Has Anyone Had To Go Through A Cat With Chronic Renal Failure?

11/25/10 | Me

[NoGrayZone]

She has been tested and the only thing that came back was the hip dysplasia and “old cat back”.

[dixiedarlindownsouth]

We lost one our cat Emma three months ago to renal failure. I believe that she had suffered with it for most of her life. You are in my prayers.

[NoGrayZone]

2 cats in 1 month? May God comfort you for your loss. And a big (((hug))) of comfort to you and your family.

[NoGrayZone]

Thank you so much for your prayer. And your right, it is never long enough.

[NoGrayZone]

"She will let you know when she wants to go!"

I hope so. I don't think she wants to go yet.

[NoGrayZone]

Thank you so much for your prayers!

[dforest]

It was so depressing. Living in Indiana in winter is gray and cold.

I spent weeks so darn depressed. It took a lot of time thinking about it to get to a point of knowing we did the right thing.

My husband took one of them to a nearby field to bury him.

My husband’s depression lasted for days. We called those kitties our kids. So it was very hard.

We have a Maine Coon who is the best cat ever. He is old too. I am already depressed thiking about losing him. We got the kids all about the same age. We didn’t even consider how hard it could be some day in the future.

[ColdOne]

Your are welcome. I have a yellow Lab she is 10 I dread the day she goes. You will be in my evening prayers as well!

[ColdOne]

*Kisses* *hugs* *prayers*

[pj_627]

I am so sorry for what you are going through, and truly understand your distress.... however this particular illness isn’t something I’ve had to deal with.... yet.

A bit more than a year ago I lost one of my two orange tabbies to liver cancer.... a horrible experience. Currently, one of my two oldest is dealing with a chronic upper respiratory infection....been going on for a couple of years with that. She is also having issues with finding the litter boxes. I think that is a combination of not always feeling well and senility. Poor old thing. :~(

The hardest, most painful thing, is gauging their quality of life..... to determine if it’s TIME for THE decision. We don’t want to lose them, but don’t want them to suffer a second longer than they have to. Sigh.

My sick little old girl still enjoys her food, is piddling and pooping in a normal way (though on the paper I put down instead of the box, grrr).. and truly seems content most of the time..... just OLD. So, with her, as long a a round of antibiotics every 3 or 4 months helps, she stays with us.

It is so HARD, this life and death responsibility.

You’re wrestling with so much right now. I really feel what you’re going through..... I’ve been there many times with my furry children. It never gets easier, does it?

pattyjo

[arasina]

My cat Sara was 18 when she went through the first stages of kidney failure. She seemed fine enough in other ways but started spending a lot of time at her water bowl. When I came home from work one day and found blood all over the floor around her litter box, I knew it was time to say good bye.

My ex-husband and I took her to the vet and stayed with her during the very quick euthanasia procedure. We decided it was the most compassionate thing we could do. I am getting choked up right now at the memory, so I truly feel empathy at what you are going through.

I'm one of those people some would call a "kook" because I believe our pets go to heaven and that God's love for his creatures is what carries them there.

[mupcat]

They also won’t keep her overnight because she Hasn't had her rabbi shot and I won’t allow them to give it to her

Please forgive me, I don't mean any disrespect, and understand completely the horrible situation you are going through, but I don't understand about not giving her the rabbi's shot so she can be in the vet's overnight. I mean I'd think that would be the least of your problems. I may have missed the reason for keeping her there overnight, but if it's something that would help her, and in her condition, I'd think the shot would be all right.

[sjeann]

You can ask the vet to take a blood test that just checks for kidney disease. He will check the bun level and one other level (forgot what it is). Its a lot cheaper just to check these rather than having a complete blood test taken. You don’t even need to see the vet to have the blood test. There is a great forum for people who have cats with this disease.It is Feline-CRF-Support at Yahoo groups. They have a lot of information and also support. If your cat is not too far a long in the disease there is a lot you can do to slow it down. Having the blood test is really important to see where your cat is at. I lost my 13 year old cat last fall and did everything to try to help her but she was too far a long before I caught it. Don’t give up at this point. Its very possible she just needs a change of diet.

