Rassy cat & Howard, Sick with kidney failure Options

[jackjackbojack]

**Joanne (jackjackbojack is a new member here. Two of her precious furkids (Rassy cat & Howard ) are very ill with kidney failure. With Joanne's permission, I'll do my best to get her posts together (along with their replies), so that she can have her own thread. **

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My two babies are dying of Kidney failure. There is just so little time left. My Rassy cat is 18.5 years old. My Howard is 16. I have been through this once before with my kittywillow. People here are so compassionate and kind. I can't stand it when people say to me its just a cat. Its not. These are my babies. I know how much joy those special little ones bring into our lives.

We enclosed our patios and made them into cat rooms. (We have one upstairs and one downstairs. We refer to our cats as the ups and downs. My up cats will soon cross over the Rainbow. All I will have are some pictures and lots of wonderful memories.

I don't want them to suffer. Rassy cat is still holding on. I know he doesn't want to leave me. Howard still has some time left before the curtain falls. I told Rassy Cat whenever he feels its time, to just let go. I would much prefer to see him die peacefully in his sleep rather than having to put either down. Howard is so attached to Ras, and sick that we might put him down just so he doesn't have to suffer the heartbreak of loosing his best friend esp in his condition.

I just continue to check on my babies. Rassy cat sleeps so soundly. I just keep checking to see if he will wake up. I try not to cry in front of him. He knows how much I adore him. And the last thing I would ever want to do is keep him alive if he is in pain.

Today, I told him, whenever you are ready to let go, its ok. Always know, I love you as much as life itself.

[Furkidlets' Mom]

Oh, crap....well, this isn't good news!

I really have to run, but I just wanted to say a couple of things before I do:

One, those kidney values really could be showing higher than they really are, seeing as Mew was already so dehydrated before they took blood (as I'd mentioned before), so I'd suggest both making this known to your vet and asking for a recheck in a few weeks (not TOO soon, as you don't want to stress Mew out too much and she needs to rebuild the amount of blood that was taken....kidney cats are also at risk for anemia) I would ALSO ask if this is really kidney FAILURE in Mew already, or if it's 'just' kidney disease or "insufficiency", as there's a big difference!....usually "failure" is not technically occurring until the Creatinine value is above the highest range with repeated testing. And BUN values aren't anywhere near as indicative as Creatinine values. Your vet SHOULD be able to not only fully explain this to you, but also provide you with copies of each test for your own records.....you never know when you might need them.

And two, if you're currently using any chemical cleaners anywhere in your home (including common bleach).....GET RID OF THEM. Swiffer products, for just one brand, has been known to cause both liver and kidney failure as well as sudden death in animals. But most others on the market can be just as bad.....why do you think they have warning labels...that most people disregard? Our kidneys are the single, largest filterers of toxins in the body, so when they aren't working properly to begin with, all possible substances that might harm them should be removed from the environment. And cats of course, lick their skin and feet all the time, plus are just sensitive to many substances. The more natural and safe substances you can use, the better, including laundry supplies.

Oh, and any dietary changes should be attempted at a SLOW pace, like over a week, with cats, otherwise you risk intestinal &/or stomach upset, which also adds stress and can put them off the new food by association with vomiting.

(and yes, it was NB canned, wet food we used, too; the minimal dry food was Wellness Super5 Mix, which has now been changed to "Complete Health"...plus there's the no-grain formula of dry, but it's got a lot of fish smell to it, tho there isn't much fish in it....?????)

OK, gotta run! I sure hope things settle down for all of you in the next while!