Silver, He is gone.

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Cinderwolf

Cinderwolf

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2010
Messages
1,503
Location
Richmond B.C.
Okay so you guys may know, but I have 2 cats . They are brothers and are 15 years old. We got them when they were nearly brand new kittens ( their momma was a stray at our friends camp ground and was too sick to move or take care of them, or their 2 sisters ( who out friends took in .. RIP) . But anyways, That makes for a long time in my house and family.

They have both been pretty healthy, the occasional bladder infection here and there or something small, but that was when they were younger. Since we moved to BC , they have both been the healthiest cats alive. Even when our old cat Sam passed, the ' kittens' both handled it well enough ( besides Silver turning kinda paranoid) .

But recently they have both been showing their age. Tigger, who has always been a somewhat smaller cat, now weights in at 9 pounds. He sleeps all the time and seems pretty frail. Silver, who I seriously thought was age less, is now proving me wrong. He is a husky cat, weight in at about 16-17 pounds on a normal day. Super energetic, always running around.

But of course good things always come to an end. You may recall I recently came back from a 2 week trip to Mexico. The morning I was leaving, I noticed that there was cat pee outside the litter box. We keep a rubber mat at the opening to stop litter from getting everywhere. I guess Silver missed his box. So I told my parents and they just said " Not again.. I guess we gotta take him to the vet." This was about 30 seconds before I was leaving.

You can guess what was on my mind the whole trip. I seriously thought I would come home to find him gone.

Thank god that didn't happen.

Apparently, he got a bad fever and wouldn't move much, and wouldn't eat much ( which is strange for a cat with a love affair to cat food), he lost some weight ( the vet said he was 13 pounds). So they took him in and found out he has kidney problems. We have him on special kidney health food, with less protein ( about 26 % ) and he has to take a pill daily. He is a trooper and will tolerate the pill but he hated the food when they first brought him home and didn't eat for a good 3 days. luckily now he is eating it, albeit, in small amounts. And he has regained a bit of weight.

This whole thing has just put a kink in my " They will live forever " mindset and It has all just reminded me how old they are and how quick something can go wrong. When I was young we had 4 cats, 2 now passed. The first cat I lost ( Phil <3 ) when I was about 5, to cancer. I don't remember it well. The second I lost ( Sam <3 ) when I was about 12. He was 16 and fine one day and the next we noticed his foot was swollen. We took him in thinking he had jumped off of something and sprained it. We found out he had heart failure and had to put him down the next day. That was very hard and I still get choked up thinking about him.

Now with this I just can't stop thinking about how hard it will be when my 2 cats now pass. I have had them for so long, I can't imagine not having them around. Gosh now I am tearing up just thinking about it.

On the bright side, when they brought Silver in, they also took Tigger and he got a clean bill of health. Despite his age and size, he is good as gold. It's just Silver we have to worry about for now.

This is just too stressful. I mean with Roxy and La Jolla, I went into this knowing I wouldn't have them for too long, but with my cats, I tend to refuse to believe that they will ever die, because I have had them for so long.

This is just not what I want to have to deal with right now.

Sorry for the really long post, I'd end off with some photos, but I don't have any recent ones. I'll take some later tonight.
 
It is scary to think of the day they will leave us. But don't give up hope. Cats are pretty awesome and resilient as well. My Cally was diagnosed with renal failure 3 years ago. We could have put her to sleep because she was suffering and had lost a lot of weight and was looking emaciated. But I asked the vet to show me how to do subQ at home, fed her a special diet and today... she's as good as new and 18 years old. Even now, when my vet examines her she can't believe she was at death's door 3 years ago.
I do believe that stress and a heavy weight is a killer for cats, in fact, it is for all living beings. So the best advice I can give is keep them stress free and slim. Mmm, same thing I say for the rats. lol
March 1st, I had to have my Toby put to sleep. She was 118 years old and had a huge tumour in her belly. It was a hard decision but I knew she had an amazing 17 years with me. I still miss that big girl. But I'm not sad anymore... I've got happy memories. Hold on to those.
 
