My Whitey boy has failing kidneys :(

[SpongeBub]

I told ya'll about rescuing Whitey, the little cat that was living in a drainpipe outside my house. Well, for two months, he has been barely eating. I try everything and he just licks it and maybe eats a little bit. I knew his kidneys were a problem because he is always drinking water and peeing. I have to leave the faucet in the bathroom running a little all the time cause he likes to drink the water straight from the tap and he goes in there constantly.

Yesterday I got the bad news that his Creatine and BUN levels are off the chart. He had stopped eating all together so I knew he was in trouble. The last two days, he has been at the vet getting IV fluids and this evening I brought him home. My poor boy. I have to give him fluid from these big IV bags twice a day now and that means sticking a big needle into his loose skin, between his shoulderblades. I just did it and he didn't bitch too much. Now he has a big bunch of fluid like a fanny pack around his neck. It will soak in over the next few hours.

There is no fix for bum kidneys and since I cannot afford cat dialysis (if they even offer it - I'm sure they do for the right bucks), I will be trying this to save him over the next couple of weeks with this method. If I can stabilize his kidneys and get him eating again, he may live for a while. I don't know if I should I put him down now or not. He is still so alive, going out to hunt every night. Hell, he has killed two rats this week and brought them to me as a present, so it's not like he is laying around acting sick. I will have to try my best to keep him going. I've gotten used to looking at the handsome little bastard.

[L-Pink]

Ahhhhh ......


.

[mmcfadden]

put him down if in pain... if not keep doing what your doing

[baddog]

How much is it costing you? Is he worth that much to you? Is he in pain?

[Spunky]

Poor lil fella,once the kidneys go there is nothing you can do..time to put kitty down

[SpongeBub]

So far, I've spent $250 for two days of vet-administered IV fluids and the take home bags and supplies. Not bad - better than I expected. I don't see how I can give up on him yet. He just scratched the door so I let him out and off he went into the night, chasing critters. It's hard to kill him when he is so alive. I know it is an impossible situation but the vet said he has learned to cope with severly diminished kidneys. I just have to get him eating again and he ate pretty well a few minutes ago.

Damn, why did he have to pick me to adopt? I guess he knew a sucker when he saw one.

[Sands]

I recently went through something similar. Our cat stopped eating and drinking, and the vets couldn't figure out why. We tried to feed him through a syringe and, like you, we injected saline, but his gastrointestinal system was shutting down (which, we were informed, usually indicates a terminal illness like cancer). In the end, we had to euthanize him.

I very sincerely hope that your kitty can cope and will live to a natural end. Good luck to you.

[Bill8]

I've been thru much the same. It's hard. I sympathise.

The hardest thing is knowing when the right time to euthanize has come.

Still, caring for a sick and dying animal is a life lesson and that is ultimately good.

Do the best you can, accept that you cannot know everything and cannot always make the perfect decisions.

Good luck. Pet him for all of us.

[Helix]

If he gets to point of being immobile and in pain, be humane and send him off to the next life. It's hard to do, but it is the right thing to do. Sad :-(

[brassmonkey]

very sad stuff

[Marcus Aurelius]

cats are cool.

if he doesnt get better and start laying around and just suffering, then put him down

[Kellie]

Aw Good luck with the kitty, I'm actually in a similar situation right now as well so I fully understand. Our cat's levels were so off the chart they were shocked that she was still alive But after 3 straight days of fluids she pulled through and is doing really good. We still have to give her fluids once a week, but her Creatine is almost back in the normal range. So keep at it, there is for sure hope!!

Also ask your vet about A/D, is basically crack for animals, my cat ate it when she wasn't eating anything either. (http://www.hillspet.com/products/pre...ne-canned.html)

Best of luck to you and your kitty!! My heart goes out to you!

[MetaMan]

Can we see pics of the lil guy?

[fatfoo]

Good luck with healing your Whitey cat, SpongeBub. I read that you are emotionally attached or used to looking at the creature. He killed two rats and brought them to you - that is very active.

[LoveSandra]

very sad

[bbobby86]

bump bump...

[SpongeBub]

Originally Posted by Kellie

Aw Good luck with the kitty, I'm actually in a similar situation right now as well so I fully understand. Our cat's levels were so off the chart they were shocked that she was still alive But after 3 straight days of fluids she pulled through and is doing really good. We still have to give her fluids once a week, but her Creatine is almost back in the normal range. So keep at it, there is for sure hope!!

Also ask your vet about A/D, is basically crack for animals, my cat ate it when she wasn't eating anything either. (http://www.hillspet.com/products/pre...ne-canned.html)

Best of luck to you and your kitty!! My heart goes out to you!

Thank you so much, Kellie, and thank you to everyone who has commented. I will try to get some of that food. My vet has ordered some prescription kidney diet food for him but it won't be here until next week. In the meantime, I am going crazy trying to find something he will eat more than a few licks of. He loves these treats called Temptations but I hate him only eating treats - it cannot be very good for him.

I tried to give him the fluids this morning and it is so hard. I know I hurt him and I didn't get them all in. I hate sticking that big needle into him and he doesn't like it either. I'm going to get some help this afternoon, as it takes more than two hands to do it.

Believe me, once I feel I have done all I can and he isn't responding, I will put him down. I cannot stand to see an animal suffering. But it will be so hard now that I've gotten attached. I almost put him down when I first took him to the vet two months ago because he was in such bad shape. I'm not sorry I didn't because I've enjoyed having him in my life but it is going to hurt to let him go now.

I will try to post some pics later today. Thank you for your concern - it makes me feel better to hear from others who have been through this and it seems like we all have at one point or another. Animals make life worth living imo.

[ottopottomouse]

Don't take this the wrong way.

Are you keeping him alive for him or for you?

[DateDoc]

I applaud you for your efforts to make Whitey better. Good luck and hopefully a miracle will shine on Whitey!

[Honez]

I went through this exact thing with my kitty about 3 years ago. She got so sick and after they had her on IV fluids, the fluids surrounded her heart so we had to put her on small doses of a diuretic to take the fluid off her heart without damaging her kidneys anymore than they were. It was touch and go for awhile but, she pulled through and enjoyed 2 more months of life. The only thing I could get her to eat while she was so sick was baby food. Make sure if you do feed Whitey baby food that you check the ingredients. Do not feed any that contain onion or garlic.

She let us know when it was time to make that hard decision. I am sure when the time comes, Whitey will let you know as well. Enjoy the time you have now.

[SpongeBub]

Originally Posted by ottopottomouse

Don't take this the wrong way.

Are you keeping him alive for him or for you?

That's a very fair question and I'd say for me except that he is still so full of life. For example, he is sleeping on my back porch like he does during the day and the door is cracked so he can go out to pee (which he does a lot of). Just a few minutes ago, a squirel came over to eat the sunflower seed I put out and Whitey woke up, saw that squirel, jumped down, slunk out the door and made a run for it. The squirel just made it back up the tree in time. So it's this kind of stuff that makes it so hard to end his life.

Like Honez said, her cat let her know when it was time and I'm hoping he will do the same thing. But I really don't feel like he wants to go just yet.

I went up to the vet and they gave me a big syringe that I am using to squirt an ocean whitefish slurpee down his throat. I did a few of those and I am going to continue. Baby food is a good idea - I'll get some of that.

I'm going to continue this through the weekend and Monday holiday. If Tuesday comes and he is no better (or worse), then it may be time to make that decision.

Thanks again for everyone's good wishes and advice.

[John-ACWM]

I know the feeling, I had my dog on IV, heart tearing, yet I still have her, she's eleven years old. Hope your cat will do better and will not hurt too much.