Trixie - Stage 2 Diagnosis

Hello everyone, thought today would be a good day for a first post.

I took Trixie in today for her 6 month blood work and check up. Good news, physical was great, all looks good on the outside. Disappointing news, kidney numbers are up (creatinine and BUN) and she has moved to early stage 2. Her USG was pretty low too Phos is still okay. Doctor wants me to consider adding a wet renal diet to her current meal plan. With her in diabetic remission, I’m super nervous about adding anything to her diet and don’t want to risk her coming out of remission. I’ve been on Tanya’s site doing lots of reading, trying to sort through info there on whether a reduced protein diet is necessary at this time. There is so much to go through, I’m cross eyed at this point and had to take a break.

Here’s Trixie trying to see if she can sneak out of the exam room while we waited for the doctor

Trixie sorry to hear her numbers are up. I don’t know about you but I always get anxious around lab time with all the new information. The worst. Her phosphorus is great though. And glucose!

Gosh, I’d be nervous too adding potentially higher carb food. Remission is soooo nice. Did the vet mention anything about blood pressure? They wanted to check Pookey’s. I guess hypertension is a variable that can contribute.

I’ll do some reading for you tomorrow and see what else I can find out.

Tim & Pookey said:

Trixie sorry to hear her numbers are up. I don’t know about you but I always get anxious around lab time with all the new information. The worst. Her phosphorus is great though. And glucose!

Gosh, I’d be nervous too adding potentially higher carb food. Remission is soooo nice. Did the vet mention anything about blood pressure? They wanted to check Pookey’s. I guess hypertension is a variable that can contribute.

I’ll do some reading for you tomorrow and see what else I can find out.

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Thanks, Tim

I do hate it too, luckily she is really good a the vet, I’m the one that needs to calm down lol. No mention of checking her blood pressure yet, I know one of my other CKD kitties had higher blood pressure as the disease progressed and we had to keep an eye on it. I’ll bring it up at her next appointment so we can get a baseline.

The food rabbit hole is one like no other. So many different opinions out there it’s hard to make sense of it all.

How’s your research been going?

Tim & Pookey said:

How’s your research been going?

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I wish I could say great, but that is not the case. There really is so much information out there on when to reduce the amount of protein in their diet. Too much too soon and you can risk weight loss and muscle wasting, which is it's own problem with a CKD cat. I have been trying to put together a pros and cons list if I am to change her food. I feel stuck in a hard place of what the right decision is. If I don't reduce her protein, the harder her kidneys work and the disease can progress quicker. If I change her food and she falls out of remission, high blood sugar is also damaging to kidneys along with many other things as we know so I'm not sure what the right answer is.

I followed up with her vet and asked if I should bring her in for a blood pressure check now and she said she wasn't concerned as it is early but we will check it when she goes back in 6 months, I also asked about running a SDMA test and again, she said it's early and it wouldn't tell us anything we don't already know. She also helped me to see the positives that we still have, she has a great appetite, her weight is stable, not drinking or peeing in excess (I actually never see her drink water) and her phos is in a good place. For the moment, I'm trying to mix in some Weruva food that is lower in protein with her usual food.

Are you using any supplements or binders for Pookey? How is he doing with his food? Appreciate you checking in on us. Give Pookey some pets and a squeeze from me.

I know exactly what you mean. For us with the diabetics too it just gets even more complicated.

You're right, there are a lot of positives. And I don't have the numbers in front of me but the expectancy for cats in stage 2 is really long. Especially for us helicopter CGs I ordered some Visbiome like a month ago and it's still sitting in my fridge. @Mary & Jude made a comment on FDMB on someone's thread today something to the effect of not being able to get over her own inertia. That's how I feel. And part of it is like, things are good and I hate to have something wacky happen and mess things up.

On the drinking, have you experimented with extra bowls? Pookey was the same way, basically never drinking, up until recently a new bowl in a new location has been a hit.