Yeah, they live pretty stress free lives, the most stressful thing they have to deal with is the vacuum cleaner. I'm just hoping for the best. He is back to his old self now that he has gotten used to the new food. So that's good to see. Just worry about the old men. Silver definitely has some pounds to lose, but he is by no means fat, I would say. Not like he used to be.

I just hope he gets all better and stays around for years more to come.
 
Awh, nothing worse than when our old guys start to get sick. I hope he pulls through for you

Can I ask what food you were previously feeding, and what food you were switched to? That would be my first concern with a cat who is having kidney/urinary problems. Most cat foods are full of grains that, along many other things, can ruin the kidneys (and this is coming from someone whose cat had to go in for emergency surgery when his kidneys were suddenly failing,) and if this "special food" is some prescription food your vet sold you, there's about a 99% chance it's even worse for your cat than whatever he was eating before. My vet convinced me to put my cat on some crappy Science Diet (aka Prescription Diet) to prevent kidney problems, and I'm entirely convinced that it was that garbage that ruined his kidneys in the first place. Also, if it is a dry kibble, it's important that this cat (and preferably your other cat, as well, since it's next to impossible to keep two cats in the same household from eating from each others bowls) to a strictly wet food diet. It's generally recommended that even healthy cats eat only wet food, but it's essential for a cat with any kind of kidney issues. Moisture, moisture, moisture. A "water fountain" style water bowl may be an excellent investment as well, as it encourages cats to drink more water than they normally would (most cats drink not nearly enough water.)

I hope everything works out for your boys! If you're looking for any information, please, PM me and I'll help you anyway I can. My kidney failure boy is now a healthy, happy senior cat and I except he'll stay that way for a number of more years.
 
Well before hand they were on whiskas, and now it is called KD I am not exactly sure the brand, but I can find out tomorrow. Low protein and sold to us by the vet.

Right now they are both on kibble as well as wet food, since that's just what we have done for so long. Wet food in the morning and kibble always out for them. we do have a fountain for them, since when my old cat got to be a senior he loved to drink from the tap, so we figured he'd like a fountain. We've gotten a new on since, but still a nice fountain. My other cat sits in the bathtub until we turn it on for him to drink out of.
 
so sorry to hear about your boy with the kidney problems. I've gone thru that three times so far already and it's tough but with treatment they can have many good years left sometimes. (not all cats are so lucky)

I too would urge you to get your cat OFF the K/D , it's a terrible food and pretty much did my first cat in- she was 7 when she got diabetes, 8 when she went into kidney failure and barely 9 when she died, and she could have lived so much longer with the right treatment and the right food. The vet put her on Science Diet, which I've since learned is pretty much one of the worst foods out there for cats......
but this was many many years ago and things have changed, now we know better

Let me see if I can find the links for info on CRF (chronic renal failure, which is more appropriately called chronic renal insufficiency) the newer thinking on renal issues is that good quality protein is more important and that what you want to watch for is the phosphorus content in foods, that and sodium as many renal kitties get high blood pressure.

there's a couple of helpful tables that show what foods have lower phosphorus etc and you can choose from that list.

here's one link, there's others but many of them are included on this site as well: http://www.felinecrf.org/which_foods.htm#best_crf_food

also second giving as much canned food as possible, it's essential to a kidney cat. Subcutaneous fluids will help keep your boy hydrated when his kidneys no longer concentrate urine and he starts to get dehydrated and there's pepcid AC for upset stomach and other things that can be done as you go along.


there's a yahoo group (or two) for people with CRF cats that is very helpful. They can tell you where to get the lowest priced supplies and give you all kinds of useful info and esp support- very nice people on that list/group



it's so hard when they start to get older. they just don't live long enough, none of the do.
:sad3:


:hugs:
 
Well that's no good.. but I'm a bit confused, cause that site says the Hills Prescription K/D is a good food to choose. I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with his kidneys ( as I was not at the vets). Gahh to confusing, I just want what's best for him and his brother.
 
If I remember correctly, when Hills bought up Science Diet the quality improved a lot.

As mentioned above, no matter what diet you do end up feeding, make sure to stick to wet for him, and only wet.
 
