Update on Harree November 2015

For past posts about Harree, you can go here.

Harree’s almost eight-year struggle with chronic kidney failure is closing in on the final stages. He’s already exceed expectations several times (they thought we were going to lose him seven years ago, for starters), and continues to do so. We couldn’t have asked for a better patient, or a more appreciative cat. Often it seems like he understands what is going on. He is cooperative, affectionate and even apologetic.

A month ago, it seemed like his kidney values were gaining some sort of stability from his second crash this May. His kidney values had gone down a bit and his phosphorus values had returned to normal. His personality and behavior had mostly returned to normal with the exception of some minor changes (accident prone due to weakness/loss of balance, deep sleeping, more affectionate/clingy).

In the middle of last week, we started having some symptoms return. In particular, we had excessive drooling, low energy and loss of appetite. Friday morning I called the vet’s office, and they were able to see him that afternoon. His kidney values have all shot up again, and his phosphorus is very high.

To give him a boost, we scheduled him to receive fluids all day at the vet on Saturday. Since we’ve brought him home, we’ve increased the amount of aluminum hydroxide he’s receiving by scooping the powder into a plate of Fancy Feast Broth (broth only, no chunks) twice a day. He’s also getting fluids twice a day now, when possible, and a little more fluids per day.

Our vet told us the number one priority is to make sure he eats at least something everyday. Renal kitties are notoriously picky eaters and it can be challenging to get them to eat the food they are supposed to eat. Our vet said the complications caused by Harree not eating will be worse than if he eats the regular higher protein food. Our second priority is getting the extra aluminum hydroxide in his system as most of his symptoms are caused by the high phosphorus. If we can get his phosphorus back under control, his eating habits will improve. This is why we are putting the extra powder in a yummy broth that he enjoys and is easy to eat, as supposed to increasing the amount in his regular food.

Since he’s been back from the vet we’ve seen some symptoms improve- he has more energy, seems less thirsty and generally seems to be feeling better. His appetite is still wavering back and forth, but the drool has gotten much worse.

We are hoping that the aluminum hydroxide just needs a couple of days to kick in before we see better results. In the meantime, I continue to offer him food multiple times a day and turn the faucet on whenever he runs into the bathroom.

If you have a kidney kitty and have questions, or would like to chat about symptoms, care, etc…please feel free to leave a message in the comments and we’ll get in touch!

Advertisements

• cat
• cat health
• cat photos
• cat stories
• Cat Tales
• cats
• chronic kidney disease
• Harree
• kidney failure
• renal disease