My Birdie is sick too

You people are so nice. Birdie is walking but very slow and a bit funny. She ate a bit and drank a bit. I gave her some fluids with a mni syringe, too. I actually did the sq fluids. She was very good. Glad I don't have much work to do for the next few days.She even wen up the stairs to my room. Must have been a challenge. She has been doing the hanging over the water bowl thing. Also I'm afraid that the fluids may be a bit much for her, but we'll see. Yes she is using litter box.She is a very sweet girl. And my goal is to have the ve come here before she gets to a point when she is suffering. I didn't want her to go at the clinic.

By the way, Birdie is only 10 years old. I rescued her on Jan. 22, 2008, when she was 2-ish.

Thanks. We had a pretty good day.

Hi, I don't think she is in pain. Her nae is Birdie because when I rescued her she didn't meow. She made little chirping noises like a baby chick. She learned how to meow.

Sorry about the typos. I"m on the laptop without glasses right nor.

Birdie1953 said:

 
You people are so nice. Birdie is walking but very slow and a bit funny. She ate a bit and drank a bit. I gave her some fluids with a mni syringe, too. I actually did the sq fluids. She was very good. Glad I don't have much work to do for the next few days.She even wen up the stairs to my room. Must have been a challenge. She has been doing the hanging over the water bowl thing. Also I'm afraid that the fluids may be a bit much for her, but we'll see. Yes she is using litter box.She is a very sweet girl. And my goal is to have the ve come here before she gets to a point when she is suffering. I didn't want her to go at the clinic.

Click to expand...

Hanging over the water bowl is pretty typical with kidney cats. I can't remember if it's nausea or the hyperacidity that does that. Is she on any Pepcid or anti-nausea meds at all? I'm so amazed still that she's eating, that's so good to hear. Little victories as I call it. She is probably walking funny as a result of the high level of toxins. Lucky got like that on his next to last day, it's almost like he heard the vet on the phone tell me his creatinine was 12.5. Birdie sounds like she is doing a bit better than he was though, possibly because she was on IV fluids.

How much are you giving her per day in terms of subqs? I'm not sure what to think about it sometimes because I've heard should never give more than 10ml/lb of body weight. But vets often prescribe way more than that. Ultimately I went by how he felt. He was prescribed 200 ml a day, and weighed about 8.5 lbs. He could handle that amount for two days, but if I gave it for a third day, he got very lethargic afterwards. Gave him 100ml for a few days and he seemed better. I figured if we were at THAT point with him, my goal was more to make him comfortable than anything else. I would go with your gut on it and tell your vet if you do reduce it. I normally wouldn't say that but I've been there/done that. Or you can do it the other way if it makes you more comfortable to speak with the vet first.

The toxins will not make her feel pain so much, but from what I've been told will make her feel like she has a really bad flu. Basically will just feel really crappy, to put it in my vet's words. 

Birdie ate ablut 3/4 can of fancy feast last night drank some water. She is eating a bit ob greadfast. She is on pedpcid and now mirazapine and ceronia. She had an OK day. She is on 75 ml of fluid to 100. I only got in 50 today.  I was by myself and the needle came out twice, once when I went to open the line and once when she sat up. I couldn't do it a third time. Will give her a bit extra over 75 tomorrow, maybe earlier in the day. I'd rather give her more less often, but the vet said 75 to 100 a day. Too bad we can't have a group. We all live too far.

Excuse me, but can someone tell me what the purraise is? Is it people being nice, similar to a like on facebook?

yes at the bottom of a post there is a heart, If you click on it a window opens up and you can type a comment (but you don't have to) then hit the add to reputation button in the bottom left of the window that popped up 

MOD NOTE:  Here's an article explaining it:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/all-about-purraise

With the subqs, just do what you can. It took me almost two weeks to get it right, but in all honesty, I'm not sure if I got it right, or he was just too weak to fight me anymore by that point. But, it's really better to give it every day. I truly wish it worked along the lines of giving more at one time means doing it less often, but it doesn't. It would be akin to guzzling a gallon of water and hoping you don't need to drink any the next day.

It sounds like you're doing all the right things. Not sure if your vet talked about phos binders or not. I'm guessing you were told to feed her whatever she will eat? That's what I was told when he was diagnosed, and his creatinine was 8.3.

Yes, we talked about binders. At that point, she wasn't eating and  a binder was one more thing to make her not eat. We are on anything she will eat, but she is eating som NF (purina kidney food) it is not as exteme as the hills or canine. I can put Newmans and nf on a plate and she will eat both. Just glad she is eating. I do push small bit of water on her. I find that if she is staring ar awater bowl and I put  a small syringe of water in her mouth, she will start to drink a bit Again, I am trying to make her comfortable, but she is better than I expected. Tomorrow is another day. Thank you for the comments.

Birdie1953 said:

Birdie ate ablut 3/4 can of fancy feast last night drank some water. She is eating a bit ob greadfast. She is on pedpcid and now mirazapine and ceronia. She had an OK day. She is on 75 ml of fluid to 100. I only got in 50 today.  I was by myself and the needle came out twice, once when I went to open the line and once when she sat up. I couldn't do it a third time. Will give her a bit extra over 75 tomorrow, maybe earlier in the day. I'd rather give her more less often, but the vet said 75 to 100 a day. Too bad we can't have a group. We all live too far.

