Cat needs good vibes!

[alexgirl73]

Lots of healing vibes coming from my direction too Eileen! Hope Kate is soon back to her old self! x

[kado]

She is realy pretty. Sending healing vibes from jane kado simon kay and guinness

[tilly]

Hugs to both of you and to Kate hope she get better soon and it is nothing to serious

[Elaine]

Aww poor Kate, so sorry to read this Eileen. How old is Kate? Please try not to worry too much just yet, kidney values are variable and with help, support and medication, they many be able to reduce them and stabalize her.
Best wishes Kate and lots of love and healing thoughts being sent over to you xxx

[Elaine]

Cat in Crisis: Probably Receiving Intravenous Fluids (IV)
Since it is so hard to diagnose CRF early (see What is CRF? to understand why), your cat may be in crisis at diagnosis. Please do not be too despondent if this is the case, particularly if your cat has crashed (see Symptoms) and is on a drip, as happened to Thomas. Many cats have horrendous bloodwork at diagnosis, or may experience a sudden crisis after having CRF for a while, which is often a reflection of severe dehydration. The true bloodwork values will not be apparent until your cat is rehydrated and stabilised, either via sub-Qs for less critical cases or via IV for more severe ones. If your cat has an infection, you need to get it under control before you can tell how severe things really are; hypertension may also make bloodwork look worse than it will once the hypertension is under control.

Some cats with very high numbers will actually be suffering from acute renal failure (ARF) rather than CRF, and whilst ARF is difficult to treat, if treatment is successful the cat may actually make a complete recovery.
There are a variety of possible outcomes for a cat who has crashed and is on IV with extremely high bloodwork values:

• the cat's numbers improve on IV and the cat looks and acts better, and continues to do well at home;
• the cat's numbers do not improve on IV, but the cat nevertheless acts better, and the numbers gradually reduce at home (usually with sub-Q therapy);
• the cat's numbers do not improve on IV or with sub-Qs, but the cat acts better and continues to do well at home despite the high numbers;
• the cat's numbers do not improve on IV, and the cat continues to act ill once s/he is home, and is put to sleep;
• the cat's numbers do or do not improve on IV, but the cat crashes again once at home.

Obviously I cannot predict to which category your cat might belong, but it is usually worth trying treatments, particularly if your cat has a kidney infection, where the numbers may improve once the infection is under control.
I am growing increasingly concerned recently at the number of vets who offer just one day on IV, tell the person their cat's numbers have not improved after that short stint, and recommend euthanasia. In most cases this is inappropriate in my opinion. Yes, not every CRF cat can be saved; but euthanasia is an irrevocable decision so you need to be very sure, and for most people that means giving their cat every chance.
For a severely ill cat, one or two days on IV are simply not going to be long enough. Thomas was on IV for four solid days and nights, and only began to eat a little on day 3. Incidentally, even after Thomas began to eat, my vet suspected he would fall into category 5, but in fact he was in the second category. He had urea of 89 (BUN: 241) at diagnosis, and it did not actually improve after four days and nights of IV either. But he was acting better in himself by the end of the four days, and with home treatments over a few weeks we eventually reduced his numbers to urea 27 (BUN: 76) and creatinine 316 (US: 3.57), where they stabilised for some months.
So even if you are dealing with category 4, I would recommend that you make sure that your cat is given a reasonable stint on IV, and is given a reasonable chance of success at home. Being at the vet's is very stressful for most cats, and they often need a few days at home convalescing before they begin to act better.

[dandysmom]

Thanks very much for that, Elaine; I'll tell Carolyn when I phone her tonight. It's a scary disease, isn't it...

[Elaine]

Eileen its an emotional roller coaster. If at any time you want to talk about it all, you know where to find me.
Have everything crossed that the fluids help and bring her kidney values down to a more comfortable level. xxx

[Fran]

Any news on Kate, Eileen?? I still have everything crossed for good news x

[dandysmom]

No news yet, Carolyn was out last night when I called; left word and e-mailed her some info about CRF....fingers crossed!~ Thank you for asking....

[Kazz]

Hello Eileen I am sorry I did not see this thread sooner please pass on my "healing thoughts" to Carolyn and Kate of course.

But please if it turns out it is CRF tell Carolyn not to panic too much.
Elaine's Winston and my Oscar and now my Cleo all have CRF and to be honest even though it can be a scary disease to cope with, when you take a breath and realise it
you can keep control and take things the way YOU want it to go. Tell Carolyn to collect as much data as she can ask questions - I know Elaine will be more than happy to help (as she was so VERY VERY helpful, knowledgable and supportive when Oscar was poorly) I would also be willing to answer any questions but please ask Carolyn to bear in mind I listened to the vets but took no proactive action with Oscar such as fluids or special diest as he hated it but I did the best I possibly could for him as I alsways have and now for Cleo.

So ask Carolyn to take advice from the vet then
re-evaluate, along with further information she has what she thinks she would like to do - and ask her to remember - NOTHING SHE DOES IS WRONG - as Kate is her cat her much loved cat and NOTHING SHE DOES IS WRONG IT WILL ALL BE IN KATE's BEST INTEREST. Don't let her get talked into something she does not reall want to do - I have to admit it is hard to stand your ground, faced with medical and "well meaning advice" but she must remember what she does is always for the best of her own cat. As Kate cannot say when she has had enough she relies on Carolyn for that.

I left Oscar alone and he was quite happy for another 18 months and as you know was 23 years and 4 months when I had him PTS and he lived a happy and contented 18 months no drips, no medication other than for his arthritis.

Cleo is now 24 and 7 months an has CRF and has no vet's involvement and yes is slowing down but is happy and contented.

I know some cats get really poorly with CRF but then I think (not meaning to sound harsh here) but you have to weigh up whats best for the cat and if what you are doing is more for you than for the cat.

Karen