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[Tigress]

I got a 16 1/2 year old cat with kidney disease that has progressed pretty rapidly (it was just showing on the blood test in January, I think they said the creatin was a level 2? and now it's a level 5 and her bun is at 85). And this week she's doing ok. I figured out how to get her to eat I think. She has been put on 100 ml of fluids every day and that really perks her up (and she doesn't even seem to mind getting the fluids amazingly enough). Before we did that she was acting super lethargic and it really felt like time. Now other than her not eating and she's pretty weak (you can easily knock her over just by pushing lightly on her cause she's unstable walking), she seems more perked up and acts like herself (including being stubbern about doing things even though they are harder since she's weaker. Like jumping up on top of a chair she wants to be on).

But the hardest thing for her is to get her to eat enough and I know that will make her go downhill faster if she won't eat. Last I weighed her and htat was weeks ago she was 2 lbs underweight and I don't think I have gotten her to eat as much as she would when she was eating fine. I had a cat that was dieing that we force fed (we didn't know he was dieing) and he hated it so I really don't want to have to go that route unless it will give her a decent amount of quality life to do so (I don't want her to spend her last bit of life being miserable from the treatment). I really regret forcing him to eat in hindsight (and also not taking more steps to figure out if what he had was most likely something we could save him from. If I had known it was most likely a futile thing I would have just let him be comfortable rather than trying all this stuff that made his last week a hassle for him. I'm trying to avoid doing the same thing to this cat especially as I know this will eventually be fatal no matter what I do).

I keep hearing how important it is to get her to eat cause otherwise her kidneys go faster (even if it's not good food for the kidneys).

Anyone got any opinion on if it is most likely worthwhile to force feed her if she stops eating entirely (Hell, for the last week or so she'd only eat a bite of her food and maybe all of the gravy I gave her but many times not even all of that. I was very stoked to get her to eat 3/4 of her breakfast this morning, that's more than she's eaten at once in a while and it involved me sitting with her petting her while she ate). Or even force feed her some now to try to get her to eat more (she really needs to gain weight even).

My vet just gave me a really vague answer that pretty much said it's up to me and that if I want her to live longer sh eneeds to eat. I know that but I don't know how likely it is she has of living much longer even if I get her to eat. I just want to know what chances I have that if I get her to eat even by forcing that she'll have a good chance of at least living months or longer? I have more hope this week but last week I was sure she just had a week left with the way she's going (she seems pretty comfortable other than the not eating part this week. The fluids have really seemed to help. Now if I could just get her to eat more. I'm not even sure I can repeat getting her to eat as much this morning. I just discovered she'll eat more when I'm with her but usually she just eats about 1/4 of the food which is still more than she usually will eat without me being there).

 

[Liquidsnake]

My cat had it, and stopped eating because she had poop back up throughout his intestines. We eneded up putting him to sleep, as he was at a bad stage in the disease process.

Im really sorry. but obviously they are prone to this, and it is irreversible.

 

[hythloday]

We went through this struggle a couple of years ago. I know how rough it is. What you said about being able to knock her over really easy was exactly what it was like for our cat - she went from being a chunky fat kitty to very tiny and skinny and weak.

One thing that helped our cat for a while was prescription Mirtazapine. It acted as an appetite stimulant and perked her up a bit. A compounding pharmacy was able to make it into a lotion/gel we could rub in her ear instead of having to give her pills. We gave her Miralax mixed in her food to stop the constipation that occurred from the dehydration.

Our vet was honest about the fact that after a certain point it was better for us to give her "bad" food that she was willing to eat than it was to give her the prescription kidney food that she hated and refused to touch. Two of the only things she'd eat towards the end was chicken meat, and Meow Mix dry food. We tried almost every brand out there, and quickly went through all the Rx flavors from the vet's office. Sometimes you can make cat food more appetizing by microwaving it a bit so it's extra stinky.

CKD is really hard to deal with as a pet owner because you can just slow the progression, not cure it. You have to balance what's helping the cat's health and what's helping her be happy.

 

[xxracerxx]

My cat has Inflammatory Bowel Disease and/or cancer of the bowels. The only way to tell is to cut him open and take biopsies, that is just cruel to put a 15 year old cat through. Plus the treatments are basically the same, the only difference is that he doesn't get a chemo pill.

The whole reason we noticed that he was ill was because he lost 2 lbs in a little over a year.

So my cat's new regimen is a B-12 shot (which we give him) every two weeks and a steroid pill every evening. He is gaining his weight back and is otherwise his same old cranky self.

edit: My cat also has one little kidney and one normal big kidney, but those do not give him any problems.