Click to expand...

I used to give fluids inside a carrier that opened at the top. He would sit in it and it helped keep him still.

@StephenQ  Lucky never would have sat still for that, even in a carrier. He would have jumped out with the needle in his back. I never heard him growl so much as he did during those first few sessions. And it wasn't because the needle was hurting him, the growling started the moment I picked him up because he knew what was coming.

@Birdie1953  I bring up a lot of this stuff because for some reason, vet's sometimes don't. If they do, it's great. And it doesn't make them bad vets, but some vets are so focused on test results they forget about the palliative aspect. Being thirsty and nauseous at the same time is the reason for the water bowl hovering. Does she show any other signs of nausea, like seeming to be very interested in food and then leaving it? I know Lucky would be all over sniffing the plate, and then would walk away looking dejected.

That's understandable regarding the phos binders. That's why my vet had me wait too on that.

Donutte said:

 
@StephenQ  Lucky never would have sat still for that, even in a carrier. He would have jumped out with the needle in his back. I never heard him growl so much as he did during those first few sessions. And it wasn't because the needle was hurting him, the growling started the moment I picked him up because he knew what was coming.

@Birdie1953  I bring up a lot of this stuff because for some reason, vet's sometimes don't. If they do, it's great. And it doesn't make them bad vets, but some vets are so focused on test results they forget about the palliative aspect. Being thirsty and nauseous at the same time is the reason for the water bowl hovering. Does she show any other signs of nausea, like seeming to be very interested in food and then leaving it? I know Lucky would be all over sniffing the plate, and then would walk away looking dejected.

That's understandable regarding the phos binders. That's why my vet had me wait too on that.

Click to expand...

Poor baby!!!!

How is Birdie doing? And how are YOU doing?

Birdie has been tolerating pretty well. She is eating some again. Maybe half a small can and some kibble. I even put some Trader Joe's cat tuna (just a bit) in her food. She will eat fancy Feast or Newmans (even with some kidney diet food mixed in)

She is on two anti nausea pills, high blood pressure and an antibiotic. She is walking around. A bit confusing. I thought I was just keeping her comfortable. Only problem is she gets hungry later in the day and is up at night a few times. I am getting really tired from not enough sleep. Glad to have her here and feeling a bit better. Day by day is what vet says.

Birdie1953 said:

 
Birdie has been tolerating pretty well. She is eating some again. Maybe half a small can and some kibble. I even put some Trader Joe's cat tuna (just a bit) in her food. She will eat fancy Feast or Newmans (even with some kidney diet food mixed in)

She is on two anti nausea pills, high blood pressure and an antibiotic. She is walking around. A bit confusing. I thought I was just keeping her comfortable. Only problem is she gets hungry later in the day and is up at night a few times. I am getting really tired from not enough sleep. Glad to have her here and feeling a bit better. Day by day is what vet says.

Click to expand...

While I agree that it is not a good prognosis at all, and definitely a day-by-day thing, I was a bit surprised your vet just seemed to give up on her so quickly. My vet, who never said it but the look on his face did, knew how bad it was but that we still had to try just in case, had Lucky put on antibiotics in case it was an infection. He just continued to get worse over the course of 16 days though and ultimately his numbers got a lot worse, and we had to put him to sleep. A good day here and there, and I treasured those so much, but there was a steady decline. A week after his diagnosis he really stopped eating altogether.

The thing with acute on chronic kidney disease is that while the chronic part is not curable, the acute part CAN be. It doesn't mean that it will be cured, it just means that it can be. I think it depends on many things, like what caused it, the general health and age of the cat, etc.

I honestly would feed her as much as she will eat, of whatever she will eat. Even tuna, at least at this point. Kidney cats prefer softer foods so I'd stick with minced or pate-type foods. Does she eat dry food at all? Lucky did, actually ate that the longest surprisingly. If so, leave it out for her to eat on her own whenever she wants. You almost have to throw out all ideas of what is healthy at this point. And kidney cats are probably better off eating something later at night anyway to help further fight the hyperacidity.

And just relax and rest as much as you can, when you can. I was exhausted when Lucky was sick. I don't even know how I kept going those 16 days to be honest, I just did though.

Donutte said:

 
And just relax and rest as much as you can, when you can. I was exhausted when Lucky was sick. I don't even know how I kept going those 16 days to be honest, I just did though.

Click to expand...

So true, it is pretty impossible but if you can relax and focus on having Birdie with you that is possibly the best thing you can do.  Our tension and stress passes through to our cats, and if we can relax it helps them to relax too, and feel safe in their home.  Good for both of you, gives you precious time together, and if you both happen to get a little sleep at the same time then all the better.  For you to look after Birdie you have to look after your self, however hard it feels.  

I am sorry to hear about Birdie and I know how exhausted you are...

Just wanted you to know I care...

Sheri, Lily and Bro