by Alexandra Bastedo www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
Renal or kidney failure is something I learnt about very early when Coley, my lovely white and black moggie died from it at the age of thirteen. He had been a dry biscuit addict which may well have exacerbated the problem and there had been frequent vomiting which can be a sign of kidney problems. As the disease progressed he started to drink more and more water- having been a poor drinker previously- and began to urinate frequently. I went to the conventional vets to no avail and at the time I did not know any holistic vets so sadly he died. Mark Elliott, the well-known homeopathic vet says “Are animals really meant to eat cereal nuggets?” For me the answer is NO. With 26 years of cat rescuing with all the homeopathic and herbal and nutritional remedies at my disposal most of my cats reach the age of 17- the oldest one at present is 22. If I lose a young one with renal failure it is generally due to previos poor feeding with commercial cat food that is full of sugars,colourants and additives. When I rehome cats I beg the new owners to feed only sugar-free foods and, unfortunately on occasion hear of the cat’s early demise from kidney failure when they don’t look at the small print on even some of the more expensive brands.
Unfortunately the small print on packets and tins is so tiny as to be almost unreadable but I would beg pet owners of dogs and cats to study it very carefully- they will be amazed at what they find. At the moment I am struggling with a one year old Maine Coone that has had skin problems and cystitis. After a week of being treated with Camrosa cream for his sores- possibly brought about by an allergy to a particular spot-on treatment for fleas- and Cantharis for his urinary tract he is now fine. However to change his diet to a non-sugar one which should help prevent a recurrence of cystitis is proving rather difficult and i am having to wean him off sugary foods slowly, rather like an addict. What I am trying to do is add a little of the old food to cooked chicken or turkey with some white rice and broccoli. To that I add a little taurine, a vitamin B complex (10mg) vitamin C 500 to 100( this would depend on the size of the cat) vitamin A (100iu daily) and calcium (250mgdaily) possibly in crushed eggshell form. A little barley water or cranberry juice one part to three parts water in a syringe may also be given.
In all my years of keeping dobermanns plus one retriever and one Yorkshire Terrier I have had only my first dobermann, called Blue die of kidney failure. I had fed him all the wrong foods (the equivalent of those sold to cats) full of sugars, additives etc. and had I known then what the situation was I would have done the same for him as for the cats without the addition of taurine. He also loved the all in one biscuit foods and was rarely seen to drink out of his water bowl which might have caused dehydration. I realise too in retrospect Blue was overweight and since then all my dogs have stayed on a strict diet and not had renal problems.
HOMEOPATHICALLY: Nux Vom helps with toxicity and sickeness and Nat Mur may be appropriate if the animal is showing signs of thirst.
HERBALLY: Alfalfa tablets may be given with food.
If you do not have time to cook the vets can supply a special kidney food such as those manufactured by Hills or Walthams.
By Alexandra Bastedo.
Copyright Alexandra astedo.
Alexandra is the author of “The Healthy Cat” and “The Healthy Dog” books which are veterinary recommended. She is also one of the founders of www.petnutrition.co.uk with the distinguished homeopathic vet Mark Elliott which produces nutritional supplements for pets- started as she felt there was a need for all her rescued animals. If you feel you would like to help with her work at the sanctuary with all the rescued animals with a small donation please go to the website. She can also be contacted at www.abcanimalsancuary.co.uk if you have any animal health questions .