 

[Tigress]

My cat had it, and stopped eating because she had poop back up throughout his intestines. We eneded up putting him to sleep, as he was at a bad stage in the disease process.

Im really sorry. but obviously they are prone to this, and it is irreversible.

I know it's irreversable. I know that sometimes with the right treatment they can live quite a bit comfortabley. Which is why it's so hard to decide if I want to hassle her like that because it's possible she still can live a while and if I don't do it I'm cutting short her life. But on the other hand maybe she's pretty doomed and all I'm doing is making what little she has left more miserable. I was hoping the vet could tell me knowing her condition/blood test results how likely it is she has much longer to live if treated well.

Failing that since I'm still confused by his answer (and he's so busy I end up having to leave messages with his receptionist and get answers back through her) I'm just hoping maybe some one has experience to maybe say what chances she has (I know, probably not. But right now I just wish I knew which was the right decision... hassle her more in hopes to help her live longer and not cut her life shorter than it has to be or let her be comfortable in the last bit she has).

 

[hythloday]

My cat has Inflammatory Bowel Disease and/or cancer of the bowels. The only way to tell is to cut him open and take biopsies, that is just cruel to put a 15 year old cat through. Plus the treatments are basically the same, the only difference is that he doesn't get a chemo pill.

The whole reason we noticed that he was ill was because he lost 2 lbs in a little over a year.

So my cat's new regimen is a B-12 shot every two weeks and a steroid pill every evening. He is gaining his weight back and is otherwise his same old cranky self.

Wow! I have a cat now with the exact same story. Vet said "let's treat it as IBD, if she doesn't get better then we'll know." Skinny little baby, and if she eats anything other than one specific flavor of the IBD food she barfs all over the place.

 

[Jezbollah]

Hi OP, I'm sorry but you might not like to hear this. I had a cat (who lived to an epic 20 years old) who had started to suffer from kidney failure. She started getting skinnier and started having seizures. We put her to sleep after one of those seizures. Given the years of love she gave us, stopping this happening to her was the least we could do.

I really hope this is not the case with your situation, but please be prepared if you're not already, and treasure whatever time you have left with yours.

 

[SMattera]

My cat started losing a ton of weight around the age of 13. Got her diagnosed with kidney disease. I kept her alive for three years after her diagnosis.

I was giving her 100ml of fluids every other day, and a vitamin B shot ever 4 weeks. Over time, she got pickier and pickier with her food. I gave up on the special kidney cat food after just a few months, and then started cycling through a combination of various cans and dried food. Plus a lot of treats. It was pretty expensive, but she was fine. Playful, running around, no weakness. And then one day she just randomly died of a stroke.

However, she never got to level 5. It was always 2, borderline 3. Pretty stable.

 

[suzu]

Have you tried adding a bit of probiotic powder on the food? Some cats are more willing to eat their food with this stuff sprinkled over it.

Specifically this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001650OE0/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[Tigress]

Hi OP, I'm sorry but you might not like to hear this. I had a cat (who lived to an epic 20 years old) who had started to suffer from kidney failure. She started getting skinnier and started having seizures. We put her to sleep after one of those seizures. Given the years of love she gave us, stopping this happening to her was the least we could do.

I really hope this is not the case with your situation, but please be prepared if you're not already, and treasure whatever time you have left with yours.

Well I had started to make my peace with that I'd probably have to put her to sleep this week this past weekend (I was even thinking it would be the last weekend I had with her). Though she's on an upswing so now I'm feeling that's probably not true (she really is acting herself other than not eating and being wobbly when she walks/having a harder time jumping on things/keeping balance). But she's interested in jumping on my lap and getting attention and just looking less lethargic/tired than she did last week. And she's excited for prize treats even if she wont' eat her food. She gets excited now during our dinner cause my fiance feeds her fresh chicken which she loves and gobbles up. She isn't puking or having diahrea).

I'm just worried that maybe I'm giving up on her too quick. Part of me is going to feel relieved when she's gone cause it's hard to have this ups and downs. One minute I'm thinking she's going to have longer, the next I think I'm going to be putting her to sleep in a week. I know I won't feel that way the time it finally comes and I'll be wanting more time with her and I'm trying to spend as much time with her as possible while she's still acting like herself.

But I'm also worried that maybe I'll make the rest of what short life she has too stressful trying to "save" her when she's not that savable.

