I have a wonderful 15-year-old neutered male orange tabby named Sunshine. I love him so much. He is an indoor/outdoor cat but prefers to be outside. I noticed that he suddenly became quite thin in the spring. Our vet did a urine test and told me that he has kidney failure and the best treatment was to feed him KD food. He hated the KD food and wouldn’t eat it so I started giving him Fancy Feast soft food to put on weight this past summer. I also did this because I thought maybe the soft food was easier for him to eat. However, I observed him eat an entire adult rabbit so I realized that he could eat hard food just fine. He’s been just on Purina cat chow since August now and he seems much healthier. I also de-wormed him though since he likes to feast on things that tend to have worms (chipmunks, mice, and bunnies) so it is possible that he had worms and de-worming him made him feel much better.
How could the vet have known just from a simple 5 min. test that he kidney failure? I’m just asking because I know kidney failure is 100% fatal, correct? Maybe he doesn’t have kidney failure. Is this possible that maybe the vet just "thought" he has kidney failure because it’s so common w/ geriatric kitties? Should I spend money for further testing and what would the tests be and what might they reveal?
Sorry for asking so many questions! And much thanks for any information!

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My mother has had her gall bladder removed about a month ago, because of the reoccurring stones, and has also had kidney stones in the past. I finally got her to start taking those adult gummy vitamins (better than nothing, cause she hates taking vitamins, makes her sick) now I’m realizing there isn’t any calcium in her diet (nor is there calcium in the regular gummy vitamins), especially at her age (60′s). Can she go ahead and start taking these gummy calcium vitamins with her regular gummy vitamins everyday?

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How much are we spending on healthcare to treat diet-caused illnesses?

From the book Eat To Live by Joel Furhmen, MD:

.."People are completely unaware that most illnesses are self-induced and can be reversed with aggressive nutritional methods. …The medical-pharmaceutical business has encouraged people to believe that health problems are hereditary and that we need to swallow poisons to defeat our genes. This is almost always untrue.

"…My clinical experience over the past ten years has shown me that almost all the major illnesses that plaque Americans are reversible with aggressive nutritional changes designed to undo the damage caused by years of eating a disease-causing diet. ….These conditions…can be effectively prevented or treated through superior nutrition. As their medical problems gradually melt away, patients can be slowly weaned off the medications they have been prescribed."

"Dietary-Caused Illnesses with High Prevalence":

–acne
–appendicitis
–atherosclerosis
–diabetes (adult)
–fibromyalgia
–gout
–high blood pressure
–irritable bowel syndrome
–macular degeneration
–sexual dysfunction
–allergies
–asthma
–constipation
–diverticulosis
–gallstones
–headaches
–hypoglemic symptoms
–kidney stones
–musculoskelatal pain
–stroke
–angina
–arthritis
–colonic polyps
–esophagitis
–gastritis
–indigestion
–lumbar spine syndromes
–osteoperosis
–uterine fibroids

"Not only are common disorders such as asthma associated with increased body weight and our disease-causing diet, but in my experience these diseases are also curable with superior nutrition in the majority of cases. Asthma is an exampleof a disease considered irreversable that I watch resolve regularly. My patients routinely make complete and *predictable* recovery from these illnesses, predominantly through aggressive dietary changes. …Diseases that are considered irreversible I see reversed on a daily basis."

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