[The Great RJ]

We did dialysis on our elderly kitty. You introduce normal saline IV solution under the cat’s skin with an IV needle and instill about 250 ml. You need to do this a couple of times a week. I’m a former paramedic and my wife is a nurse, but the process was hard on us and very uncomfortable for our cat. At best you are buying only a few days. In the end we made the tough decision to have him put to sleep after his kidney failure advanced to causing seizures. There comes a time when you have to let go. However, consider adopting a new kitty. All of out three cats are from animal shelters.

[William Tell]

NoGrayZone said: "It does feel lonely and knowing you and so many others are here and have had to go through the same is very comforting."

I'd be curious to know how old you are?

I'm in my sixties and have experienced the loss of many pets. Recently a male relative in his thirties experienced losing a cat. We were very surprised at how affected he was. It turns out that he never had pets as a kid and had never experienced such a loss before.

It's just a fact of life that humans outlive most pets by multiples of their lifetimes.

One of our cats has spent more time in the hospital than my wife and I put together. The cat suffered an unidentified illness, a gaping wound that wouldn't heal, and finally a poisoning by anti-freeze that appeared initially to leave the cat permanently disabled. She's alive in great part because she has the nicest personality of any cat we have ever owned.

After the anti-freeze poisoning she came within a day of being put down because she was obviously too dizzy to walk and wasn't taking in fluids or food. I'm glad I gave her just one more day to improve. She now seems completely recovered.

[NoGrayZone]

I guess that makes me a “kook” as well! Our pets are innocents and I believe God gave them to us for help and comfort.

Therefore, I believe they do go to heaven, as any innocent would.

I’m so sorry for your loss. It sucks big time. =(

[Condor51]

Thanks. It was very tough for a long time for us. We vowed no more pets. And it stayed that way for well over a decade.

Then our youngest daughter, 25, thought we needed 'someone to keep us (me) company' and she wanted a pet too, so she brought home a Yellow Lab Puppy as a 'surprise'.

It was more of a shock and the first thing I said, was 'get it out of here'. But after three minutes of looking at that little bundle it was too late, I had a dog. That was a little over three years ago now 'Honey' is our (my) baby (82# of muscle).

But we still miss our cat, we'll never forget him.

[NoGrayZone]

No, it never gets easier, pretty sucky. Funny you say that about your sick little one, with the pooping and peeing. I laid down old towels, which she goes on instead of the floor.

I feel so guilty when I get angry about having to clean up her “messes”, which finally made me do the old towel thing.

Seems she likes to go on them more than the liter boxes. I just throw it away and put a new one down.

I just hope my selfishness doesn’t get in the way of determining when the time comes.

She is now laying down on my computer desk as I type (she LOVES it up there). She seems to still truly enjoy walking back and forth, in my way, as I try to read my FR!

I take that as a sign she is NOT ready to go yet!!

[chris_bdba]

I just lost my last grrey kitty last Dec to renal failure.It is not something you are going to want to extend her life for as it is very painful for the cat.Mine came on quickly and he was just short of his 10th birthday.You need to find out how much loss she/he has, anything over 70% and you are only going to make their suffering worse. I am sorry.By the time we found out ours had it he was in the over 80% failure range and started retching that foul stuff up and wouldn’t eat.We decided as much as we loved him I couldn’t force him to stay that way and we decided to put him down.

[NoGrayZone]

My reasons against yearly shots, including rabbi shots were formed years ago. I had a close friend who had at least 4-6 cats at a time (she would take in strays).

She was so compliant about taking the cats in for their yearly check ups and shots; however, most of them seemed to get sick and die at such a young age.

We had a discussion about their yearly immunization shots, etc, then I started researching them. The research lead me to believe that the yearly immunization shots were not so healthy.

Now a days, especially with holistic vets, they give a blood test to determine how much immunization is still left in their little system. Most research seems to indicate 1 a year is WAY too much for such a small animal....ESPECIALLY if they are strictly indoor cats.

The last time I was at the vet, she said she would take Kitty overnight, but would not again unless she had a rabbi shot. I advised the vet Kitty has NEVER been outside nor has ever tried to get outside.

She said, well, just in case. I know my cats. They have no desire to get outside, probably because they know they rule the roost here and why ruin a good thing, lol.

Perhaps it's just that vet office I have a problem with. The last time I took kitty in for her hip dysplsia and “old cat back” was a traumatic experience, for both Kitty and I.