Cinderwolf said:
Well that's no good.. but I'm a bit confused, cause that site says the Hills Prescription K/D is a good food to choose. I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with his kidneys ( as I was not at the vets). Gahh to confusing, I just want what's best for him and his brother.
Click to expand...
My cat who was at death's door was put on the Hills prescription diet and I believe that helped her make a complete recovery.
 
Cinderwolf said:
Well that's no good.. but I'm a bit confused, cause that site says the Hills Prescription K/D is a good food to choose. I'm not exactly sure what is wrong with his kidneys ( as I was not at the vets). Gahh to confusing, I just want what's best for him and his brother.
Click to expand...


oh I'm sorry I realized later that what I meant was the Science Diet W/D I think they called it, when my cat got diabetes, they thought a high fiber diet would help cats with diabetes like it can humans with diabetes; and she was put a strict weight reducing diet with the W/D dry and *that* is what I think did her in.
The K/D canned is actually pretty decent but can be expensive and a lot of cats don't like it, but if your cat will eat it and you can afford it, yes that's one that is ok now (it wasn't before but I don't know when that changed, because when I had my last CRF cat, K/D was still on the "not too good to feed" list, but I am not sure what the issue was- I think it still had a lot of corn?)

anyway sorry for the mistake in which food I meant :oops:

there's another couple of foods that are lower in protein as well but they have the same problem as the K/D usually does- cats don't like them. Hi Tor Neo? I think is one- gah! there are two Hi Tor foods and one is for kidney cats- but at any rate it's not very tasty, at least my cats wouldn't touch it.

Do you have the blood work results? a high creatinine and BUN are two things that CRF cats will have show up in their blood work but by the time you can tell that the kidneys are failing, already as much as 3/4 of the kidney function has been lost.
Also their urine specific gravity will show that their urine is more dilute than it should be (kidneys are supposed to concentrate the urine, returning fluid to the body, and when they aren't able to do that, the cat pees more and gets dehydrated more quickly, thus the reason for "pushing fluids" as much as possible) It is possible to diagnose early CRF with a USG and there's a couple of other new tests, as I understand it, that can help you know earlier that your cat is having trouble with the kidneys.

it is very very common for cats' kidneys to give out as they age and it's unavoidable, sadly.
 
Oh that is a relief. I had told my mother in passing and she said " I'm following the vet's advice over the advice of internet people." So I was thinking well that's not good. But I'm glad the food is actually not bad for them.

He didn't eat it for 3 days apparently but by the time I got home he was eating it. Not as much as he was his old food but definitely eating it. The healthy one eats it up way more then the other food. I'll see about the wet food thing, maybe get them eating wet food 2 times a day rather then once. I think if we took their dry food away they would act as though we were torturing them.

the food is expensive, unfortunately... but they are family and we'll do anything for them, no matter how expensive. While I was gone silver spent 3 nights in the hospital, then the next day they brought in Tigger to get him checked out. Plus food and pills it was costing nearly 1000 dollars ( and here I thought rats were expensive)

I am not sure about the blood work, but my mom said the vet told them he was in the earliest stage of kidney failure.
 
Pretty much the only time I ever side with people eating the vet foods is when they're feeding the K/d diets. Anything else... weight control, dental care (what a load of crap that is), whatever, is a huge waste.

I do know there are other diets for kidney issues but I think they can be hard to find and some people are up to the challenge of formulating one for themselves, but I know I wouldn't be.
 
Thanks for the link Jo, it's nice to see some success stories. May I ask, what is subq? We don't give him any sort of injection , just the ace inibitor pills .
 
I would give Cally ringers lactate, subq water in her. You could ask your vet to show you how to do it. I gave her 100 mls of ringers lactate for almost two years, now, she doesn't need anymore water nor special food.
 
Early stage is good. Cats can and do live a long time with failing kidneys. If it's caught early enough, it can be reversed enough to give them even more time.
My last kidney cat died from lymphoma and not kidney failure; her kidneys were on the fritz for 5 yrs by that time, but with the fluids, they never got too bad.


