Send some PH wishes please?
Discussion
Chaps, may I ask for your best wishes today. My little girl, Squeaky, is in the vets on a drip having ultrasound on her kidneys to diagnose whether she's in the beginnings of renal failure or whether it's just an infection.
I can't even begin to describe how worried I am. She's 11 and up to now has been in perfect health. She started showing the signs of being under the weather at the end of last week and has been off her food, but drinking furiously. I took her in first thing this morning, and the vet asked me to then take her to their other practice 20 miles away in Winchester. At which point my f
king car wouldn't start again so i had to get a friend to pick us up, drive 20 miles away, wait, bring me home having left the cat there, and my car is still in the village AFAIK. Hopefully Mr Pinwheel can get it started and i'll have one less thing to worry about.
She's not one for photos (it steals your soul, you know) but here she is
2012-05-07_22-16-55_499 by katy_nicolson, on Flickr
I can't even begin to describe how worried I am. She's 11 and up to now has been in perfect health. She started showing the signs of being under the weather at the end of last week and has been off her food, but drinking furiously. I took her in first thing this morning, and the vet asked me to then take her to their other practice 20 miles away in Winchester. At which point my f
king car wouldn't start again so i had to get a friend to pick us up, drive 20 miles away, wait, bring me home having left the cat there, and my car is still in the village AFAIK. Hopefully Mr Pinwheel can get it started and i'll have one less thing to worry about.She's not one for photos (it steals your soul, you know) but here she is
2012-05-07_22-16-55_499 by katy_nicolson, on Flickr
Fingers crossed. If it is any reassurance, we went through the same thing just before Christmas with one of our cats. Same symptoms, she lost a lot of weight, but once we got her on the right food and meds she rapidly improved. Whilst her kidney function is decreased and she will probably have a further crisis in the future, her bloods are all back to normal for now, she has put all the weight back on and seems back to her normal self. I am told this is very common in cats and after the initial crisis, once you stabilise them, in many cases they can go on for years living a healthy life.
Ours seems fine and is just as much of a pain in the bum as she always was, so fingers crossed for yours.
Ours seems fine and is just as much of a pain in the bum as she always was, so fingers crossed for yours.
Thanks, everyone
vet called earlier after the ultrasound and said her kidneys were actually almost normal - usual size, shape, no scarring or anything so I think that's a good sign.
Urine still very dilute, but a few white blood cells within so may be an infection - won't know for sure for 48hrs but they've got her on antibiotics and a high rate drip overnight. They did ask if she'd come into contact with antifreeze etc, which is pretty much impossible.
Her sister, meantime, couldn't give a rat's ass. we might get a couple of mice though, just by way of a sympathy gift.
Spawn of Satan by katy_nicolson, on Flickr
vet called earlier after the ultrasound and said her kidneys were actually almost normal - usual size, shape, no scarring or anything so I think that's a good sign.
Urine still very dilute, but a few white blood cells within so may be an infection - won't know for sure for 48hrs but they've got her on antibiotics and a high rate drip overnight. They did ask if she'd come into contact with antifreeze etc, which is pretty much impossible.
Her sister, meantime, couldn't give a rat's ass. we might get a couple of mice though, just by way of a sympathy gift.
Spawn of Satan by katy_nicolson, on Flickr
which gives us lots of worry & guilty feelingsThanks, everyone!
So the vet called this morning, some mild improvement I think.
She's eaten a little food overnight, which is good news for sure. For a scared little cat, she's relatively perky
They'll repeat the blood tests this afternoon to get a clearer picture after 24hrs of IV fluids and antibiotics. Her urine is still very weak though.
She's still backed up, bowel-wise, they couldn't see anything on the xray yesterday but will run another this afternoon if no "movement" today.
It sounds as if she'll be in again overnight but i hope we're heading in the right direction now.
So the vet called this morning, some mild improvement I think.
She's eaten a little food overnight, which is good news for sure. For a scared little cat, she's relatively perky
They'll repeat the blood tests this afternoon to get a clearer picture after 24hrs of IV fluids and antibiotics. Her urine is still very weak though.
She's still backed up, bowel-wise, they couldn't see anything on the xray yesterday but will run another this afternoon if no "movement" today.
It sounds as if she'll be in again overnight but i hope we're heading in the right direction now.
Jasandjules said:
Great that it doesn't seem to be anything serious.
Have you considered switching them to a raw diet? I know I am like a broken record here with a raw food diet but I lost my beloved cat which appears to have been directly related to cat food affecting her kidneys.
Sorry, didn't see this. We may well have to try raw diet, but she won't eat anything but wet cat food - we've never before known cats that aren't interested in bacon, chicken, prawns, ham, mince etc.Have you considered switching them to a raw diet? I know I am like a broken record here with a raw food diet but I lost my beloved cat which appears to have been directly related to cat food affecting her kidneys.
I'm willing to give anything a try. Gotta figure out how to keep her gutso sister off it if it smells better than her own food!
