Hello everyone...I was referred to this forum from FDMB as I had a kitty with diabetes so I am brand new and hope to understand the netiquette of this forum and also to help others as I have alot of experience with CRF kitties...
However ...I have a kitty named Mor Mor who is in "moderate " kidney failure affording to my vet (I am waiting for the specific bloodwork numbers) and is doing this strange behavior I have never seen...he is doing these body tremors....and little muscle twitches intermittently through the day and night...I have been to four different vets in one month...all with seemingly varied opinions....has anyone seen this in cats with kidney failure as a possible result of toxins building up? Mor Mor is 15 yrs young and I love him to death and I am very scared this looks like the end may be nearing as his appetite has decreased markedly and he is still active but I fear uncomfortable at times as well as nauseated (no vomiting...lick smacking and disinterested in food wen he smells it)...thank you all....
Last edited by Allison on Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
welcome to CatChat, Allison, even though in sad circumstances
I'm afraid I have no experience of CRF myself, but until others who do come along, I wonder if you have visited this site https://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm
I know it is highly regarded by owners of cats with CRF, and I see that under symptoms there is a lot about twitching
Hi everyone...I am new here and i cant seem to find where to post my questions...I posted a long query yesterday but erased it all in hopes of basically asking the same question but hopefully getting more responses....I will keep it brief as possible...my CRF kitty is in moderate kidney failure...i cant give you any numbers as he is a foster cat and i am not permitted to see the results of his bloodwork....his appetite has gone downhill in past month markedly...and his body is trembling and twitching...has anyone had experience with this?...his geri panel was otherwise normal but for "moderate" kidney failure....his potassium...calcium ...and phosphorus are normal...and no pancreatitis....help...the organization i have fostered him from is basically demanding that i bring him in to be monitered (in a cage in a room) but I feel this will only be detrimental to his failing appetite and health...he still belongs to them so i must bring him in to be put under observation where he will be sat in a cage and very stressed...in my opinion this is not conducive to his health and well being...I am afraid in his weakened state he will simply give up and stop eating altogether...I am so distressed about this....any thoughts or ideas? this organization does not believe in prescribing cerenia long term and this was the only med that actually helped him eat...which tells the story to me that he is nauseated....why wont they prescribe this med long term in his twighlight hours to give him some peace and relative comfort? He is almost 16 yrs old...lost and confused....
The reason I think why there aren't a great number of responses is that this is quite a specialised query, and unless people can give definite advice (such as Kay's suggestion of the Tanya site which is very comprehensive) they won't reply unless they can offer you something concrete. One of my cats has ckd and I'd never heard of this happening - so your post has educated at least one person; that's how it goes on forums.
I can say though that I wholeheartedly agree with keeping stress to a minimum in cases like these. My own girl was depressed for days after her vet visit for bloods etc and to propose taking your boy in for observation does seem drastic. How long would this be for though? A day? Days? Could you go in and visit him? Feed him? Unfortunately it would seem that he's the legal property of the shelter (perhaps other rescue workers/fosterers could advise on this point.) So it sounds as if they have the last word but your views ought to be taken into account; you know him best.
In your place and his I would hate this, but sometimes cats do have to be hospitalised; as long as you get him back quickly and can make it up to him I feel that's the main thing. I'm very surprised about the Cerenia though; I thought that that was widely used in cases of chronic nausea (but again perhaps people with more knowledge than me can advise.) I don't understand a total ban.
All the very best - please let us know how he gets on.
Lilith...thank you very much for your response...it does worry me that few ppl seem to have seen this is their CRF kitties as it makes me wonder if it isnt something even more serious...I will check out Tanyas site as you have suggested...I actually thought this was her site? or maybe all this has me at the mercy of my worried confused mind at the moment...they have permitted me to formally.adopt Mor Mor so at least whatever takes place is now my call!thx again!!
I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. My boy had CKD and I don't ever remember him twitching or having tremors, but like you I'd wonder if it was due to high levels in his system.
Has he had a blood test in the last week or two or a vet's appointment? I think you're in a difficult situation as he's not your cat. It might be worth asking if you could take him in for an appointment and take it from there. Unfortunately it might just be something you to do in order to find out exactly what's going on with him. My boy was diagnosed with stage 2 CKD, then about 7-8 weeks later he was stumbling, holding up his front paw. I took him back to be checked and vet's suggested taking him in for the day to do a full range of tests. On arrival they could see he had deteriorated and were concerned with him, they postponed the other tests and just did their own in house bloods which showed his levels were through the roof and he didn't have long. Looking back I had to put him through that as none of us knew he'd deteriorated and I had to know what was causing new symptoms. I took him home, he had a lovely day pottering around in the sun, then the next day I could see he got absolutely nothing out of the day, so I knew it was time. Not saying this is the case for your boy, but monitoring/testing will help vet know what's causing the problem and if they can help.
It might be the vets don't want to prescribe anything else until they're sure what's happening with him.