Subcutaneous fluids are fluids given under the skin (sub= under; cutaneous= skin) it's an easier way to give animals fluids than giving them an IV, and so it can be done at home. The fluids go in under their loose skin, and are then absorbed into their body that way. The cat usually feels so much better as soon as the fluids start to be absorbed that they come to associate the process with feeling better and often look forward to it, even if they fuss at first (they have to do that, they are cats after all and it's beneath their dignity to just give in LOL)

one of my friends from the diabetic cat forum made some videos of giving a cat subcutaneous fluids and there are others, here's one:


http://www.myspace.com/video/lynette/giving-sub-q-fluids-to-cats-longer-version/15819179


this is my favorite description of giving subcutaneous fluids, the guy has a wonderful sense of humor and just adores his cat, besides, so it makes for a great read:

http://weirdstuffwemake.com/weird/stuff/pets/cats/sophia/catjuice.html

Your vet is awesome by the way, checking your cats' blood pressure and putting him on meds for that
(the ace inibitor) and also treating him aggressively in the hospital, that gives him the best shot of jump starting the kidneys.

some ppl who can't afford to have their cats in the hospital for a few days will opt to go home and give the cat high doses of sub cutaneous fluids twice a day for a week or two to flush out the kidneys as best as possible, and then they can reduced the amount of fluids given-
even stopping them for awhile depending on how the kidneys respond

the fact that the vet did not send you home with fluids for Silver means his kidneys did respond favorably and he's able to hold his own for now without them.
that's fantastic news.

Here's hoping he continues to do well for a long long time to come. with a good vet and the right treatment, he surely can have a lot more great time.
sorry if I sounded a bit pessimistic before.
I miss my old guys. But the most recent kidney cat didn't die from kidney failure, it was cancer instead, as I said.
The other two were diabetics and that does make things much more complicated and the cat is much sicker to begin with.
 
We do love our cat vet. ( completely different vet then my rat vet, those little peckers get a special vet in Vancouver) We took out old cat Sam there when he was sick and they were so kind and really knowledgeable. When we had to put Sam down they let us in the room with him and let us stay as long as we wished. They also sent us his ashes in a beautiful urn, with a copy of the rainbow bridge poem ( first time I had ever read it... I bawled my eyes out. ) All in all they are so kind.

Yeah he was hooked up to the IV lots when at the vet. Funny story, they messed him up with another cat and shaved his belly and side to do an ultrasound. They had him all shaved before they realized that it was the wrong cat :laugh4: . Now he has a funny hair cut.

And don't worry about it, I know you were just giving me the facts. I totally understand missing those old boys. I got 2 up there waiting for us now. And with any luck, the other 2 won't be joining them for a long time more.

Side note, this new food has turned both my cat's fur super soft and silky. They fur was never that nice before, probably from the food they were eating.

I have a picture of Silver from about 2 weeks ago ( probably a few days before he went to the vet) The picture of Tigger is from December. He is sitting on the shelf in front of the heater. He likes to fry his brains out. In the winter, we have to keep that shelf clear.

Here's Silver. You can see where he got his name.
DSCN0069.jpg


And Tigger. Yup that's his normal face. He is a grump.
IMG_0547.jpg
 
So a bit of an update on Silver. He is gaining weight :joy: He almost weights what he did before I left for Mexico. This id good news, that means he learned to like his new K/D food! We don't think he eats as much soft food as the hard food, but at least he is eating again. He still drinks the same amount of water form his fountain then he did before. He is also a trooper with his pills, and he doesn't hardly fuss over taking them. My old cat Sam, would bite and scratch and foam at the mouth when we had to give him his antidepressant pills. ( don't ask I am not too sure about the details) . So we are all glad the Silver is so nice about it. But that is like him, he doesn't have a mean bone in his body and never bites/ scratches/hits/ growls/hisses. Unlike his ungrateful brother who hates everyone who isn't feeding him or giving him water.
 
Thats great! I hope he continues to maintain a healthy weight. Lucky you that he doesn't mind the pills. We have a 20 year old toothless gal who foams at the mouth everytime she has to have a pill. Its pretty nasty.
 

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