Laura Beatriz Fontana Arroyo's List: Feline Chronic Renal Failure Medical Treatment

• Other medications are available  and your veterinarian will be able to recommend what is needed for your cat.  
• Other medications are available and your veterinarian will be able to recommend  what is needed for your cat.
• Be advised that there is NO  drug that is entirely free of side effects
• The severity of side effects vary by patient

• Anemia
• Only the human form of erythropoietin is currently  available for treatment of felines
• Although the human version has  been proven effective, some cats may develop antibodies against it
• must be stopped immediately
• Feline recombinant erythropoietin is not commercially available at this  time. 
• An anabolic steroid that is  used to improve appetite
•   

  Calcium Imbalance  

    
• Calcitriol is the active form  of vitamin D (D3). An excess of phosphorus suppresses the production of  calcitriol
• The lack of calcitriol prevents calcium from being absorbed in the alimentary  canal which leads to hypocalcemia
• Hyperphosphatemia (excess  phosphorus
• Hypertension (high blood  pressure)
• (Amlodipine, calcium channel blocker
• These medications may be helpful in treating CRF since they dilate the blood  vessels thereby increasing blood flow to the kidneys
• Hypokalemia (potassium  depletion
• potassium gluconate)
• Potassium supplementation combined with the inability of the  kidneys of end-stage CRF cats to sufficiently rid their bodies of excess  potassium can stress the heart and could potentially cause heart failure and/or  other associated problems
• Inappetence (loss of  appetite
• Periactin  (cyproheptadine
• For some reason, Periactin works to stimulate the appetite in cats. Periactin  does not work equally well for all cats, but since it has fewer and less serious  side effects than the family of tranquilizers more commonly used for appetite  stimulation, it's worth a try
• Valium (diazepam) and Serax  (oxazepam
• When giving these tranquilizers  to cats, it is extremely important to always keep a close watch on them when the  drug takes effect to make sure they don't fall off anything.
• By experimentation you may find a dose small enough not to cause noticeable CNS  depression while still stimulating appetite.
  
• Pepcid AC Acid Controller  (famotidine
• is not an appetite stimulant. It simply eliminates one of the disturbances that  can cause a cat not to eat and, therefore, may improve appetite
• Kremezin (AST-120)

• Antibiotics
• Antibiotics do not fight CRF, they fight infections that may be taking advantage  of your cat's weakened condition

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