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A little back story - my mom got her cat about 5 years ago from a friend who moved away and couldn't take him. He was around 5ish then, so he's at least 10 now. The friend didn't know too much about his history - she had rescued him from somewhere. So we know nothing of his past.
He was diagnosed a month or so ago with renal failure, but he is not in end stage or anything. He is dehydrated though, and showing signs in other ways (gross, but pooping where he shouldn't every so often).
The vet gave my mom some tips for hydrating him (a little water in dry food, etc.), but also wants her to give him fluid injections. She did this once with her other cat - that cat got sick from that Iams food issue and my mom did what she could to keep her alive and hoping to make her better, but she passed on. After that, my mom is not sure she wants do shots again because she felt she only prolonged the other cat's suffering (she didn't think about that until way after the cat passed) and doesn't want this cat to suffer either. He acts normal otherwise.
My aunt thinks my mom should put him down. What do you think? What would you do?
ETA - the cat has a vet appointment in 2 weeks for a follow-up, so my mom is not making any decisions until she sees how heis doing.
My cat is living proof that natural medicine and diet can reverse and or prevent the onset of kidney disease in cats.
4 years ago a vet had me all worried my cat was developing kidney disease so I contacted my Naturopath; discussed the options and decided to give my cat half a dose of Kidney Cytotrophin in his quality wet food twice a day. It is by Enzyme Process and it is a kidney glandular or " food for the kidneys" as my Naturopath says. My cat was already on a healthful raw food grain free diet. 2 years later I had a blood profile done again and his creatinine levels were in the LOW NORMAL range.
So NO. You DON'T have to put the cat down. But don't limit yourself to conventional vets because they are pretty helpless when it comes to making animal better that have chronic and degenerative diseases. The truth is a quality diet and correctly chosen supplements can add years to the cat's life especially if the cat isn't totally bedraggled. http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/search...idney+Problems
For quality supplements, this place is a good place to go as well.
Kidney disease is not reversible. It may be preventable with proper diet, though some cats will be genetically prone to this disease. But the kidneys are not a regenerative organ. Once the kidneys begin to fail, it is not possible to cure them. However cats can and do live long happy good quality lives, even with CKD.
I would caution anyone to not dose their cats with any kind of supplement based on recommendations in any on line community before discussing it with the attending vet.
Kidney disease is not reversible. It may be preventable with proper diet, though some cats will be genetically prone to this disease. But the kidneys are not a regenerative organ. Once the kidneys begin to fail, it is not possible to cure them. However cats can and do live long happy good quality lives, even with CKD.
I would caution anyone to not dose their cats with any kind of supplement based on recommendations in any on line community before discussing it with the attending vet.
Don't knock it until you've tried it. I have medical records to PROVE it.
There also is "no cure" for cancer but there have been lots of cancer patients who have reversed and eliminated their cancer using natural medicine.
If the truth be told, it is a matter of choosing the right type of doctor with the right type of education for your particular ill.
your pet was just hit by a car, you race him to the regular allopathic vet and get him stabilized. Acute situations are what conventional vets are good at and trained in.
Restoring robust health of patients plagued with chronic and degenerative disease is what the vets who specialize in Natural Medicine or Naturopathic Medicine are trained in and the experts in. Conventional vets have zero training in anything but addressing symptoms of disease. They have zero understanding of the cause nor do they have a clue as to how to go about healing it. The good honest conventional vets will be the FIRST to admit this. The last vet I took my cat to admitted it to me in fact.
Fluids help PREVENT suffering. Your mother really needs to educate herself on renal failure. Facts will help her and her cat far more right now than emotional reactions. I'm not saying this to be dismissive of her feelings, but denying a cat potentially life-extending treatment because of another experience helps no one.
My cat Nic was diagnosed with CRF at 7. He lived to be 14 and did very well until the last few months of his life. We gave him fluids every night for seven years. Without those fluids, Nic wouldn't have had those seven great years of healthy, active life.
Please encourage your mother to educate herself. It will make her feel better and will help her cat.
Do EVERYTHING to make the cat comfortable. End of story. But....
You have to be careful with the Q fluids, my best buddy (tears forming) developed edema, thats when the heart started to fail, and fluids started to form around the lungs. We had to have the fluid removed twice to save his life, then they told us to stop the q treatments. He was with us another 5 months, but the edema returned in a very bad way, and the doctor told us to make a decision. I read and tried every cure I could find..but in the end, his 18 year old body could take no more.
Fluids help PREVENT suffering. Your mother really needs to educate herself on renal failure. Facts will help her and her cat far more right now than emotional reactions. I'm not saying this to be dismissive of her feelings, but denying a cat potentially life-extending treatment because of another experience helps no one.
My cat Nic was diagnosed with CRF at 7. He lived to be 14 and did very well until the last few months of his life. We gave him fluids every night for seven years. Without those fluids, Nic wouldn't have had those seven great years of healthy, active life.
Please encourage your mother to educate herself. It will make her feel better and will help her cat.
7 years! That is wonderful! We had our renal failure cat around for 4 years after she started fluids (with fluids every other day, then every day for the last 2 years) and I thought we were lucky!
Do EVERYTHING to make the cat comfortable. End of story. But....
You have to be careful with the Q fluids, my best buddy (tears forming) developed edema, thats when the heart started to fail, and fluids started to form around the lungs. We had to have the fluid removed twice to save his life, then they told us to stop the q treatments. He was with us another 5 months, but the edema returned in a very bad way, and the doctor told us to make a decision. I read and tried every cure I could find..but in the end, his 18 year old body could take no more.
I am so sorry! But 18 years was pretty good! We did fluids for 4 years and so I know what you mean about how the fluids can be just too much on the poor cat.
7 years! That is wonderful! We had our renal failure cat around for 4 years after she started fluids (with fluids every other day, then every day for the last 2 years) and I thought we were lucky!
When he was diagnosed we were told he wouldn't make it another six months. Seven years later, even the doctors at the University of Penn were impressed. It wasn't all the fluids, of course...certainly genetics played a role, plenty of good luck, and of course Nic himself. He was such a gentleman and I think he was too polite to leave me so soon. We still have the hook in the ceiling where we used to hang his IV bag.
But certainly fluids did help, both in increasing his lifespan and in keeping him so active and comfortable until those final months. Even if the OP's mother's cat only lives six months, a year, or what have you, the goal should be to keep the cat feeling good and fluids can make a big difference in that.
In regards to her previous experience, I think it's likely she feels giving fluids kept the cat alive longer during a time when the cat was suffering. But the fluids themselves wouldn't *cause* suffering. Unfortunately, renal failure is a fatal disease. She will have to someday make a hard decision, and all pet owners know just how devastating and hard that is. But unlike an acute poisoning case from IAMs, renal failure can be a slow disease and a cat can have good quality time...time that fluids can increase.
On yahoo groups there is a great support group for owners of CRF kitties and I encourage her to join.
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Recent studies of CKD in cats
