Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / June 2004

circa Tue, 29 Jun 2004 17:57:27 GMT, in alt.med.veterinary, Ginger-
lyn Summer (glsummer@neptunelink.com) said,

My cat was diagnosed over two and a half years ago, and the last
thing he is is "out of it" (assuming that means what I think it
means). He is not end-stage yet, so I can't contribute any opinion
there, but I can say that there are times when he does seem to
express pain, and they're usually when his stomach is bothering him
(I can tell from his breath when his stomach acid is up). I've been
giving him (1/4) Pepcid AC daily, along with
chondroitin/glucosamine/MSM ground up and mixed with his food, and I
have seen *far* less indication of pain on his part. When he is in
pain, the fur on his spine will stand up a bit and he gets very
cranky with one of the other cats, who is very attached to him. He
also gets tender in his abdomen and doesn't like to be moved. As long
as I give him his fluids and fiber and meds regularly, he doesn't
display any of those symptoms.

Overall, though, if the CRF is treated to the extent that it can be,
I don't think it's painful for the cat, at least not in early- or
mid-stage CRF. The fact that my sixteen-year-old CRF cat runs around
and plays so much that I had the vets check his thyroid (which was
normal) is what really makes me think that CRF cats can feel okay
with the disease.

However, IANAV. :-)

Laura

*I have heard a couple of different responses to this question, and I
*would like to know what the vets, vet assistants, and other
*knowledgeable folks think about this.  My one vet expressed the

Generally speaking, fibrosis isn't particularly painful. Inflammation is,
and inflammation may be an underlying cause of CRF at some point in the
process -- but by the time we're seeing "end stage kidneys," the kidneys
themselves are fibrotic and nonpainful. Now, the cat may be uncomfortable
due to malnourishment, severe nausea, feeling a constant urge to urinate,
being dehydrated, or whatever -- but I wouldn't necessarily say it is in
pain from the renal failure. FWIW.