Apple Cider Vinegar Treatment for Renal Failure in Cats

Our senior cat Pepper who is about 15 years old developed problems over a year ago, which started with listlessness, loss of appetite/drinking and vomiting. We took her to a Vet and was informed that she was not drinking enough and needed to be rehydrated, so she was kept overnight at the clinic for tests and was rehydrated by IV. The Vet later informed us that because of her age her kidneys were failing and tests showed they were in poor shape, he also said she would need to be on medication and a low protein diet which could only be purchased at the clinic.

After the awful ordeal of having to pop a pill down her throat every day, she showed no improvement and her symtoms actually got worse and she was deteriorating faster and was looking like a bone rack. I tried every kind of food to try to tempt her to eat but she would only eat about a teaspoon of food. It was very upsetting to see her so ill and thin so I returned to the Vet who told me that the kindest thing I could do was to put her to sleep. :( My family and I decided not to go that route and brought her back home.

After extensive researching on the net I found that others pets had gotten worse from this medication so I stopped giving it to her.

I also learned online that dandelion leaves were great for flushing the kidneys and body of toxins, so I started giving her a fresh one from the garden and chopping and mixing some through her soft food.

With the help of organic baby food and a fresh dandelion leaf daily, she slowly regained her appetite and stopped vomiting and was drinking lots of water.

A year later she has now fully regained her weight and is eating her regular crunchies and soft food and has a healthy appetite. The only thing now is she drinks huge amounts of water which I was told was the bodies way of flushing toxins out of the system which is due to her age and failing kidneys.

Two weeks ago she got a bladder infection and was straining to uninate but was only passing small drops, so I reseached the net and found EARTH CLINIC, after one day of giving her organic apple cider vinegar in her soft food and drinking bowl she started to unrinate and has been fine since.

"Another one of mother earths natural remedies"

We are now keeping Pepper on the apple cider vinegar perminately and our new kitten also.

Quess what? she is now also starting to drink normal amounts of water. :D

Thank you again for this wonderful site.
I hope my feedback also helps others.

P.S In winter I add dried dandelion root to Peppers soft food which I purchase in my health food store.

We add 1/2 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to her soft food and 1/2 a teaspoon to two cups of her drinking water every day.

fresh dandelion half of one small leaf from my garden chopped up fine and added to soft food three times a week, in winter 1/2 a capsule of dried dandelion root.

If you can't get your cat to eat the fresh leaf, try putting about 5 drops of dandelion liquid tinture in a full bowl of drinking water.

IMPORTANT!!!!
Don't ever administer full strenth cider vinegar or dandelion root directly into your pets mouth.
This would choke them.

Your vet is taking a very standard approach in supporting your pet. You test often and measure blood levels for Creatinine and BUN. Creatinine is a waste product in your blood that comes from muscle activity. It is normally removed from your blood by your kidneys, but when kidney function slows down, the creatinine level rises. Urea nitrogen is a normal waste product in your blood that comes from the breakdown of protein from the foods you eat and from your body metabolism. It is normally removed from your blood by your kidneys, but when kidney function slows down, the BUN level rises. BUN can also rise if you eat more protein, and it can fall if you eat less protein. So your vet has prescribed a low protein renal diet that no critter I know of has ever liked, and wants to check the blood levels to see how the kidneys are working. At some point the numbers will show the kidneys are barely working and your kitty is suffering - and at that point you have the option of PTS and ending your kitty's suffering. You might ask your vet 'how long does she have?' - this will give you an idea about how many tests to look forward to and give you some things to think about. I experienced this with my old dog -he frequently urinated, and got thinner and thinner. I kept him in a coat so he did not have to use his body energy to stay warm. I fed him the lowest protein food I could find because the renal diet from the vet tasted awful. I tested his blood levels every 2 weeks and when the numbers began to drop tested every 2 days, and then when the numbers were really bad faced the music, fed him chopped up steak - which he devoured and then went outside to vomit up because he could no longer digest it, and then off to the vet to PTS while holding him. You can avoid the vet and the tests and try remedies, but if kitty refuses all food and water for 24 hours then organs are shutting down and IMHO the kindest and most supporting thing you can do is PTS.