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My beloved cat, adopted off the street 4.5 years ago, was showing unusual signs over the past 3 days or so. He wasn't eating or drinking as regularly, threw up clear liquid (which was rare), and was sleeping a lot/lethargic. He would sit and just stare more than usual and look in his kitty litter box and step back out without seemingly doing much in there. He also was going to sleep in hiding spots more often than usual. Over the course of those past 3 days, I noticed his body felt weak and he looked kind of frail when picked him up. His fur also looked flatter and duller than normal. By day 3, I started to get really worried and also concerned that he may be dehydrated.
As background, during the time that I've had him, he's had this issue where if he ate his food too quickly due to not eating at his scheduled time, but later than usual, he would throw up his food. His tongue would be sticking out and mouth wide open as his stomach made this pumping noise. This would happen like every other day, it seemed. So I believe this caused some dehydration.
There was a period maybe months earlier where he seemed to drink a lot more water than usual. I would be surprised how long he would be drinking water from his bowl. I thought nothing of it at the time because it eventually stopped and I no longer noticed unusual drinking activity.
So by day 3, I took him to a Vet that was open and able to see him in urgent care. They ran blood tests on him and said his numbers came in so high that it exceeded their max measurements for kidney failure.
The Vet said they had no scanning services available on Saturday, so Monday would be the soonest they could do that, to determine the condition of my cat's kidney's, to see if they still looked ok or were scarred and shrunken or what not. If they looked ok, there might be a better chance of treatment prolonging his life. The Vet said they would hook him up to an IV with liquids and nutrients to at least keep him stable through the weekend at the pet hospital, but the bill would be around $2000 for 2 days, once everything was added up. They'd have him on some kind of diaper pad in case he needed to relieve himself.
The other option was to put him to sleep.
I started texting my relatives and asked for advice. One had a friend who is knowledgeable about cats and had a Vet as a boyfriend at one point. She said people shouldn't consider putting their cats to sleep without first trying Prednisone. I asked the Vet about that and was told that it could kill my cat and that she'd only recommend prednisone for certain types of kidney conditions.
I also searched the internet and looked up subcutaneous injections, where fluid would be injected under the skin which would get absorbed by the body to help give my cat some much needed hydration. The shot plus anti-nausea shot cost about $100 today (I think it was like $60ish for the sub-cutaneous shot and the anti-nausea shot was like $40ish). The plan was to take him home and monitor his condition, and get another subcutaneous injection Sunday, to hold him over until Monday.. hoping his condition would improve so he could eat food and drink water. I got him some wet food for the moisture content and we're trying to wait until he wakes up to try to eat and drink.
I've read of people hydrating (wet cat food and subcutaneous injections) and feeding their cats for a few days after Vets diagnose them with kidney failure to see if they respond and regain some of their energy and appetite, so they can continue flushing out their blood/systems of toxin and improve the quality of their day-to-day lives.
I'm thinking of at least trying that for a few days (can't afford to have the Vet do the subcutaneous injections so thinking of doing what others have - buy the solution, drop bag and needles themselves since it's a lot cheaper).
I don't know how long I could prolong my cat's life giving him regular hydration thru subcutaneous injections, feeding him higher quality foods w/o phosphates, and etc. Would he be able to enjoy his days enough to make it worthwhile for 6-12 months, if I'm able to extend his life for that time?
Also, I'm not sure if the Prednisone suggestion should still be pursued.
I could use some advice from cat owners out there that have experience with this...
It's so hard thinking about losing my cat after such a short period of time and him being unable to live into old, old age (at least another 4-10 years with me). It's going to leave me with such a void and like a piece of me will be gone.
If I have to put him to sleep, is it better to cremate and keep a part of him in an urn, and maybe a snippet of his hair preserved somehow?
All these things to think about..
I don't know if I ever would want to get another pet, due to the pain of losing one that I'd have to go thru. And there will never be another cat just like this one.. with his mannerisms, personality, disposition, etc.
I had this vision of moving into a new house and giving him a yard to enjoy, so he could lay out in the sun and sniff the plants and flowers.. now I see how much of my motivation to get a new house is for the pets and people I love and not necessarily for me.. and how losing on or more of them affects my drive to acquire those things anymore..
I have heard many recovery stories with special medicated food -- Hills K/D- and some supplements that you can get off amazon. In addition I believe Kidney failure is caused by lack of hydration. So I now give my cat additional water in his wet food.
My cat was diagnosed with kidney "concern" at 3 years old. I changed the way he ate, wet food, with K/D as a snack, more water and supplements and he is 12 now. Kidneys fine.
My advise... attempt to treat with a change of food to wet- add water (cats don't know to drink water in the wild they get it from their food) use the supplements and use the medicated food -- Hills K/D (you can buy it on amazon without a prescription) and see if there is an improvement. If not.. I would put your baby down. I had a cat go that way once and I regret it because I am afraid she was in pain.
I could use some advice from cat owners out there that have experience with this...
It's so hard thinking about losing my cat after such a short period of time and him being unable to live into old, old age (at least another 4-10 years with me). It's going to leave me with such a void and like a piece of me will be gone.
If I have to put him to sleep, is it better to cremate and keep a part of him in an urn, and maybe a snippet of his hair preserved somehow?
All these things to think about..
I don't know if I ever would want to get another pet, due to the pain of losing one that I'd have to go thru. And there will never be another cat just like this one.. with his mannerisms, personality, disposition, etc.
I had this vision of moving into a new house and giving him a yard to enjoy, so he could lay out in the sun and sniff the plants and flowers.. now I see how much of my motivation to get a new house is for the pets and people I love and not necessarily for me.. and how losing on or more of them affects my drive to acquire those things anymore..