I just wish I knew how long she had left so I know whether to be more aggressive in treating her as she could have a good amount of quality life left or just let her stay happy and put her to sleep when she no longer is.

 

[SMattera]

Well I had started to make my peace with that I'd probably have to put her to sleep this week this past weekend (I was even thinking it would be the last weekend I had with her). Though she's on an upswing so now I'm feeling that's probably not true (she really is acting herself other than not eating and being wobbly when she walks/having a harder time jumping on things/keeping balance). But she's interested in jumping on my lap and getting attention and just looking less lethargic/tired than she did last week. And she's excited for prize treats even if she wont' eat her food. She gets excited now during our dinner cause my fiance feeds her fresh chicken which she loves and gobbles up. She isn't puking or having diahrea).

I'm just worried that maybe I'm giving up on her too quick. Part of me is going to feel relieved when she's gone cause it's hard to have this ups and downs. One minute I'm thinking she's going to have longer, the next I think I'm going to be putting her to sleep in a week. I know I won't feel that way the time it finally comes and I'll be wanting more time with her and I'm trying to spend as much time with her as possible while she's still acting like herself.

But I'm also worried that maybe I'll make the rest of what short life she has too stressful trying to "save" her when she's not that savable.

I just wish I knew how long she had left so I know whether to be more aggressive in treating her as she could have a good amount of quality life left or just let her stay happy and put her to sleep when she no longer is.

Go to the pet store and buy a can of every type of cat food they have. Try them one by one and see what she'll eat. Once you find something she'll eat, give her that. Be prepared to repeat this process every couple of weeks.

 

[xxracerxx]

Wow! I have a cat now with the exact same story. Vet said "let's treat it as IBD, if she doesn't get better then we'll know." Skinny little baby, and if she eats anything other than one specific flavor of the IBD food she barfs all over the place.

IBD bros.

 

[hythloday]

I just wish I knew how long she had left so I know whether to be more aggressive in treating her as she could have a good amount of quality life left or just let her stay happy and put her to sleep when she no longer is.

I think you're echoing my thoughts from 2 years ago.

At the end, my cat hadn't eaten much in her last days besides a few licks of gravy. She had a hard time walking and jumping up to places she loved (like up on the bed, or the couch) and it became obvious she'd probably fall and hurt herself if she tried to get up in a window. So that was when we decided to let her go, because it was about to get bad and we didn't want her to go through any more.

I still question myself. Would she have lived much longer? Probably not - she wasn't eating anymore. I think we only sped it up by days or maybe a couple weeks. I could have force-fed her and she'd have hated it. We decided to let her go when she was still relatively comfortable and happy.

 

[xkramz]

Yes

U know what happened?

We take it to ASPCA. They say " it'll be 500 bucks for anesthesia and surgery" I told them we don't have that kind of money laying around right now.

Guess that happens next?

They do basic blood work and put my cat on IV. And say that they gonna put my kitty to sleep ALL because I can't afford 500 bucks at the moment. they basically took my cst. gave him a IV and said fuck this. it's too expensive on our end to Try and save a cat. and put it to sleep.


Smh I'm sad now

 

[xxracerxx]

Yes

U know what happened?

We take it to ASPCA. They say " it'll be 500 bucks for anesthesia and surgery" I told them we don't have that kind of money laying around right now.

Guess that happens next?

They do basic blood work and put my cat on IV. And say that they gonna put my kitty to sleep ALL because I can't afford 500 bucks at the moment. they basically took my cst. gave him a IV and said fuck this. it's too expensive on our end to Try and save a cat. and put it to sleep.


Smh I'm sad now

Could you not have left with your cat to get a second opinion?

 

[xkramz]

Could you not have left with your cat to get a second opinion?

second opinion where? ASPCA was my last resort.

i called a few local veterinarian and none were helpful.

 

[Vegetable Lasagna]

Yeah, my cat Milhouse died a little over a year ago from kidney disease. We knew something was wrong when he stopped eating entirely and did nothing but drink water. We prolonged his life by about 4 months by giving him iv fluids every morning and feeding him prescription food. Once he started getting fluids he ate a lot more and we had some prescription pills to help with appetite when needed. But still, there is not much you can really do. The kidney disease isn't going anywhere. At a certain point he was so miserable we had to put him down.

Anyway, it sucks dude. Spend every momemt you can with your cat and prepare for the worst. I was devastated when we had to put Milhouse down. A year later I can still barely talk about him without tearing up. Luckily he had a sister that is still around today or I would have probably went insane.