Riley is in the beginning stages of renal failure

At least he's sitting near me finally.



DH finally got him to lick some FussyCat. I'll give him his medicine here in a minute, don't want him to tie his food to medicine.

BTW - my walls are not that bright a yellow, Instagram distorted the color. That color would give me a headache. :lol3:

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :heart3:

We can't get Riley to eat any wet food. He only wants dry but he can't have dry until he's seen by the Dr on Thursday. I've tried grinding it and putting on top of the wet, tried soaking it in water, doesn't want it. We've opened countless cans of food trying to get him to eat (the other cats are in heaven getting all his cast-offs) and nothing. He'll lick on it a couple of times and then walk away. Got some toppers at the cat store, nothing. He's hungry, but completely uninterested in eating.

So, I'm forcing the kitty 'Ensure'. If I have to syringe it until he can be seen again on Thrusday, that's what I'll do. He hates it and runs from me but he's going to get nutrients, one way or the other.

I can't get a good look at his mouth, don't want to stress him anymore than I already am but I can see his tongue when I'm feeding him and I don't like the color. It's a grayish purple. I'm keeping my eye on it and will call the vet ifi don't see a change soon.

Man, I need a break. I'm so tired of force feeding kitties, making crazy numbers of trips to the vet's office, begging kitties to eat. DH and I really need a break from sick kitties. I realize this is what happens with older cats but it feels like we've been struggling with at least one for the past year and a half, two if you count the end of life care for our Dachsund Andy, he's been gone for 2 years now. I just need everyone to eat and be healthy and happy.

When our Sven had 3 teeth pulled way back when, he wouldn't touch anything other than dry, including baby food, so after a day or two the Vet said "then feed him dry".  The wet was for his comfort, and he obviously didn't want it, so dry it was!  Personally, I'd think the stress of being force fed would be worse on him that just giving him dry, IF he'll eat dry, but don't know the circumstances of why they said "wet only until Thursday"
 

I think the wet only is for his comfort and to prevent any bits from getting stuck in where the teeth were pulled. I'll call them tomorrow and find out for sure. Even if he can eat dry, he's only wanting Greenies again so we'll still be battling that. This cat is a trip!

Some concern with the color of Riley's tongue, it's a purplish/gray color. The vet is very concerned so he is back at the hospital today. I hope it's nothing. He's still not eating.

Ask for some a/d.  My cat would eat only this when she would eat nothing else.

Have you tried sprinkling Fortiflora on the top of the food? Most kitties find it irresistible! for your baby boy

Yes, we've tried fortiflora, he simply won't eat. The vet says his mouth looks good but his weight loss is alarmIng so they have run fluids, given him medicine to settle his stomach and an appetite stimulant and he still won't eat. He can't come home until he eats. I don't know what else to do at this point if he won't eat. He's not sick enough for this to be an issue, I mean, when other kitties I've had stop eating, it's been after a long fight. He's not fighting.

Oh Riley, honey, you need to want to eat!!!!!!!!

Oh hun!

What about a feeding tube??????????????????????????

LDG said:

Oh Riley, honey, you need to want to eat!!!!!!!!
Oh hun!
What about a feeding tube??????????????????????????

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I've always been resistant to feeding tubes because typically, when I have a cat stop eating, it's because they are tired and are ready to go, and I respect that.

But with Riley, it's just not stopping eating because he's that sick, it's almost like its just him being stubborn....which I know, cats don't have that type of thought process but still, what else could it possibly be? And if I do a feeding tube, is he going to start eating or get even more angry and dig his heels in (I know, that makes no sense).

Riley is my guy. He's been with me since I started out on my own so he's been there through everything from singleton, dating, finding my DH, getting married.....every move, every tear every laugh, he's fussy and gripes and enough to make a preacher cuss but he's my little man and I don't know if all of that is keeping me from seeing it from his perspective.

RAFM said:

Some concern with the color of Riley's tongue, it's a purplish/gray color. The vet is very concerned so he is back at the hospital today. I hope it's nothing. He's still not eating.

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Just some things I thought of... You're giving Riley aspirin AND Adequan--these two should NOT be used together due to drug interaction. Also, Adequan should be used with caution for kitties with kidney issues. Adequan interferes with blood clotting (as does aspirin), so hopefully he wasn't given this before the surgery.

The color of Riley's tongue is what made me think of this as related to blood/bleeding problems.

Sending lots of healing vibes and prayers for your adorable Riley, hon.

ETA: I would not continue to give Riley aspirin since he is in early CRF/CKD. Aspirin is mostly broken down primarily by the liver, with some of the resulting substances later eliminated by the kidneys through urine. IMHO, Riley would be more at risk to develop toxicity because his kidneys aren't functioning at 100%. Just thinking out loud here...

I hear you, I do. :heart3: I haven't gone through "seniorhood" with ANY kitty yet. Our first rescue kitties were all rescued in 2002, and they're (thankfully) all still with us. :heart2: All I know is that if I can do something, and I'm not getting the signals that they don't want to go, I'm going to do it.

Obviously, see how it goes at the vet. But I see no harm in trying the tube. If he digs his heals in and gets angry, then have it out.

:heart3:

The Adequan was a one dose shot as he was in pain from arthritis, we didn't know about the CRF at the time it was given, so thank you for the information, that will help make decisions about Adequan in the future. As well about the aspirin. We did an Adequan/aspirin therapy with our Bogey for about 2 years, but he was also 19 when we started and not in renal failure.

We did do the Adequan on the same visit we found out about the CRF but we did the shot prior to the bloodwork being back now that I think about it.

I don't care how many times you deal with stuff like this, it still hits you in the gut when the vet announces it and your brain goes a million different directions all at once. I'm so glad I found this site

ETA: vets office called just as I hit the submit button, he's eaten a couple pieces of dry food!!! The hope is that he will continue to eat on it throughout the night. We'll see how he has done in the morning.

Has he been checked recently for thyroid problems?  Most cats with an overactive thyroid eat like a horse, but a number (about 10% I think) are like mine was, and go off their food.

OS , yes, we keep a close eye on his thyroid, it was checked last October, again in December and then again with this last round of bloodwork. He's a small kitty so when he begins to lose, we do a panel, just to keep an eye on everything and catch anything we can early on. This was the first bloodwork that showed renal failure though.

Did they do free T4 as well?  My cat had a high normal T4, but the free T4 was clearly hyper thyroid.

OrientalSlave said:

Did they do free T4 as well?  My cat had a high normal T4, but the free T4 was clearly hyper thyroid.

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That I did not request, hmmm, good call-out, I'll ask when I go in today. Thanks.

It's only worth doing, I suspect, if his T4 is high.  My vet also said that the 'normal' level slowly declines with age.  How right they were I have no idea.

How's he doing now.  Has he eaten any more than just a few pieces of kibble?  Anxiously following this thread, particularly since losing my CRF boy in March.