Not again!

Now Emily is at the vet's, waiting on her blood work to return. They suspect either kidney or liver failure. They are keeping her to monitor her food and water intake and output, as it is so difficult to do for a single cat in a household of many. The best way to describe Emily is by understanding the "Pengy" story. She bonds with me and some of the cats in the house, but is a terribly shy girl.

I'm just stunned. I don't know if I'm jinxed or a bad mom. We lost Tigger last month (cardiomyopathy), Shep earlier this year (stroke) and Bogart last year (CRF). My d*mn intuition is telling me that we will soon loose Emily. My intuition is unfortunately usually right.

I am beating myself up real bad right now. None of the illnesses for any of these cats are related in any way, but there is a deep down nag that perhaps there is an underlying stress in the household from having so many that is putting stress on these cats and bringing on illness that they wouldn't have if they lived in a lesser cat household. For the first time in my life, I'm seriously considering adopting some of my babies out so that they can live a better life with fewer cats.

I know - deep breath and wait for the blood work to return.

How old is dear Emily? It might be stress or just her genetics.

I'll send happy and healthy kitty vibes to you and her.

Emily is only 4 years old. Usually too young for kidney failure and the scary thing is that I've seen liver failure in cats this age. That scares me more than anything else.

Oh poor baby, she is too young. But I will keep hoping for the best.

Oh Amy, you have been through so much lately
For what it's worth I don't think any of it is your fault, you are a good mommy to your furbabies.

Sending mega get well vibes to Emily and postitve vibes for the blood work results.

I am saying a prayer that this time your intuition is wrong. And sending you a hug. I understand how you feel, I truly do.

and a prayer that it will not be as bad as you think

Oh no! I hope all turns out better than you are thinking. You must be heartbroken with so many losses in such a short period of time....PLEASE try not to blame yourself. That sure won`t help anyone.
I know it sounds trite to say that sometimes when it rains it pours and these tragedies could happen to any of us at any time....but it is true.
You love your babies...and they all sure sound like iceolated , unrelated cases.
I don`t know why you have had to suffer so much grief , but I truly am sorry.
I`ll be praying for your Emily.
Please let us know what the vet finds out.
Linda

Best wishes for both you and Emily that this situation is reversable.

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Now Emily is at the vet's, waiting on her blood work to return. They suspect either kidney or liver failure.

I know - deep breath and wait for the blood work to return.

Click to expand...

Emily will be in my prayers.

Awww, don't feel bad! Don't even stress over this. Honestly, I think it's a curse when good people like you, and I actually take care of our animals. I often think, if I didn't take my pets to the vet, maybe they would be healthy. That's just jokingly of course, but it's like. I have a neighbor across the street, their cat had 3 litters, they were up to 15 cats at one time, now they are down to 6. All of them are outdoor, none of them get their vaccines updated, none of them get flea control. They are covered in fleas and ear mites. Yet they live forever. They had a dog live to be 18, a medium sized dog, granted her last few years she was bald, and suffering, but she still lived. And she NEVER went to the vet. It kills me, how I can do everything possible for my animals, and yet across the street, NONE OF THEM have problems. The biggest problem one of them had was a hematoma in its ear.

While of course, my cat has massive food allergies, my dog has food allergies, and my horse has a million different problems. The only one healthy at this point in my house, is my new puppy. And that could change I am sure.

Honestly, I don't think it's anything you're doing. These things happen. It's just the coarse of life. I'm not religious, but maybe there's a life lesson to be learned, or maybe your babies are being called to serve a better purpose. Honestly, you sound like a really GREAT pet owner. You shouldn't doubt yourself.

The bloodwork is back. Renal failure. Her Bun is 236 (normal 30) and her Creatin is 11.5 (normal 1.8). This is grim. They are going to keep her at the vets on fluids and an appetite stimulant over the weekend and see if it improves her numbers.

She is only 4 years old. I don't run blood profiles on cats that young so don't know when this started, but her symptoms came on fast, almost like she crashed overnight. The first sign I noticed was 3 days ago when she started drinking a lot of water. She was still eating, in fact chowing her food. The next day she didn't eat, got glassy eyed, and lethargic so I brought her in.

This is so common in older cats but why one this young? Does anyone have insights with young cats with renal failure? Why so fast?

*sigh*

Originally Posted by Momofmany

The bloodwork is back. Renal failure. Her Bun is 236 (normal 30) and her Creatin is 11.5 (normal 1.8). This is grim. They are going to keep her at the vets on fluids and an appetite stimulant over the weekend and see if it improves her numbers. She didn't eat overnight but drank a lot of water.

She is only 4 years old. I don't run blood profiles on cats that young so don't know when this started, but her symptoms came on fast, almost like she crashed overnight. The first sign I noticed was 3 days ago when she started drinking a lot of water. She was still eating, in fact chowing her food. The next day she didn't eat, got glassy eyed, and lethargic so I brought her in.

This is so common in older cats but why one this young? Does anyone have insights with young cats with renal failure?

*sigh*

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Amy,

There are several folks with young cats - at least in one case it is ARF (Acute Renal Failure) not CRF - best resource I know of besides the website I always post (www.felinecrf.org) is the support group I belong to. If you need the address let me know and I'll email you.

I will hope it is arf and that you can get her through this crisis.

Thanks Pat - I'm at the site reading now. The fact that this hit her fast looks like ARF, but what triggers ARF doesn't fit here. She's an indoor cat with no exposure to any of the toxins suggested. The other triggers like heart problems could be a possibility. Her CBC wasn't back with the report but her potassium was high. Her temperature is below normal.

I went up there this afternoon to bring her favorite food. She wouldn't eat for them but ate for me while I was there. I brought up her bed and she gave me a purr when I put her on it. She looks absolutely miserable and I cried the whole ride home.

Back to reading.....

Awww, Amy, Emily will be in my thoughts. What a nightmare for you. Could she have been born with malformed kidneys? This was several years ago, but I remember one of my students had a young cat (2 or 3, as far as I recall) that went into renal failure, and it was determined that she had 3 very small kidneys. I'd never heard of that, but I suppose anything is possible.

Anything is possible right now. The more I read, the more I realize that we are doing exactly what is right for her right now. Giving her fluids, monitoring her output (she is urinating thank heavens), and see if we can ride this out and her kidneys are not permanently damaged. If it is ARF, it can be a very grim prognosis but unlike CRF which is always terminal, there is hope of recovery.

The long wait begins.......

Originally Posted by Momofmany

Anything is possible right now. The more I read, the more I realize that we are doing exactly what is right for her right now. Giving her fluids, monitoring her output (she is urinating thank heavens), and see if we can ride this out and her kidneys are not permanently damaged. If it is ARF, it can be a very grim prognosis but unlike CRF which is always terminal, there is hope of recovery.

The long wait begins.......

Click to expand...

I will keep her in my thoughts, she's getting the best chance possible with all that you are doing.

I did find one site that gave a number of possible causes. http://www.gopetsamerica.com/cat-health/kidney-failure.aspx There are a number of things environmental and genetic.

Hugs to the both of you.

I`m still praying for Emily!!!
I`m sorry for both of you having to go through this!
Linda