Vet told us cat is potassium defficient. What does this mean and what can we do?

[mrsnec]

Hi all, our beloved tabby, Dusty was very poorly recently after contracting FIA. She's only 2 and our vet managed to save her. She finished her meds shes been on for the past couple of months and she had her final blood test today which gave her the all clear.Excellent news! Good platelet count and everything but her potassium is low. He said not to worry but googled it and this can mean kidney problems. She has a good diet. Feed her the Whiskas oh so pouches and whiskas dried food with teptations and soft sticks as treats and occassional bits of cooked liver fish or chicken. Should I give her some kind of supplement? Wonder if we gave her too much protein when she was poorly as hiding the pills in liver was the only way she'd eat them!

[Selks]

Speak to the vet for further advice.

[Lizcat]

There are specific supplements avaliable through your vet so I would speak to them about this.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Can an obligate carnivore have too much protein though? my dm used to only give chicken livers once a week as a treat because of the high levels of vitamin a.

[mrsnec]

Think I need to. Beats me why he didn't suggest anything at the time. They do sell all sorts of stuff. Can't find it on the ingredients in any of her food or whiskas website. Thanks anyway.

[issey6cats]

hi i work at haworth cat rescue and we had a cat in recently with this problem, the vet prescribed tablets which are just one a day i dont know the name of them wont be able to find out till saturday but could do if you want me too ask your vet about this or if lizcat is in later she might know what they are, in alfies case it made him have a wobbly back end and a head tilt but other than this he is a lovely chap

[mrsnec]

Thanks again! She's not actualy showing any symptoms and we're a bit reluctant with the supplements as it was so hard to get the meds down her.And she's been through so much lately. We'll cut the liver and revert back to her normal diet for now. She's due back at the vets soon for her jabs so we'll pick some up then if we need to. I wondered if it was a problem with her diet though but she's such a princess when it comes to food!

[issey6cats]

hi no its not to do with her diet its i think a condition that some cats have and some dont, alfie the cat i mentioned had been a stray for quite a while so he had got to the obvious stage quite deficient but now hes on the tablets is much improved and living the life of riley at his new forever home

[Lizcat]

I have always used tumil k powder mixed in food for my patients. Alone low potassium is not diagnostic of kidney disease it usually comes along later when the BUN and creatinine have risen.

[mrsnec]

Thanks Lizcat. Will pick some up from the vets then next time. Want her to be as healthy as possible now since she gave us such a fright recently! She was also a stray. We found her in a pile of dust sheets in the workshop of our house when we moved in and she's been here ever since!