Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have an elderly cat whom the vet said may be in the beginning stages of kidney disease, high BUN(63) and creatinine(738) levels, high phosphorous levels, and a high white blood cell count. My cat is currently on IV and the vet feels that with the additional fluids it will clear some if not all of the toxins out of the system. She also thinks that he may have a urinary tract infection and said that sometimes that happens with kidney disease so my cat is currently on antibiotics too.

What would be the reason for a high white blood cell count? Would the urinary tract infection cause it? What would you suggest to give to bring the phosphorous levels down? What would you suggest as a diet once I bring my cat home? The vet, at this point, is thinking to just put him on a k/d diet but I would like to supplement or implement other things that could improve my cat's kidney function as much as possible and bring down and keep down the white blood cell count,BUN, creatinine levels and phosphorous levels. Thank you for anything you could suggest that may help.

This is more than the early stages of kidney disease. Your cat should be on subcutaneous fluids on a daily basis; ask your vet to show you how to do this at home. Give your cat some pureed raw beef kidney at each meal. A good chinese herbal combination to use is called Rehmannia Eight. Also give cod liver oil, CoQ10, a good probiotic, chitosan and calcium carbonate. The amounts will depend on the cat's weight and what it will tolerate. But it will definitely need daily fluids, for a while at least.

Thank you for your reply and the suggestions which I will implement. The sub qs are making a big difference. Although the vet labelled this kidney failure because of the high BUN and creatinine levels I wonder now if it actually is. I did a search and found that high BUN and creatinine levels can result from severe dehydration.Have you ever heard of this? Once I hydrated my cat, at first 120-180 ccs every 2 hours(he came back from 2 days of IV at the vet's severely dehydrated) and then lessening the amount every two hours as he became hydrated by judging the amount I gave to keep him slightly overhydrated by 15 percent, there was a remarkable turnaround in less than 48 hours. Thank you, again for your suggestions.

The dehydration is due to the kidney failure. One of the functions of the kidney is to conserve water, which in cases of kidney failure they do not do sufficiently, hence the need for supplemental fluids. Once the kidney wastes are flushed out, the kidney is better able to function, so you may then be able to cut back on the SQ fluid, but don't rush into that. You need to first get the kidneys functioning better.