Peeps is eating!!!

Peeps is eating!!!, originally uploaded by Hotash.

This bowl was full

Contents:
1 whole Quail breast
1 tbsp Bogie mix from www.feedthis.com/
2 tbsp Catnip tea
Pinch of fresh egg shell
Pinch of Taurine powder
Pinch of probiotics
& Ground beef, raw with some warm juices

it's a recipe that works....




he is content and full, always a bit cold (even when warmed fluids) after his sub-q treatment.

we lay on the bed together until he quits shivering and then he goes outside into the warm sunshine - nice weather today & yesterday.

Mr. Peeps is living in the spare bedroom at night and doing very well the past three days.

Fluids = 3 days on, 1 day off. 2 days on, 1 day off this week

Good news for people who love bad news

Good news for people who love bad news, originally uploaded by Hotash.

Actually it is good news but any chance I get to plug Modest Mouse...
-- Modest Mouse

Two days running now (on a new - let's just calmly approach this plan) and things are looking good.

Eating well and moved inside.

The plan:

Meal one (early evening) - ground beef, raw, mixed with pinch of slippery elm, pinch of eggshell powder, pinch of Probiotics, pinch of Taurine powder and juice from small portion of cooked beef (for flavor)

Meal two (early morning) - ground beef, raw, mixed with 2 tbsp catnip tea infusion, pinch of Probiotics, pinch of Taurine powder and juice from small portion of cooked beef (for flavor)

After meal two -= one B12 shot tablet (melts in your mouth), every other day (1,000mcg)

Feeding away from other animals = concentration on eating.

Housing:

Moved in to spare bedroom of house during extreme temperature outside -otherwise free to roam outdoors.

Keep kitten Bramble and other threats away be giving him a safe, quiet place to be old ;-)

Fluids:

Warm them prior to use...be setting in warm water in sink
Current run = 3 days of 100-150ml, 1 day off

Vet check up on Sept 5th, 2:30pm

Today is another good day

Too hot to eat?

So, this afternoons meal was refused for the most part.

The weather took a turn for HOT again today and worse tomorrow through the end of the week - low to mid 100's

I was only able to convince him to eat some meat with vitamin B but that was all.

Since his calcium level is not too high (10.2) I plan on using an eggshell/calcium based Phosphorus binder to help lower his Phosphorus number (10.2) - I will give this three times a week for two weeks - until his next test. Then consider a different approach if necessary (based on new test results)

I cracked three eggs for the dogs today and rinsed the shells, baked in the oven at 350F for about 8 minutes and then ground up into eggshell powder-




I will be offering him ground beef, 1 tsp eggshell and 2 tbsp catnip infusion early tomorrow morning when I get home from work.


I'm working off of a base from Dr. Pitcairn's book

Feline Diet For Kidney Problems

3/4 pound (1 1/2 cups) ground chicken (with skin) or turkey
4 cups cooked white rice, enriched
4 eggs
2 tablespoons cold-pressed safflower,soy,or corn oil
3 teaspoons Animal Essentials Calcium (or a scant 2 teaspoons eggshell powder)
1/4 teaspoon iodized salt
1 teaspoon parsley (a natural diuretic, optional)
5,000 IU vitamin A
2,000 milligrams vitamin C (1/2 teaspoon sodium ascorbate)
taurine and other cat vitamins (about 5 days worth-we want to add at least 250 mg taurine to this recipe amount)
50 milligram level B-complex (or 5-10 milligrams per day)

Note : you may have check around to get vitamins- they are almost always avail from your vet, but I wouldn't switch around supplements, or types or forms of say calcium, in the case of a kidney friendly diet...

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Serve raw if the cat will accept it. otherwise, mix all but the vitamins together, bake about twenty minutes in a moderate oven, and then wait until it cools to mix in the vitamins. Your cat may have a poor appetite, so to some extent you will need to cater to him to keep him alive. Occasionally, substitute 1 to 3 teaspoons of liver for part of the meat. Be sure to provide plenty of fresh, pure (bottled or filtered) at all times. Also encourage drinking by providing meat or fish broth warm once or twice a day.
Feed as much as your cat will eat-this makes 5-6 days worth of food for the average cat.

