I would really appreciate ANY insight you may have

[Feather1414]

Ok, so even if you don't know a whole lot about cats, if you know anything about lowering sodium, or sodium free foods or SOMETHING, please post, I'm desperate.

MY little kitten Bug hasn't been acting right for the past few days, so I took her to the vet and they ran a blood panel. They at first thought it was a liver shunt, although the tests for that came back fairly normal and it is still a possibility.

However, her sodium levels were so high, she should be in the hospital hooked up to the iv's receiving fluids. However, that would be $250, to $300 a night, and thats more than I can even fathom to spend right now. I looked at every possibility, and I would either have to choose to live in this house, or pay that for my kitten.

The vet has no clue what is wrong with her because although her levels are so high, she is still eating and drinking perfectly fine. Thats about the only thing keeping her alive right now.

I have water accessible everywhere in this house. Every half hour or so I am giving her a full syringe of water, and I have been searching online everywhere for low to no sodium cat food, but can't seem to find anything. Not even a homemade recipe.

Any ideas?

 

[Marty]

Hi Jamie,

Try these links

http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Low-Sodium-Cat...s&id=406857

http://www.petz.co.uk/vetontheweb/new/article5.html

 

[Charley]

I don't know...but I have heard that chicken and rice is good for ill animals. Just smash it up real good so the rice blends in with the chicken. Do not add any salt to either the boiled chicken and use long grain rice cooked according to package directions (it has better nutrients than minute rice).

Hope you can get her feeling better.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Go to the local market/butcher and ask for meat srcaps, no fat, feed her meat, if she likes a veggie that's great, Mine like corn on the cob steamed and cooled and raw meat. She is having troubles filtering and by lowering or eliminating the salt you will find she improves.

 

[Sterling]

Have you tried baby food? Like the Gerber's in a jar. Chicken, turkey or beef? They're usually very low in sodium and pretty tasty and nutritious..

 

[chandab]

Have you tried baby food? Like the Gerber's in a jar. Chicken, turkey or beef? They're usually very low in sodium and pretty tasty and nutritious..

I second the baby food idea; when my dog got sick, my vet recommended baby food for a few days while her tummy recovered as its bland (typically bland means low/no sodium). [i actually have a couple jars on hand, for just such an occasion: the Turkey Rice dinner is only 15 mg sodium, the other flavors are 30-35 mg sodium.] The couple times I've fed baby food to my dog, she ate it right up.

 

[HGFarm]

I would ask how old is the kitty and what does she usually get fed?

Also, high sodium results is usually associated with kidney problems in cats. Is this cat urinating at all? When cats eat food that has a high ash content, it contributes to 'sand' or 'crystals' in the urine, which blocks them up and they cannot urinate. This is fatal if not taken care of immediately.

The test results could also mean the cat is dehydrated, has internal bleeding (gastro intestinal) or is eating too much protein.

There could be a couple of different reasons why this is happening, but usually if the sodium level increases, it is because the kidneys are not functioning right. Kidney stones, kidney infection... who knows? Did they run any other tests? What are the kitty's symptoms? I'm very sorry and hope that something can be done?