My cat has chronic renal failure :(

Somewhat new to this site, and I just need to air out some throughts. Sorry if it's the wrong forum, and sorry it's so long and scrambled.

So, we took our 14 year old cat in for a routine check-up and got the devastating news that she is indeed dying.

Last time we took her in we were told she was too fat and were told to put her on diet food, which we did. So when she lost weight, you know, it didn't seem like something to worry about. I've always been scared of chronic renal failure, since any kind of slow progressing and hopeless illness terrifies me, so I've always been on the look-out for symptoms. 
Weight loss, vomiting, increased drinking/urination...

Well, apart from the weight loss, she hasn't had any other problems. She uses the litterbox every 10-15 hours like she always has (I've kept tab on that for other reasons, just so no one thinks I'm a total freak ) And about half a bowl of water each day, in combination with wet food. (We've given her Hill's or Royal Canin)

When she throws up it's usually hair balls.

So yeah... Got told she had large amounts of calcium in her blood, an infection somewhere and failing kidneys. We were told she had days, weeks or some months, tops to live. 

Have anyone ever been in a situation like this? How can a cat go from perfectly healthy to dying? 

I mean, I understand it's how it goes, really, but it's been so sudden.

The vet seemed to think that she had cancer, and that was the reason for the calcium in her blood, and that it caused a strain on her kidneys. (She had cancer about nine years ago)

We didn't really get anymore information than that. Can anyone give me any tips on how to deal with this?
She is really enjoying her renal food, and has even put on a little weight. So far she seems happy, and we are hoping we can keep her a little longer. *Knock on wood*

Oh gosh, I am so sorry that you got this news. You must be so sad and frightened. I am so so sorry.

Did your vet give you any sort of information like how much kidney function your cat has left, or her BUN and creatinine levels, or what kind of cancer they suspect? That your cat's appetite, activity level and urination remains stable is all good news. Obviously, we can't give any sort of opinion on the cancer without more information, but what you describe for how she's presenting sounds promising.

Cats can live for years with chronic kidney disease - mine was diagnosed at age 15 and lived almost four years more, and it wasn't until the last two days that his quality of life was significantly compromised. I also chose not to intervene in any way except through fluids and diet. I also made some serious mistakes - I thought indoor/elderly cat food formulations were right for him since he was an indoor, elderly cat. I don't want to sound like I am making any promises here, because every case is different, but please don't think that you have no choice but to say goodbye right now.

There are a lot of things that are ideal to do: make sure that she's eating a diet that reduces strain on her kidneys. Make sure that any urinary tract infections are dealt with immediately, and that you do everything you can to keep them from starting to begin with. Make sure she is hydrated. I'm not going to give you advice on exactly what to feed - though I know there are plenty of people here who can be invaluable resources - because I started down that path 5 years ago, and things have probably changed. He died last year, and by that time I had long moved from trying to feed him the perfect diet to doing the last, most important thing I am going to tell you: making sure he ate anything at all.

CKD, as it progresses, will probably affect her appetite. When that happens, don't get hung up on trying to feed her the perfect food. The mantra is, for very good reason, the best food for your cat is the food your cat will eat. Do what ever you can to keep her eating and hopefully putting on weight. I am so happy to hear that she likes her renal diet. My cat never wanted anything to do with it. Keeping your cat eating is by far the biggest part of the battle.

I'd like to point you at Tanya's CRF page, but it appears to be down right now. It had a huge amount of information on it, and hopefully it will be restored soon. In the meantime, at least some of the site is on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141217080436/http://felinecrf.org/

I hope some of this helps. I hope your baby girl makes your vet's jaw drop in shock as she exceeds all expectations. I hope the two of you have lots of wonderful days to come. Sending you all of my best.

One more thing: if they give you a percentage for kidney function, that percentage will undoubtedly be horrifying. No matter what number they tell you, it isn't as bad as it sounds. You can lose a heck of a lot of kidney function and still carry on with minimal difficulty. I'm sitting on the same couch as (a human) someone who was told she had 16% kidney function at the beginning of December, and while she felt kind of run down, she still left the house every morning at 7 am for work and returned 11 hours later, still went about her life with very little trouble. Whatever your cat's percentage, don't give up hope.

I will just say this. You need to know the actual blood results and look for Bun Creatine and Specific Gravity of the Urine.  Why? A couple of years back my 3, yes three year old kitten went in after throwing up. My vet diagnosed him with chronic renal failure. And suggested prescription food but that was just to slow the process. I didn't believe my vet. I once had a cat with chronic rental failure and he was NOT healthy. But this cat was pretty healthy.

I asked for the blood test results. They said, sure, and then, I never got them. So I went to the vet and asked for them and they said they would mail them to me. I said "I will wait" -- I waited, I got them. And though, technically, you could say they were abnormal, they weren't THAT abnormal. In addition, the cat being dehydrated can sku the results.  The Bun / Creatine were just over the normal levels and the specific gravity was normal.

My vet gave me renal failure food (low phosphous) and I gave my cat that.  

But the results returned to normal. Though I can't say for sure he didn't have an issue, I feel about 99% that he never had one.

I also mention this because my cat also has high calcium in the blood (slightly over normal). They do not know why. They do not know what to do about it. Since he has had it for 9 years... they have just decided perhaps that is normal for him.

Before freaking out ask for the records and go to Tanya's website to check them.

Then feed your cat low phosphous food and make sure to give him plenty of water. 

I had a cat once with Chronic Renal Failure and the vet didn't diagnose him until almost the very end. My gosh was that cat sick. He always looked miserable and slept all day.  If your cat isn't obviously sick I think you have hope that the low phosphorous food could help a lot.

Thank you both for your kind and helpful replies. I'm sorry for not replying to you guys until now. It's been a roller coaster here.

Sadly, we had to put our darling little girl down yesterday. 

It was painful and horrible for us, but it seemed like a peaceful passing for her. We opted for a home euthanasia, and that was definitely the right choice for her.

So... Not long after I wrote this post she started having seizures. She was put on medication, which stopped them and she seemed fine for a while. She didn't throw up much (Just twice this year) she used the litter box like normal and ate a lot.

Then I noticed she lost weight despite eating (really) well... A few days later her paws and belly were swollen.

Her breathing got a bit different once she started on the phenobarbital, but it got more shallow.

We took her in, and it was heartbreaking because we kind of got hope at first.

Her kidney values were indeed back to normal! It seemed like a miracle. Then they tested her thyroid, which was normal. Then her urine...

Her urine showed that all the protein from her diet just went out with the urine... She would have slowly starved to death if we let it go on. 

So the vet talked some about our options, and then did an x-ray because of her swollen belly.

Turned out she had fluids in her chest and stomach cavity and there were no real room for her lungs to function properly.

The vet looked over everything and tested the fluid in her belly and then basically told us there was no hope. 

I can't say it was a hard choice to sign the papers, but it was heartbreaking and painful. I loved her so much and this has not been easy. 
We were hoping for a miracle, but I guess the miracle was that we were allowed to have her for as long as we did past the initial diagnosis. (I wrote her in january, but the diagnosis came in late november) 

So very sorry to read this news.

On behalf of the TCS Team, we want you to know how sorry we are about your kitty.   Threads are locked after someone has suffered such a loss, as a sign of respect.

Kitty's tribute thread is here:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/293398/i-lost-my-little-one-06-05-2000-27-02-2015