I am mixing much smaller batches and have substituted a few ingredients

Also, Mr. Peeps will be made to come in side during the hot day tomorrow - which means moving into the large dog kennel with a bed, fresh water and a kitty paper/box. He won't like this a bunch but he can't be trusted in the house loose and it's way too hot - I can see it take a toll on him.

I have also skipped two days of subcutaneous fluids - because he had been eating well, 2 meals a day, although small, he still ate good. Tomorrow he will have his fluid treatment even if he doesn't like it!

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since diagnosis - we have 1 more week to work on diet and trying to get his numbers down.

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Listening to: The Nightwatchman - No One Left
via FoxyTunes

His numbers

Mr. Peeps, originally uploaded by Hotash.

August 13th 2008

BUN = 114
[15-34 mg/dL]

Creatinine = 6.1
[.8-2.3mg/dL]

Creatine kinase (CK) = 573
[64-440 U/L]

Phosphorus = 10.2
[3-7 mg/dL]

TCO2/Bicarbonate = 11
[13-25mg/dL]

Cholesterol = 245
[82-218mg/dL]

Calcium = 10.2
[8.2-118mg/dhl]

RBC = 5.41
[6-10 million/uL]

HGB = 8.2
9.5-15 g/dL]

HCT = 26.4
[29-45%]

MCV = 49
[41-58 fL]

MCH = 15.2
[11-17.5 pg]

Neutrophil SEG = 84
[35-75%]

Lymphocytes = 8
[20-55%]

Reticulocyte count = .7
[0-1%]
Absolute Reticulocyte = 37870
[0-50000/mm3]

(non-regenerative anemia)

Legend:
[xx-xx] = normal ranges
Blue = low
Red = high
Green = normal


I'm still trying to understand them all.
The vet says "the BUN / Creatinine / Phosphorus & HCT matter.
I asked about the CK = HIGH - don't worry about that number - I must do more research on this number.


My next step is to look into a natural Phosphorus binder.

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Listening to: Burial - Archangel
via FoxyTunes

FEEDING TIME

FEEDING TIME, originally uploaded by Hotash.

For the past three years we have been feeding an all raw diet to our cats and dogs.

I'm very glad that I had switched them over, I'm sure that this has helped Mr. Peeps with regard to his kidney failure. My guess is that he would have went downhill much faster if he had been on a dry kibble diet.

This is a shot from back in April 2006 - skip ahead to August 2008. Mr. Peeps is not eating well and seems to be loosing weight slowly.

He has had his teeth cleaned in the past and I noticed that his breath smelled foul. One of his upper molars had a bit of plaque and I ASSUMED this was his issue. I finally got him into the vet to have the tooth pulled if necessary.

The vet examines him and says his tooth is fine, just a bit of plaque, no pain, no gum issues, but if I want them to clean it/pull it they can get a better look under anesthesia. Sure, why not, I don't want him getting sicker with an infection of his teeth/jaw bone.

The vet says, well, since he's only about 10 years old we'll just do a small blood work up...I say, wait, he's more like 15-18 years old maybe- we just don't know. Oh, he looks like he's only about 8 the vet says. Anyway, he stays overnight at the vet to await blood work results (it's better than driving him home).

The next morning is when we get the news that he is in Chronic Renal Failure.

Here comes the issue of feeding.

I'm informed that he needs to be on a low protein diet, taught how to administer subcutaneous fluids at home, handed some information from online and we set up a follow up appointment in 3 weeks.

I dive into reading about diet change. Man there is a lot I didn't pay attention to in school!!!

On August 13th when he came home, his very first meal consisted of cooked white rice, canned pumpkin and ground chicken bogie-very little bogie. He eats a tiny bit then wanders off to be left alone

By the next day, he is eating only very little. Chris (AKA The Man) gets him to eat some quail.

