Sorry, this is going to be a long post. I know that there are a lot of cat fans on this board and I thought that maybe some of you have had a cat that was diagnosed with kidney failure (i.e. renal failure). I wanted to tell you about my cat and ask for treatment advice. I've also posted this the forum of Tanya's Feline CKD Support Group. My 14 year old Russian Blue male cat named Sugar was diagnosed with kidney failure years ago. He has really taken a turn for the worst this past year. He was a little over 9 lbs. in November and is now at 7.3 lbs. Lately, he hasn't been drinking as much and also doesn't eat much. I have resorted to giving him Fancy Feast and try to heat up a little bit of it (to make it smell yummy) and try to bring him some every couple hours. Sugar seems really weak, not even able to jump on the bathroom counter without falling. He's been really lethargic and his favorite hiding spots have been a dark corner and way up high on top of a bookshelf where he rarely went when he was healthy (I have to help him get up there).
We took Sugar to the vet yesterday and the vet was surprised at how rapidly Sugar has deteriorated. They gave him some fluids and noted that his urine was clear (i.e. not yellow concentrated urine). They ran his blood work and called today with the results (unfortunately I wasn't able to speak with my regular vet because it was her day off). Sugar's kidney results were high: he has significant kidney failure (end stage). The vet said so much that it was hard to take in. She said:
Unfortunately, when I look at this treatment I can't help but wonder about the costs. You see, my family has spent a lot of money the last 1 1/2 years because of our animals. My dog R.J. was really sick in 2012 with seizures, etc. They had tests done, but he was in so much pain that he had to be put to sleep on December 23, 2012. This was super hard on our family, especially since it was the third animal that we've had to put to sleep. We thought that maybe a purebred dog would do better health wise , so for the first time ever we decided to get a purebred lab, from a breeder that is a family friend. $1,000 and 2 out-of-state drives (9 hours each way) later, we have our dog. He's definitely a handful, and it is amazing how expensive puppies can be. Our cat Max, a shelter cat from the same litter as Sugar, was throwing up a lot last year. Our former vet thought it could be a tooth problem so we paid like $800 in 2012 to get it extracted. It didn't help and in 2013 Max started to lose a lot of weight and painfully throwing up each day. We changed vets and after more tests learned that Max had hyperthryoidism. After looking at our options (giving him a daily pill or cream or radiation treatment), we opted for $1,000 radiation treatment. This option was cheaper in the long-run and was supposed to have the best results. Thankfully Max is healthy now!!
And now our poor Sugar was sick. I hate to think about the fact that we've spent so much money on our other pets that now we don't know how we are going to be able to afford to help Sugar. Our first cat lived 19 years old and so I can't help but think that at 14 years old Sugar is too young to die. The vet gave me the following cost estimates:
BTW, it has always been very hard to "force feed" our cat, so I don't know how easy it would be to syringe feed him or give him pills. He's a nice cat and doesn't bite or scratch, but moves around a whole lot when you try to "force feed" him. I'm not sure how well he would handle getting an IV everyday. Do you guys find that even the most stubborn cat will give in and let you give them an IV since they can physically feel it helping them??
Oh, I forgot to mention that Sugar did a lot better yesterday after he got fluids at the vet. He has been eating and drinking more. Most importantly, I was able to hear him purr when I picked him up. He has always been a loud purring kitty, but you couldn't even hear him purr the last week.
Thank you in advance for your advice!
We took Sugar to the vet yesterday and the vet was surprised at how rapidly Sugar has deteriorated. They gave him some fluids and noted that his urine was clear (i.e. not yellow concentrated urine). They ran his blood work and called today with the results (unfortunately I wasn't able to speak with my regular vet because it was her day off). Sugar's kidney results were high: he has significant kidney failure (end stage). The vet said so much that it was hard to take in. She said:
- One of his kidney values that is supposed to be 36 was 187 and one that was supposed to be 2 was 11.
- Sugar has high phosphorous levels
- His ? electrolyte levels are off
- Sugar is mildly anemic
- Let him eat fancy feast for a week, but after that try to get him onto a kidney friendly diet (i.e. prescription food)
- An appetite stimulant so he'll eat
- Nausea medicine because kidney failure can make cats nauseated
- Daily IV fluid treatment (they'll teach me how)
- Eppetine? powder for his food twice a day to help him absorb phosphorous
Unfortunately, when I look at this treatment I can't help but wonder about the costs. You see, my family has spent a lot of money the last 1 1/2 years because of our animals. My dog R.J. was really sick in 2012 with seizures, etc. They had tests done, but he was in so much pain that he had to be put to sleep on December 23, 2012. This was super hard on our family, especially since it was the third animal that we've had to put to sleep. We thought that maybe a purebred dog would do better health wise , so for the first time ever we decided to get a purebred lab, from a breeder that is a family friend. $1,000 and 2 out-of-state drives (9 hours each way) later, we have our dog. He's definitely a handful, and it is amazing how expensive puppies can be. Our cat Max, a shelter cat from the same litter as Sugar, was throwing up a lot last year. Our former vet thought it could be a tooth problem so we paid like $800 in 2012 to get it extracted. It didn't help and in 2013 Max started to lose a lot of weight and painfully throwing up each day. We changed vets and after more tests learned that Max had hyperthryoidism. After looking at our options (giving him a daily pill or cream or radiation treatment), we opted for $1,000 radiation treatment. This option was cheaper in the long-run and was supposed to have the best results. Thankfully Max is healthy now!!
And now our poor Sugar was sick. I hate to think about the fact that we've spent so much money on our other pets that now we don't know how we are going to be able to afford to help Sugar. Our first cat lived 19 years old and so I can't help but think that at 14 years old Sugar is too young to die. The vet gave me the following cost estimates:
- The IV fluid cost is $30 a week. This includes the fluid, line, and needle. I'm not sure if this is just one line, needle, and bag. But can they last / be resused to last a whole week? The vet said that it will obviously be cheaper if we learn that Sugar only needs an IV every other day.
- The eppepiten? powder for his phosphorus is $30, but I'm not sure how much powder that is (or how long Sugar needs it)
- The appetite stimulant is $15. Is this just a one-time cost to get him to eat at first, or will he need it a lot?
- The blood work is $50. He needs it after his first week of treatment, then every 7 to 10 days, then once a month.
- Prescription food for the rest of his life (we didn't get a cost estimate).
- We don't know how much the nausea (acid reducer) medicine costs. How often would Sugar need this? Is this just famotidine, which we can by over-the-counter?
BTW, it has always been very hard to "force feed" our cat, so I don't know how easy it would be to syringe feed him or give him pills. He's a nice cat and doesn't bite or scratch, but moves around a whole lot when you try to "force feed" him. I'm not sure how well he would handle getting an IV everyday. Do you guys find that even the most stubborn cat will give in and let you give them an IV since they can physically feel it helping them??
Oh, I forgot to mention that Sugar did a lot better yesterday after he got fluids at the vet. He has been eating and drinking more. Most importantly, I was able to hear him purr when I picked him up. He has always been a loud purring kitty, but you couldn't even hear him purr the last week.
Thank you in advance for your advice!
