Young cat with kidney failure

[waitingwithhope]

We noticed our young, 4 year old indoor cat was losing weight and we took her to the vet only to discover after blood work that she is in kidney failure (she has not been exposed to any anti-freeze, is young and the vet could offer no reason for it). She has been still purring, trying to be her normal self (although she was a bit clingy and we thought something was wrong). We have gone ahead with fluids through IV, 2 days at the vet hospital and she is going to continue to be monitored with her blood work. All her other blood work values came back within the normal range (except for her red blood cell count) and they said it was not an infection (which sadly would have been easier to treat). What are the chances of recovery from this? We all love her very much, my two year old adores her and we thought we would try and save her. The vet said she has never seen kidney failure in a cat so young and could not give us a prognosis.

[CatCopCombo]

Thanks opus :-( I need lots of prayers and a miracle. My husband and I went to see Riggs today and despite being a good bit doped up he was all purrs and attention. He just isn't acting like a cat in the advanced stages of kidney failure. Even the vets are amazed at how asymptomatic he is. Which only makes the concept of putting him to sleep harder. They're hoping that by adding prednisone to his treatment will reduce his kidney swelling, but this is really the last thing they can do for him. If his bloods don't start improving then it really will be the end :-(

My whole world is just going to be so much darker without him. His brother Murtaugh is already missing him. They have been together from the start. I hate the thought of them no longer playing together or finding the same box to sleep in. I'm trying not to blame myself but I really can't help but think there was more I could've done to protect my fur baby :'(

I really need a miracle xxx

[opus88]

I too am very saddened for the reason that have brought you to our site...I wish I could give some enlightened words of wisdom to comfort you with other than to say I hope you take it easier on yourself with all the guilt you are feeling right now. How easy it is for us to beat ourselves up with all the 'what if's' or 'if only's'....I know I'm no different.

Our furbabies are very precious to us but they come into our lives for just a little while, we love and care for them to the best of our abilities....there was no neglect on your part..accidents happen, they happen despite the best of intentions to all of us and our pets too.

I am praying for your little Riggs, don't stop clinging to that little thread of HOPE....((>^.^<))

please keep us updated

[CatCopCombo]

Hi everyone,

It is with such a heavy heart that I have found myself on this forum. I hope all you people are still here and can help with the pain I am feeling right now. My 5 year old boy, Riggs, is currently in the vets with Renal Failure and my heart is just broken at the news. He has been on fluids for 4 days now and his last blood work shows that his levels are getting worse despite being bright, active, eating and drinking, and peeing (he wasn't peeing before fluids were started). He is my world and the level of guilt and responsibilty I feel is immense! The vets can't pinpoint exactly what the cause is but they suspect poisoning; either antifreeze (we had our first frost here in Scotland on the Saturday he started feeling unwell) or lilies (which I know to have been in certain households). Of all the things I imagined could/would take my tuxedo boy away from me, I never thought they'd happen at such a young point in his life.

I am clinging to a very thin thread of hope that he can make it given how bright he is and how "clinically well" the vets say he is but I feel my hopes dimishing reading all the heart breaking tales you guys have suffered. I really don't know what to do. I had taken him to out of hours on the Sunday when he started throwing up. He hasn't thrown up once since then which the vets again say is very encouraging. The biggest source of my guilt is knowing that poisoning had been mentioned by the OOH vet although clinical signs then didn't indicate it. But it was on the tip of my tongue to ask if bloods could be taken just in case instead of injections and monitoring for 24 hours. If his bloods had been taken sooner maybe his chances would be better. I don't know. I'm just full of ifs and buts I know don't make any difference now :-(

Any way, I don't know what I hope to gain from this but knowing others have shared my pain lets me know I'm not alone.

Emma

[opus88]

thx for your post, I am so sorry to hear of your loss...its devastating to loose a pet of any age, but when they are so young its doubly heart breaking. YOu did all you could.
I too am alarmed to read of CRF becoming so much more common, I wish I had an answer too....there are links to..food/litter/vaccinations theory's, I wonder sometimes if it has anything to do with the 'clumping' clay litter that is relatively new and the ingredient sodium bentonite, that is added to make it more absorbable... kitty's not only inhale this dust as they do their digging but also ingest some of it off their paws.

I will send you some info on that to read. hope we can learn more soon...((>^.^<))

http://thelighthouseonline.com/articles/moredata.html

[bengallove]

I feel for all of you who have had to deal with young kittens with renal failure. Two months ago I had to euthanize my 4 year old male bengal cat due to renal failure.I had tried everything, pouring thousands of dollars into the expensive all natural brands of wet food/supplements/water fountains/specialists. A year prior to this my mothers 5 year old female cat had to be euthanized for renal failure as well. She had spent THOUSANDS of dollars on medications/foods/vet visits/specialists/supplements/fountains. In the end it didn't matter how many different specialists/vets we each had visited not ONE of them could explain why such young cats would die from renal failure. In fact the answers we received across the board was along the lines of; "It's common for older cats to die of renal failure, but I'm not aware of any epidemic of young cats dying from renal failure." It's become highly common as most of you are aware and unfortunately they are not aware; or more importantly they haven't found an explanation. Something is being missed, I don't know if its vaccinations, I don't know if its in the food, toys, cat nip, a new disease etc. BUT they are missing something. When I was a kid you were able to throw down cheap kibble and water and have cats that lived for 17+ years. I really hope that people, especially professionals become aware that this is a VERY common problem and I hope more than anything they find the missing link so no more young cats need to die before their time.

[opus88]

hi and welcome, I am so sorry to read abt your dear Cleo and I sure don't blame you for venting...for a Vet or many Vets to miss all these classic signs of CRF just makes me scream too, talk abt incompetent to say the least. I understand why you indeed should be very upset.
don't blame yourself you did try when you knew something just wasn't right, I do know that tuna shouldn't be fed to cats....b/c of the high degree of mercury, even people should eat only occasionally.
I will send you an excellent website dealing with CRF...with hopes that they can give you and Cleo some help. sending you some hugs and some prayers too..♥

http://www.felinecrf.org/