Two days later he is refusing to eat any of his normal diet (except quail) - I need to find something else - we only get so many quail per month. I bring in some ground turkey-not the best choice but it's a start, and some ground beef (70% lean)

I don't normally feed beef to the cats and the dogs only ever get meat bones or freezer clean out beef. Turns out he LOVES ground beef. But, alas that wasn't going to last but a day....

I now (4 days after diagnosis and 2 sub-q treatments) notice that he burbs when you pick him up and he is licking his lips a lot, his breath smells again (it did not at the vet) - I remembered reading about slippery elm for stomach/appetite in cats.

Day 5 - gets me to the local CO-OP to buy some slippery elm. I mix two of the capsules/powder in with his ground beef- he eats good - mind you this is no easy feat - I have to roll the meat into perfectly round, tiny balls and toss them to him, ensuring that everyone else keeps their distance. Oh yeah, the really good part is....it's 2am!!!! (when I get off of work) but it's cool outside - all the cats have a better appetite when it's cool and it's been pretty hot around here.

By the next day his appetite is better- I'm still feeding him by hand.

I have mixed in a weak infusion of dandelion with his afternoon meal. I did this with much trepidation...as dandelion is very acidic and actually causes bile. I figured it couldn't hurt to trust and try to help is appetite out. This along with the slippery elm seems to have really helped. He is now eating twice a day, still drinking A LOT of water from his watering spot.

I only used dandelion for two days. I used slippery elm since August 20th. So, for five days he
got slippery elm mixed in with his ground beef. Since August 23rd he has been eating twice a day and eating a decent amount.

His burbs have subsided and he is licking his lips (sign of anemia) less. His appetite has increased to the point that he comes for food at the afternoon dinner and when I get home in the morning. He is also eating quail again...but nothing else.

August 26th - ahhh!!! he will be needing vitamin help too?

For more on RAW diets visit:
BARF World
or our supplier
Feed This, Inc.

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Listening to: The Heads - johnette napolitano - The- Damage I've Done
via FoxyTunes

"Wha?"

"Wha?", originally uploaded by Hotash.

If we only had known...or paid closer attention.

This is near when the first signs of a problem began to appear. Of course this is all looking back and putting it all together.

All the animals insist on drinking from standing water around our house- who am I to disagree? We top/overflow this fish ponds on a regular/daily basis so the water is fairly fresh, so to speak. They also have fresh, clean water in the house and around the outside of the house - but you will more often than not find them rushing to the fish ponds for a drink.

This is a shot from May 2007. Thinking back, this activity of his caught my eye (thus the photo) - I never gave it a second thought-other than he must have been thirsty.

He would drink (still is) for long periods of time....I should have thought to wonder why as all our animals are raw from Feed This, Inc. Usually cats don't drink much water, especially when they are on a raw diet.

Turns out this is the #1 sign that your kitty is having some issues with their kidney function. I'll be chalking this (and much more) up to "now I know."

My plan is to offer up some experience (as I gather it) and information to any of you who may be going through this too.

Other symptoms to watch for:

* Excessive urination
* Increased thirst
* Nausea and gagging
* Licking lips
* Grinding or cracking sound in jaw
* Vomiting (both clear/foamy liquid and food)
* Drooling
* Dehydration
* Hunching over the water bowl
* Stomach irritation (uremic gastritis)
* Constipation
* Loss of appetite
* Weight loss
* Muscle wasting
* Emaciation
* Poor hair coat
* Halitosis (ammonia smell)
* Lethargy
* Sensitivity to sound
* Eating litter
* Weakness
* Depression
* Oral ulcers
* Detached retinae
* Convulsion, low temperature, coma (end-stage)

Information from: Feline CRF Information Center

Additional, detailed list of symptoms can be found on Tanya's Feline Chronic Renal Failure Centre

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Listening to: trevor hall - you Find Me
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