Oh boy, what to say.  I'm glad to hear that the vet was able to get the lump out and that she was a good girl about it.  I'm sure she must feels tons better with it out.

And it's something to be thankful for that the kidney situation is mild.  Hopefully it's something that can easily be kept mild (if not stopped).  I'll keep my fingers crossed for something good there.

Poor thing and her arthritis.  She must be happy to be home though.

Big hugs...

Wow, she must be feeling much better to have that lump out of her! I'm glad they were able to find it and take care of it.

Don't panic over the kidneys. This is a common disease of older cats. My cat KD first showed mildly elevated kidney values in her bloodwork in 2003, and she stayed there for over four years before moving into CRF. Vets are very quick to push the prescription foods - IMO usually too quick.

Good to hear that the lump was easily removed. Hopefully as others have said, the mild kidney problems can be successfully managed.

If you're able to get her onto entirely wet food, that'll help a lot. Kidney compromised cats need lots of fluids, and getting them in their food is the easiest way. It can be tough for the kibble addicts, but if she's already eating some wet food it may not be so hard.

You may notice that she drinks more water now, and it's good to encourage this. Make sure she's got lots of fresh water available. Some cats really take to those water fountains that keep the water moving (like Drinkwell and Fresh Flow) - that might be something to try to get her to drink more.

If she won't eat the prescription food, or if you're not comfortable feeding it, your best bet is to look for a canned food that's low in phosphorus. Commercial foods will never be as low phosphorus as the prescription stuff, but if her condition is mild they just might be low enough - and she's gotta eat something. Check out some of the resources in the Feline Chronic Renal Failure subforum for ideas.

Hope that's not too much information overload. With any luck she can stay at these levels for years with no ill effects.

I wouldn't either if I were her! I've read some of the ingredient lists of various prescription renal dry foods, and they're pretty much indistinguishable from cardboard. 

In any case, the idea of creating a special dry food for kidney compromised cats flies in the face of common sense. What they need most is fluid - the last thing you'd want to do is take it out of their food. I wish I'd known that before KD was in CRF, when she was at the mild stage Beauty is now. I'd have gotten her onto all wet food much sooner.

Very happy to hear that Beauty is home.
Tons of wonderful infor from some very knowledgable folks here in the forums

Welcome!!

Here is a link to a feline hyperthyroidism web site:

http://www.avmi.net/newfiles/hyperthyroidism/Hyperthyroidism.html

I had a cat with this condition. It's basically an excess production of thyroid hormone which overstimulates all body systems. My cat had a voracious appetite but lost weight, urinated frequently, and was anxious and cranky. Yowing is frequently listed as one of the symptoms. I don't know exactly why it occurs, except that it would probably be part of the general anxiety. Diagnosis is through a blood test.

There's a very effective treatment for it, radioactive iodine, and my cat had a complete reversal of the condition with it.

If there are none of the other symptoms, though, Stan may not have this. You'd need the blood test to know for sure.

Also, dusk and dawn are active times for cats, the main hunting times of cats in the wild; there are many reports of kitties waking their people around four or five am, aarrrggh. Ours did eventually adjust to our sleeping schedule, though.