that can detect kidney disease much earlier than the one relying on the creatinine level. You can get your cat’s test results from your vet and start learning about them and also to see if the SDMA was run. The general rule on fluids is that they’re usually started when the creatinine is 3.5 or above, as that’s when cats begin to struggle to hydrate themselves sufficiently by drinking. On the test results, it will be “CRE”. If your cat is significantly below this, you will want to ask your vet why he’s on them as they’re probably unnecessarily working the kidneys.

There are a lot of general practice vets who are woefully uneducated and out-of-date about kidney treatments for cats. This is where the Facebook group comes in, or I can point you to another excellent one on Yahoo Groups. You can determine how educated your vet is by what they recommend, and run things by a group. If you determine you want to switch vets, most likely you can get a recommendation from someone in the group.

You’ll want to keep phosphorus levels low. This you can also see on the test results, it will be “PHOS”. If it’s below six, you’re ok, but may want to look around for a lower-phosphorus food. There are some food lists around, but I can’t find the most recent one so that’s why you’ll want to join a group. It’s complicated, but it’s not the phosphorus amount listed on the label which is why there are food lists. If it’s above six, you’ll need to add binder. You can ask your vet about this. It’s another good litmus test of what your vet knows.

http://felinecrf.org/phosphorus.htm

The best food is one the cat will eat! There are kidney foods, but most of the time cats don’t like them! For now, just keep him eating.

For supplements, there are no magic bullets, but most kidney cats benefit from additional B-complex. You can scroll down to “Which B Vitamins To Give”:

http://felinecrf.org/vitamin_b.htm

It’s a pretty good learning curve, but there are a LOT of non-invasive management things that can be done to give your guy a chance for the longest, happiest life possible. :slight_smile: One of my missions in life is to help kidney kitties and their owners, so please do PM me if I can help you further! The very best of luck.