Nimrod

Sorry to hear that your cat has been diagnosed with kidney problems. With regard to diet, most vets will recommend Hills k/d as they tend to stock that first and formost. There are a number of alternatives, which some cats prefer. Most of them can easily be obtained through www.zubial.fr where you can compare details and prices. ( My own CRF cat has Leo pouches and some dried.) Kidney support diets contain less protein and add other nurients to support a cat who is probably drinking (& peeing)  a lot more than usual. The jury is out on whether dry or wet support foods are best; it often depends on what the cat is used to. The most importat thing is to ensure that the cat eats. Do take a look at Tanya's Feline CRF site: http://www.felinecrf.org/index.htm. This is an amazing source of support information for owner with CRF cats. Tanya is not a vet, but I now a number of UK vets who use her site for reference! Lastly, has your vet suggested putting your cat on Fortekor (2.5mg/ day)? Do talk to him/her if not. Most UK vets will recommend this. Fortekor helps regulate blood pressure and reduce protein loss from the kidneys. It has a good track record with cats of all ages. Very best wishes. Roger

I am so sorry to hear of lovely Tilly’s illness. As a ex RSPCA general manager in the UK I have had to deal with many anaemic cats. I absolutely agree with Rob Roy about a second opinion and also Quinlan’s advice to seek help from a big town practice. Many French country vets, although kind and caring, just don’t have the facilities or the experience of serious cat illnesses. I thought I would just pen some thoughts which might help. Tilly’s vet needs to be able to tell your friend, not only that anaemia is present, but just as importantly, what type it is and what has caused it. Most of this information can be gleaned from the right kind of blood tests. A good Lab like Limoges should be only too happy to help the vet interpret the results of the tests, if needed. Can you get hold of the results? It is interesting to see that antibiotics are having some effect, but you need to know the illness to prescribe the right type of antibiotics, if needed! Has your friend asked the vet exactly what s/he thinks is wrong? I would have been very concerned if our veterinary staff in the UK could only tell me that a cat just wasn’t ‘making enough red blood cells’! As a young cat, my first thought might be to link Tilly’s anaemia to an viral condition such as Felv / FIV (ruled-out) or to FIP(feline infectious peritonitis caused by a reaction to the Corona Virus) a serious and usually impossible condition to treat successfully. The tests should give some good clues if not 100% answers. Some other classic causes of anaemia in the cat are: ·         FIA (Felne Infectious Anaemia) caused by a nasty blood parasite called Haemobartonella (Treated with powerful (specific) antibiotics and possibly steroids) ·         Internal bleeding caused by an abdominal tumour or inflamed bowel, or rodent poison ·         Types of liver or kidney infection / disease, leukaemia related to Felv, cancers, etc. It would be very rare to find an iron deficiency in cats. You’ll see from the list how important it is to know what you are dealing with before you can consider treatment. In the meantime it is very important to try to get Tilly to eat or she could develop liver problems apart from becoming very weak. Your other correspondents have made some good suggestions (but I wouldn’t consider raw liver.) Liquivite is an excellent food for sick cats, but is generally not available in France. You could instead try to feed Tilly some Hills a/d cat food (from the Vet or internet) which is developed especially for these sort of situations. It is very soft and can be further thinned by adding bottled water and feeding little by little from a large syringe (from the side of a cat’s mouth).  Sardines in tomato sauce are very useful but I am not sure about the contents of the sauce in France. Does Tilly like cooked white fish?  Try to feed a poorly cat from a saucer with a small amount of food shaped into a mound. The idea is that as the cat puts its head down to the food, some will be deposited on its mouth or nose and encourage it to eat. A Vitamin B tablet / day, crushed is a good idea, but only use one designed for cats – never use human medication or vitamins. Provet do a very good one and will mail order quickly to France www.provet.co.uk (Go to ‘Onlne Store’) I’m sure that everyone on the site is thinking of Tilly. Do let me know how she is doing and if I can be of any further help. Kind regards, Roger