Renal failure in pets: experience and advice with a side of amphibious bears

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Dabamf_sl

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Seriously cats not drinking water is weird. I always wondered where the hell my cats were drinking, because they sure as hell weren't drinking from the bowl. Apparently they're not? Evolution or not, don't their stupid bodies have a feedback mechanism that says "holy fuck this shit in your stomach is drier than Angela Lansbury's vagina, find water"? I didn't evolve to do the cinnamon challenge once a day, but if I did, my body sure as hell would say "why don't you add some milk to that cinnamon? I hear it has magical health benefits. And more importantly, GET SOME LIQUID HOLY SHIT"

My cat is like 14 and going strong. He's immortal though. We thought he had renal failure years ago when he was suddenly drinking water like a fiend. Maybe he still does, I dunno, it's hard to tell when your cat is so much of an irredeemable asshole that he'll never die.
 
Caliane

Caliane

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Sutekh_sl said:
Spent my wife and I's vacation fund (almost 3k) on our cat when he was having troubles with this. It was rough. That was last year.

He's been doing fine since then with a steady diet of special foods.



The proper method would be a raw diet with small edible bones worked in. That's very uncommon however, the best thing you can do is feed your cat wet food and get them raw hide treats.

Wet cat food will rot their teeth. No shit, I had a cat who had to have them pulled. I was younger, I didn't even know his teeth were bad. The vet saw him and was like "WOAH, YOU DIPSHIT".

But cats don't drink enough. That's why their kidneys tend to fail. I dunno why they don't drink enough, but they don't.

I mean things die. Sometimes it sucks. 12 years for a cat is a good run. Expect 8-12. I had a cat that lived to 17. You don't want that either. She was so old and so riddled with osteoperosis that right at the end of her life she literally broke her own leg jumping onto a chair.

Cat's don't drink enough before for millions of years their bodies were programmed to get their source of hydration from the liquid and blood of their prey. They're meat eaters, they feed on living animals and from what we known of muscle / meat composition that it is largely comprised of water. The best solution to this is a wet diet with a little bit of water mixed in (if you really want to be fancy some sodium free broth works well) and a running water fountain instead of a stagnant bowl of water.

Source volunteered for a vet and shelter for many years.
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how is canned tuna? and... a google search. nope canned tuna is bad. it lacks several needed aminos.
 
hodj

hodj

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That only means its bad if you feed them exclusively tuna.

Same goes with feeding cats dog food, its missing vital amino acids cats need, so while its not poison, it won't kill them to eat it occassionally (one of my cats always tries to steal a few bites from the dog's bowl for instance) but it absolutely cannot be their primary source of nutrition.

If the goal is to add some moisture to the cat's diet, though, a small bit of tuna every couple days as a supplement to their regular, complete and balanced, diet certainly would probably work well.

Plus I find its easier to get a cat to eat a bit of tuna than it is to get them to eat wet cat food.

But yeah, corn is missing a large number of amino acids, yet its a staple part of human diets. As long as you consume it with beans, rice, squash or yams, though, corn is perfectly fine to eat. Just don't try living on corn and corn alone. You'll die.
 
Cutlery

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Caliane_sl said:
how is canned tuna? and... a google search. nope canned tuna is bad. it lacks several needed aminos.
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Yeah, you need to vary their diet, and they'll get all the amino acids they need. For dogs it means including beef, pork, chicken, fish, eggs, and organ meat. I dunno what the fuck cats eat. The wife's cat is most certainly not interested in the slightest in anything I feed the dog.

That also doesn't mean you need to feed them all of that every single day either. Variety happens over time, not within the span of one meal.
 
Ichu

Ichu

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I imagine they scavenged a reasonable amount of fish that washed up dead on the lake side. Either that or rolled in it.
 
Cutlery

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Sled dogs eat a fair amount of fish, primarily because its a readily available food source in the arctic areas. Its also full of omega acids that help their coat.

If I could get more fresh fish for cheap, I would, but mine eats canned whole mackarel about once week or so.
 
Cutlery

Cutlery

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Big Phoenix_sl said:
Dogs dont eat fish.
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Feel free to stop talking.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...47534661,d.aWc

The 1991 research effort was designed to provide the Alaska Board of Fisheries with basic background on the history of dog traction in Alaska?s Interior region and the traditions that have evolved surrounding the use of fish to feed sled dogs. Using information gathered from surveys with 95 active mushers that study concluded that:
Subsistence-caught fish represented a traditional and important source of food for most
village dog teams.
An estimated 5,000 sled dogs were being maintained to varying degrees using
subsistence-caught fish in rural Yukon River communities.
The most common fish species used for dog food were summer chum, fall chum, and
coho salmon, referred to collectively as ?small salmon.?
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Like I said, it's a common food for sled dogs in subsistence cultures. Now, take your ignorance elsewhere.
 
Famm

Famm

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Its a fucking 13 year old cat. Tie it up in a burlap sack with a brick and toss it in a deep body of water. Go get a free kitten somewhere.
 
Noodleface

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My dog a few years ago was around 13 when her body started failing. We kept her around for a bit but ultimately it came down to this: we loved her so much, we couldn't watch her suffer any longer. Humans selfishly want to keep failing pets around because we foolishly think they will live forever. A time comes when you need to make that choice. I can still remember saying goodbye, and telling her she deserves better, giving her a little pat on the head, and having to leave the room. She looked confused, but I knew it was for the best. Sorry for the non-sensical post.
 
S

sl4ck3r_sl

shitlord
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Dabamf_sl said:
Seriously cats not drinking water is weird. I always wondered where the hell my cats were drinking, because they sure as hell weren't drinking from the bowl. Apparently they're not? Evolution or not, don't their stupid bodies have a feedback mechanism that says "holy fuck this shit in your stomach is drier than Angela Lansbury's vagina, find water"? I didn't evolve to do the cinnamon challenge once a day, but if I did, my body sure as hell would say "why don't you add some milk to that cinnamon? I hear it has magical health benefits. And more importantly, GET SOME LIQUID HOLY SHIT"

My cat is like 14 and going strong. He's immortal though. We thought he had renal failure years ago when he was suddenly drinking water like a fiend. Maybe he still does, I dunno, it's hard to tell when your cat is so much of an irredeemable asshole that he'll never die.
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My cat preferred to drink from the water left over in the shower and out of the bathroom faucet for some odd reason. Also read somewhere that cats do not prefer to have their water and food dish right next to each other. So I moved her water dish maybe 3 feet away and I'll come home and her dish will be empty. Beforehand, I could barely tell if she had been drinking. Go figure.
 
A

azeth

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Animals cannot typically recover from any damage caused by renal failure. Your cat however is fine, as long as she feels fine. Spend as much quality time with her as you can until she's ready, she'll likely stop eating, and stop cleaning herself. Try not to think about it, and let her tell you when it's time.
 
iannis

iannis

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I'd never heard that about cats. Mine will drink out of a faucet too... supposedly running water sure, but I got her one of those cat fountains and she gave negative fucks. That's just a thing humans think is neat. Maybe if you trained them from a kitten they'd like it. But a mature cat just seems to think it's more human magic that's got nothing to do with them.

I've always put her food and her water right next to each other because it just seemed polite. But i'm gonna try that.

lol. she's probably gonna be all like "where the fuck did my water go?!?!".
 
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