Zelda Pinwheel said:
Sorry, didn't see this. We may well have to try raw diet, but she won't eat anything but wet cat food - we've never before known cats that aren't interested in bacon, chicken, prawns, ham, mince etc.
I'm willing to give anything a try. Gotta figure out how to keep her gutso sister off it if it smells better than her own food!
Glad to hear she is perking up a bit.I'm willing to give anything a try. Gotta figure out how to keep her gutso sister off it if it smells better than her own food!
Some people say that Wet cat food is junk food, so it's like a cat getting a lovely diet of pizza/chips/McDonalds/KFC etc then asking her to start on a salad....... SO it can take time. And of course mixing in the raw diet with the cat food and reducing cat food over time. If she eats mice/birds then raw chicken wings are usually taken with gusto.
I can give you links to some people who sell raw food if you wish. Also, do some reading up about raw food and what to feed them etc to ensure it's a balance diet.
After another call from the vet yesterday afternoon, they agreed to let us take her home as she was getting so terribly stressed by the mere experience of being there for 3 days, let alone all the treatments, prodding and poking etc.
She's still far from 100% but you have NEVER seen a kitty so happy to be home. I genuinely thought it'd take me weeks to bring her out of the almost frozen, wide eyed state she was in, but within minutes of getting home she was rolling about in the sun and shouting at me again. Big cuddles and lots of loves.
She's on the magic pink sinulox pills and Fortekor for another week and Renalzin supplement. Mr P is good at pill-giving, and she hates him already, so nothing lost there!
There's no real clear diagnosis as to whether cronic or acute kidney failure. Her levels are still higher than the vet would like, but she was so stressed we both felt it was better to bring her home as she was, rather than making her worse in other areas by keeping her in. I'd rather she was happy, even if it's at the cost of a few weeks or months.
Hills K/D diet for both of them now, as we can't stop Piglet from scoffing any food that's down. Fortunately we have a friend in the pet shop business so we might be able to get this stuff at trade prices!
Thanks all for your wishes. I realise it's trivial in the grand scheme of things, but the little buggers don't half mess with your heart.
She's still far from 100% but you have NEVER seen a kitty so happy to be home. I genuinely thought it'd take me weeks to bring her out of the almost frozen, wide eyed state she was in, but within minutes of getting home she was rolling about in the sun and shouting at me again. Big cuddles and lots of loves.
She's on the magic pink sinulox pills and Fortekor for another week and Renalzin supplement. Mr P is good at pill-giving, and she hates him already, so nothing lost there!
There's no real clear diagnosis as to whether cronic or acute kidney failure. Her levels are still higher than the vet would like, but she was so stressed we both felt it was better to bring her home as she was, rather than making her worse in other areas by keeping her in. I'd rather she was happy, even if it's at the cost of a few weeks or months.
Hills K/D diet for both of them now, as we can't stop Piglet from scoffing any food that's down. Fortunately we have a friend in the pet shop business so we might be able to get this stuff at trade prices!
Thanks all for your wishes. I realise it's trivial in the grand scheme of things, but the little buggers don't half mess with your heart.
Jasandjules said:
It's not trivial at all.
If there are kidney problems please do consider the possibility of a raw food diet.
I agree it isn't trivial at all, we are all very attached to our animals. Good luck and stay positive. Our CRF cat has just had another set of test, 3months after the last and all normal again, so we are now ok for 6mths. They can be very bad at first, but often can and do settle down for a long time. Good luckIf there are kidney problems please do consider the possibility of a raw food diet.
Just wanted to update with the sad news that we lost the fight yesterday.
The poor mite went downhill so fast it was almost unreal. We got her home Wednesday evening, she was VERY pleased to be out of the vets. By Thursday, hardly eating, and very quiet. By Saturday evening I couldn't get her to even drink and the spark had gone from her eyes, no reaction to me at all, and I know she loved me to bits. We just knew it was time.
The vet was great, very patient. She went out like a light, so dehydrated and frail. Much sobbing, but we know we did the right thing. I couldn't have held on for another day, it simply wasn't fair. We weren't even going to try and tube-feed her, she wasn't a fighter and would have been terribly distressed by the whole process, to what end? Another few days? Daily wrestling with pills and liquid food? No. Quality over quantity, every time.
To say I'm gutted is an understatement. She was my little shouty shadow and we'll miss her terribly.
The poor mite went downhill so fast it was almost unreal. We got her home Wednesday evening, she was VERY pleased to be out of the vets. By Thursday, hardly eating, and very quiet. By Saturday evening I couldn't get her to even drink and the spark had gone from her eyes, no reaction to me at all, and I know she loved me to bits. We just knew it was time.
The vet was great, very patient. She went out like a light, so dehydrated and frail. Much sobbing, but we know we did the right thing. I couldn't have held on for another day, it simply wasn't fair. We weren't even going to try and tube-feed her, she wasn't a fighter and would have been terribly distressed by the whole process, to what end? Another few days? Daily wrestling with pills and liquid food? No. Quality over quantity, every time.
To say I'm gutted is an understatement. She was my little shouty shadow and we'll miss her terribly.
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