I am so sorry, I lost one to kidney disease four years ago, another to IBD in 2016, and had one put down with a brain tumor this past Wednesday. It is the price we pay for loving animals.
I have the ashes of the first two in little wooden boxes, and I will get the ashes of the one who died Wednesday when they are ready. Some people choose not to do that. It is an individual choice. I wanted them.
I moved to this condo seven years ago with four cats, and now I have one, and he is 13, too. Part of my sadness, and probably yours, is that these animals can be a constant in our lives as everything else turns around. Since I got those three cats, both my brother and my best friend died, I moved three times, retired from my lifetime career, as well as other changes.
I get what you mean about your hopes and dreams not coming true, too. I am in a new-ish relationship with someone who lives in the country and feeds hordes of birds and other critters, and my plan was to bring my two cats there this summer. My kitty who died Wednesday would have especially loved looking out the windows up there, but she is gone and will never see it.
However, as sad as we are now, we don't know what the future holds or what animals will present themselves in our lives in the days and years to come. My first cat died at 11 months when our house burned down. I was devastated. I thought I'd never have another pet. A few years later, I ended up taking in three cats temporarily for a friend, and temporarily turned into 13 years. (My daughter brought home a kitten from a barn, he is the fourth.)
You took good care of this cat and will continue to do so, whatever the outcome. As I said, losing them is the painful part of loving them, but it's so worth it in the long run. And there may be other animals who will be in your life in the time to come. That doesn't mean you forget this one.
Oh no. I had a male cat in 08' in total renal fail suddenly. But he was trying to drink alot prior to seeing the vet & I thought, since we moved to AZ back then, it'd be a good thing to hydrate. Little I knew it was due to LACK of ability to hydrate. I learned hard way.
But for you, 1stly, I'm so very sorry to hear this news. I know what giving a pet a new home or things he'd like means so very very much, trust me. I always plan all things I can around pets. Period. If I need cancel something or give up things to give them more or more time, etc. I do so. (case in point; my dad was real ill a longtime in FL but due to my cats I forfeited seeing him befroe he died & thus even he KNEW how much they menat to me. Dad forgave me & understood love I had for him but knew pets neede me more. Dada & I had longlife as he was 3 mos. shy of 80 yrs so he wanted me to stay & care for them. What a dad, eh?
Ok, re foods, obviuosly h2o is paramount. But I use very low ash & phosphorus foods. I use RadCat raw & it costs alot. But health is wealth. Short of raw, canned is a MUST. I know a few folks on here are very good re this CKD info & I'll await them. But in meantime please love him much you can, hug him, try to get him drinking & also wet foods w/ added h20 as MUCH as he can take in.
Please keep us updated & I will say a prayer for you & him that's for sure. Keep your head up.
Last edited by movintime; 04-15-2018 at 10:37 AM..
So very very sorry. My cat who was like a human friend the way she acted had CRF, Chronic Renal Failure. I'll tell you more later but let me address the sub q fluids. I was really mad when I discovered there were very very thin needles I could have been using at the slightest cost increase rather than the thicker ones the vet gave me. So if you go the Sub q route, be sure to get the finest, thin needles since my cat barely noticed them going in and it was also so much easier on me to simply slide them in effortlessly.
Another tip, small meals more often rather than regular size less often.
We do sub-q for our yard rescue Balinese cat. My vet is amazing and charges me $14 for the big bag of fluid and nothing for the needles. The thing about the smaller needles is the liquid drips more slowly, so the process takes longer. In the end, we decided that was more stressful for our girl than the bigger needle.
The needles they give us say either 22 or 20 on then, and 3/4A. Pretty sure the 20’s are the bigger needle.
We had her bloodwork done again after a couple months, and her levels were cut in half. She eats very well and is enjoying good quality of life. I’ll do this as long as that’s true.
The dumbest thing I did was buy a case of expensive kidney rx cat food from Chewy because she really liked the samples the vet gave us. Of course she stopped eating that stuff almost as soon as the 24 cans arrived. I try to sneak it in every 3-4 days or so and she fixes her blue eyes on me and says “I am not eating one iota of that disgusting substance.” She is eating some Hills kidney care kibble most days...for now.
We do sub-q for our yard rescue Balinese cat. My vet is amazing and charges me $14 for the big bag of fluid and nothing for the needles. The thing about the smaller needles is the liquid drips more slowly, so the process takes longer. In the end, we decided that was more stressful for our girl than the bigger needle.
The needles they give us say either 22 or 20 on then, and 3/4A. Pretty sure the 20’s are the bigger needle.
We had her bloodwork done again after a couple months, and her levels were cut in half. She eats very well and is enjoying good quality of life. I’ll do this as long as that’s true.
The dumbest thing I did was buy a case of expensive kidney rx cat food from Chewy because she really liked the samples the vet gave us. Of course she stopped eating that stuff almost as soon as the 24 cans arrived. I try to sneak it in every 3-4 days or so and she fixes her blue eyes on me and says “I am not eating one iota of that disgusting substance.” She is eating some Hills kidney care kibble most days...for now.
Very good job.
But please avoid ANY dry food as it'll further offset hyrdation & go vs what you're trying to do w/ her. Please, I urge you to only give canned or better yet, raw, see RadCat's brand (tho $$$) & add water to her meals as often as you can.
I gave a cat sub-q fluids for about a year. She didn't mind and was happy. Born with only 1 kidney, the other was damaged by the Chinese contaminated food scam some years back. Her kidney finally gave out but we had another year together.
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. I learned hard way.
