Why is my cat with kidney disease not eating, lethargic, and gagging?

Find a food with a strong smell/odor. Warm it slightly then offer it to Precious. You can also mix a teaspoon of warmed baby food in with her food. Discuss appetite stimulants, such as mirtazipine, with your veterinarian. The vet may also suggest some kidney friendly diets such as Hill's k/d or Royal Canin Renal Support. Bloodwork should be submitted to check kidney function. Elevated BUN and creatinine levels may cause nausea and inappetance. Hospitalizaton and IV fluids may be necessary to decrease levels.

Unfortunately, this could be a number of things. The first thing I tend to think of in older cats in which renal disease has already been diagnosed is the development of a urinary tract infection, and especially if urinary signs (urinating outside the box, increased frequency of urination, increased drinking, etc) that should be considered. Kidney disease predisposes them to the development of UTI's, and they can quickly become serious in these patients as often times it's not a LOWER UTI (i.e. a bladder infection) but an UPPER UTI (i.e., involving the kidneys). At this point she's only missed one meal, so I wouldn't panic yet - especially because she did eat when you hand fed her. However, do be diligent and consider whether she needs another checkup (to include a urinalysis and potentially x-rays or ultrasound) if this keeps up more than 24 hours, since it's such unusual behavior for her.

Hi and thanks for posting. Kidney disease and liver disease can certainly cause nausea and decreased appetite and water consumption. You may want to talk to your veterinarian about giving your cat anti-nausea medications such as Zofran or Cerenia which can help decreased the nausea so he feels better to eat and drink. Appetite stimulants an also be prescribed to help boost his appetite. I hope this helps!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Hank. Here are a couple of my thoughts for you to discuss with his veterinarian. You can try Cerenia which is an anti-nausea medication. Entyce is a new appetite stimulant that may be tried in replace of the mirtazapine. It is only approved for use in dogs, but has been used off label in cats. You can consider switching to a potassium sparing diuretic such as spironolactone which may allow him to come off of the potassium supplement. I would avoid the ginger at this point and try other options as there is no way to know if it will interfere with his cardiac drugs. I typically try one thing at a time so that I know what is helping. I hope this information helps!

Are IV fluids able to be performed? If they are I would recommend doing that over subcutaneous fluids. I would also talk to your veterinarian about starting an antacid with Mimi. When cats are in kidney failure they have a build up of acid in their stomach which make them not want to eat. Otherwise when cats are in kidney failure an aggressive treatment for at least 3 days and it is not helping, they typically at that point don't see any reversal in the kidney failure.

I am so sorry that Alex has been diagnosed with Kidney disease and it sounds like possibly hyperthyroidism. Unfortunately, these two diseases can be difficult to battle. I would talk to your vet about starting him on an appetite stimulant. You can also have fluids given to him under his skin on a daily or every other day basis to help keep the kidney values down to help make him feel better. I would have your vet recheck the thyroid and kidney values if his have been on medicine for awhile to ensure it is working properly and there isn't something else going on. You could also look for an alternative vet to seek acupuncture to help stimulate appetite. I hope this helps!

Good question. They are both appetitive stimulants but are a different class of drug so they work in different ways. I think it is worth a shot trying to the Entyce. I would also highly recommend informing your veterinarian about this continued issue because often times the pets kidney values are really high, causing appetite suppression alone. Also ask your vet about getting Tony on Cerenia (anti-nausea) medication long term (can be given every other day in renal failure cats ) to help with his appetite. Often cats won’t eat because they are nauseous due to elevated toxins in their blood stream from the kidney disease. Also a product called Azodyl can help reduce kidney values more naturally. I hope these suggestions help you get Tony’s appetite back to what it used to be. Best wishes and take care!