I’ve been doing plenty of research into the topic and treatments to help support a cat with kidney failure.
I read the following in a post on this forum:
Medications:
- 1 bottle of Pronefra 180ml (aims to support kidney function in dogs and cats)
- 25ml left of Semintra (aims to reduce proteinuria (protein in the urine))
- 3 sachets of Sucrabest (to soothe stomach acid caused by kidney failure)
- 1 tub of Ipakitine 300g - barely used (a dietary phosphate binder)
- 26 sticks of Porus One (to absorb uremic toxins; apparently this is one of the most important ones alongside Semintra, even if it's quite hard to get hold of).
- 31 sticks of Add One (a little sauce designed to be mixed with the Porus One, very palatable for cats).
I think this person had a really good treatment plan, and I’m looking for the products that aren’t always easy to find locally!
Translated from French
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Evening!
I’m quite surprised by your comment: "Here is what I give, since the vets don’t advise anything."
If your cat does indeed have CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease), the vet must have recommended a basic treatment plan to start with (beginning with their diet).
How are you getting hold of the saline? Were you actually advised to inject it? Besides, that means two jabs a day—poor thing!
As for the "treatment", it seems extremely heavy-handed to me. Even if you’re convinced it’s working, I seriously think it’s too much.
I also have my doubts about whether it’s really necessary, in the sense that there must be a way to manage things better with fewer meds.
My girl had some pretty high levels (I’ve actually documented everything in a thread on a pet forum) and her treatment is all laid out there. Telmisartan, Rubenal (which @Ulalie recommended to me and works really well), and a 250ml saline drip every two days. Since then, her levels have come down and she’s now just on one tablet a day (the Telmisartan) and one jab every two days (which I find heavy enough as it is).
It’s become impossible to order Porus One online recently. However, if you know a vet in Belgium, don’t hesitate to buy some from them! Courgette and Fishing Rod, what kind of food do you give to a pet with renal failure?
Since you’re so determined to be right, I wonder why you even bother asking for anyone else’s opinion. Just do as you please then, and good for him if it actually works out. And keep getting advice from those "eminent" vets – since they’re clearly so brilliant, you shouldn't be needing any tips from people on a forum, seeing as you’ve supposedly saved so many cats already.
One dose in the morning mixed into his wet food, and the same in the evening, so it’s all going really well for him. He’s feeling good, his appetite has been great since he started this treatment, and the diarrhoea has cleared up.
So it looks like sticking with it is really paying off! 😄
Euthanasia, you say? You’re just projecting. I’ve saved plenty of cats using herbal medicine. This treatment was recommended by Dr Serge Arnaud and one of his colleagues I’ve been in touch with, and it’s seeing some good results.
As for conventional medicine, sometimes it is necessary, we’ll see...
😁
To be honest, given that his levels are through the roof and considering his age, I’d just leave him in peace. It’s unbelievable how much you’re giving him; I find it hard to believe he can even swallow it all.
If I were in your shoes, I’d carry on with the food as you are—that’s great—but just with his Semintra or Benazepril treatment (Nelio or Fortekor are the same thing, they’re both Benazepril).
I once tried to keep pushing with a cat at the end of its life with CKD and I still regret it to this day. I ruined his last few months by stuffing him with meds, and even then, it was significantly less than what you’re giving yours. The poor thing was gagging and was fed up with the repeated trips to the vet. I’ll never do that again; I’d much rather leave them be and support them at the end, letting them enjoy their final moments.
Has the vet not mentioned putting him to sleep, given his results and his age?
You probably won’t like my answer, but that’s what I think. Who told you to give him all of that? It can’t have been a vet—or if it was, you need to find a new one, fast.
It’s CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). When I say it's severe, it’s because his levels are through the roof:
Urea: 2.275g/L
Creatinine: 49.6mg/L
He’s 14 years old and weighs about 5.5 lbs.
Here is what I’m giving him, since the vets haven't suggested anything:
1/4 Spasfon morning and night
1 scoop of Ipakitine morning and night
10 drops of Uricystyl morning and night
3 Renine granules morning and night
0.4 ml of herbal extracts (Orthosiphon and Hawkweed) morning and night
30 ml of sub-cut fluids (saline) morning and night (should I perhaps increase this?)
Enteromicro at midday
1 capsule of Ultradiar at the end of the day, given well away from everything else
For his meals, he’s having 50g of chicken chunks, just blanched, plus renal wet food mixed with some lightly cooked courgette.
He also has renal wet food throughout the day mixed with Hydra Care and a krill oil capsule.
I’ve managed to get some Porus One, so I’m starting him on that this week.
Please let me know what you think of this "treatment" plan.
And should he be on something like Semintra, Nelio, or Fortekor?
But all I could find were posts from people trying to get hold of him, without ever actually finding anyone by that name.
Everyone’s been looking for him since 2017; he’s harder to find than Columbo’s wife! 😂
To get back to your situation, which is obviously no laughing matter, I wanted to ask if it definitely is CKD—with the "C" standing for "chronic". It is sadly a serious illness that does eventually lead to the cat passing away, but not immediately. Plenty of people on here other than Alex033 have dealt with this and can probably give you more recent advice than Alex, as veterinary medicine has definitely come a long way since 2017.
However, you mentioned "severe" after "kidney failure", which might mean you aren't dealing with the chronic version, but rather acute failure caused by something like a kidney stone. This type of kidney issue is far less grave because once the stone has passed, the cat recovers their quality of life and, crucially, the life expectancy they had before the health scare.
So, check with your vet to see if that's the case, as the treatment isn't the same. Either way, your cat is in pain and it’s an absolute emergency; if it isn't treated immediately, it could cause lasting damage to the kidneys and turn into CKD.
Don't wait for Alex's unlikely return. I hope you get some answers soon, especially for your cat's sake, of course. Best of luck.
“I really need to get hold of Alex. He’s the only person who can help me find Porus One, since it’s not available in France, you see.” – A reply from another thread...
