The boss is in the house
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A new medication helps angel regain her appetite
IT’S MORNING, and time for breakfast. Everyone is excited about food, except for one cat who doesn’t take any interest.
It’s been months since one-eyed Angel has been able to jump up to where I feed the other cats. Her back legs are very weak. Her eyesight has been failing and, to some extent, her hearing.
It’s also been some time that Angel would summon me to the sink and command me to feed her. She’s no longer a bossy cat.
She’s suffering from a problem common to the elderly – cat, dog or human: her kidneys are failing. No longer can they efficiently remove wastes from her blood or maintain the balance of the fluids in her body.
If she were human, she would be on dialysis, which removes the body’s wastes and restores fluids. In later stages, she might even receive a kidney transplant, so that she could resume a normal life.
I don’t know if a kidney transplant is possible in Thailand for dogs or cats with kidney failure. In any case, Angel is 17 years old and not a good candidate for such major surgery.
We are, nevertheless, doing what we can. Every day, she receives a saline injection under her skin to help keep the fluids in her body in balance.
As her kidney failure has progressed, Angel has been losing weight, and the poisons that her kidneys are unable to eliminate have caused very painful inflammations in her gums.
I change to a wet food developed especially for cats with kidney problems. My vet instructs me to feed her one bag of this food each day.
Angel doesn’t eat it by herself, though. Although she can see large objects, she can’t locate the food by herself. I’m not sure that she can smell it either.
I push the food through a sieve to make it as smooth as possible to protect Angel’s gums. Then I divide the food into three feedings – breakfast, lunch and dinner.
For each feeding, I put a bit of the food on the tip of my finger and put it into Angel’s mouth. I don’t have to force her to eat. She’s hungry and slowly swallows each finger-ful.
She even begins gaining weight.
There’s one big problem with this special food. It’s low in protein. For animals – and people – in kidney failure, medical specialists strongly recommend reducing the protein in the diet, since protein puts too much strain on the kidneys.
Yet the body still requires protein, specifically the amino acids in the protein. These amino acids are so important for the body. They help build tissues and keep the body operating.
It’s a vicious circle, isn’t it? You have to reduce the protein in the food to protect the kidneys, but the protein contains essential elements for the body’s well-being.
Now there’s a special medication specifically for animals in renal failure, pre-digested amino acid. People can use it too, but I don’t know what part it plays treating humans suffering renal failure.
I’m not a vet. I don’t know the name of this medication, and I certainly have no idea how it is “pre-digested”. This pre-digested quality helps the amino acids avoid putting any stress on the kidneys.
Angel takes it twice a day, and slowly, slowly the levels of her kidney failure are improving.
There’s no cure for renal failure. This new medication will never bring back Angel’s eyesight or turn her into a kitten.
Yet slowly, slowly Angel is becoming more active. She knows when it’s time for food. Despite her semi-blindness, she finds me and looks at me with that one eye. She’s hungry, and she wants me to feed her – now!
My bossy Angel is back.
