need info from someone with CRF/anemia experience plz

hi
i have searched for this information but can't find it

i have a 19yr old CRF cat (who also has IBD and allergies)

she is not yet anemic but her hematocrit is falling.

the vet was talking about procrit and from what i have read, a cat needs to have frequent blood tests if they are treated with that for non regenerative anemia.

i need at least a ballpark figure of what is involved


my old girl gets extremely stressed out if she has to leave the house, so i am debating if we even want to go down that road.

anyone with experience?

No experience but lots of vibes .. and a suggestion to find a vet who makes house calls///

Patrick ended up with a fairly low hematocrit, but not low enough for when my vet believes in beginning to use epogen - there are risks to using this, but we would have risked it.

Here is a great site on the topic of anemia and crf kitties and all treatments, if you scroll down it does get to the topic of epogen/procrit etc.
http://www.felinecrf.org/anaemia.htm

I used Pet-Tinic plus a second vitamin b supplement from Twin Labs.

Have you joined the support group for crf kitties I've mentioned here in the past (sorry don't recall)? They really are the best.

Patrick passed on this Spring, but I still have two kitties with crf, one newly diagnosed, and they are/will be monitored re anemia developping.

One point, you'll see on the page I listed that they do NOT feel a crf kitty should have frequent blood draws as it can worsen the anemia. I didn't read the section, but believe the section on epogen/procrit should discuss how often to test while on the medication, to check it's efficacy.

best wishes to your sweetling,

hi and thanks, so sorry about Patrick!

well i have joined the crf groups and the anemia groups and i think because i have decided to not go as far as many others plan to, i have been pretty much ignored - or urged to do more than i am comfortable with-

i have a vet who will do house calls but on top of the normal cost for a visit ($38) and whatever blood work needs to be done (usually costs just over $100) he charged an extra $75 to come to your house.

that would be too much for me to handle even on a monthly basis- my monthly income is only $603!!!

i was able to get her sponsored thru a charity- she got a $500 grant and now that its used up they closed the case.

i do not qualify for whats it called? care credit, or something like that- because my income is too low.

but its not even JUST the cost, no one who knows this cat as well as i do, ever thought she would accept sub Qs, so she has already made it much further than we expected.

she still will refuse fluids when she should be getting them twice a week and i have to wait a few days longer til she is so dehydrated she wont fight me.

this is a cat who gets so upset if she does not get what she wants, she will stop eating and drinking completely and hide. so whatever we do, has to be on her terms

she is afterall 19 yrs old- it would be different if she was younger.

she is already quite weak from the muscle wasting. she is steadily losing wt. (but slowly)
she sleeps almost all the time, only waking up long enough to eat, drink and use the litter box, pretty much
she still enjoys being brushed, she does not like being petted any more. maybe because she is so boney.

i have emailed her vet to see if he can give me some idea what to watch for to know that she is nearing the point where we have to stop because going any further without additional treatment would lead to her suffering.

so the sad thing is, we may have to err on the side of making the decision earlier rather than wait to see how she fares.

she is senile, sometimes cannot make it to the litter box on time (which is not a problem for me, her urine is so dilute its almost like water) i have covered the beds she sleeps on with extra blankets under the sheets the absorb any accidents before they can get to the mattress itself

i had read that cats are very upset about these accidents but truthfully she did not even seem to be aware that she had "wet the bed".


its almost a good thing that i do not have an endless supply of money because we all agreed that the decision on how far we would go is up to her.

it will be hard for me to accept, but i promised her i would not do things that she found intolerable.

she is already on transdermal meds (expensive also) because she is impossible to pill
her pepcid ac is a compounded chicken flavored liquid that she is not thrilled with but will accept once in awhile.

and i have to add, that my health needs to come into the equation at some point-
i have not been able to sleep for more than 2 hrs at a time for the past 3 yrs.

i am exhausted all the time
if she is not getting up to eat, she gets up and wants me to reassure her that she is not alone and to help her to the litterbox because she forgets where things are, esp when she first wakes up


i had a blind diabetic CRF boy two years ago, and people were horrified that i had me PTS when he was still able to eat, drink, use the litter box and walk around

but he was so senile that when he got up, he would walk in circles. his eyes had serious issues and would cause him pain. giving him daily fluids did not keep him hydrated in spite of his values not being too bad. his diabetes was never regulated, even with a three shot a day schedule.

so he was euthanized before many others might had done it. i thought i waited too long, his vet said i had chosen the right time
but i had a hard time finding any one else who supported my decision

i think that is the problem i am running into on these other boards, the decision to let your cat go BEFORE they reach the point of suffering, is not well accepted.



but i have to do what is right for her.

it sure would be nice to get some support though


sigh

Catnapt~

While I've never had a cat with CRF, I empathize with your situation. It's never easy to make the decision to have a pet PTS.

Quote: "so he was euthanized before many others might had done it. i thought i waited too long, his vet said i had chosen the right time
but i had a hard time finding any one else who supported my decision.
i think that is the problem i am running into on these other boards, the decision to let your cat go BEFORE they reach the point of suffering, is not well accepted.
but i have to do what is right for her.
it sure would be nice to get some support though."

Here's my perspective...

I come from a medical family. While technology enables us to prolong life far beyond what used to be possible, there comes the point when you need to ask, "Just because I CAN do something, does that mean I SHOULD do it?". I agree that there are many people who subscribe to the belief that every last ditch effort should be tried, regardless of the suffering it puts the animal through, in the off-chance it stretches out their life for a few more days/weeks, etc.

I firmly believe that quality of life for the animal (or person) should be the top consideration when faced with these difficult decisions. If the animal sleeps all the time, doesn't enjoy interaction, seems in pain, etc etc, then IMO, it's time to let go. As you know, whenever the time comes, you'll be sad and grieving. However, if you've made the decision about when based on the best interest of the animal and not yourself, you'll at least know you did what was right for your pet.

My dad always counsels patients and their families by saying "This is a one ballot election. There's one voter- the patient. There can be as many vote counters as you'd like, but only the patient gets to decide the course of treatment." In this situation, you are the voter. Family, friends, and Internet chat room posters can have their opinion, but they all should respect the wishes of the voter... especially since you're acting in the best interest of your pet.

Good luck and positive vibes to you on this difficult journey. Know you have at least one vote counter who will support whatever decision you make.

thank you so much

this has been a lonely journey!!!

Originally Posted by catnapt

thank you so much

this has been a lonely journey!!!

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I am sorry you've had a rough time. I hope you do not belong to the list I am on, as I'd be very disappointed to hear this is how someone felt received. The list I am on has wonderful old timers and moderators who know their stuff, and also know that no one knows your cat as well as you do.

The list that I belong to has good tips on saving money re where to order supplies (including pet-tinic). The site address I gave you also has an excellent section on how to know when it's time.

I would not let any cat of mine suffer through end stage just to be at home when they pass..sorry, can't do it, we are talking a painful death. But I also learned that my cats will tell me when, and so long as they want to be with me, and I can help them be with me comfortably, then I do all I can.

Your girl's attitude sounds to me like she still has a bit of life, I wish you all the best as you share this remaining time with her, I know the decisions aren't easy, and the care can be exhausting.

I dont have any CRF experience, but I fully understand your decision with your other cat - I prefer to let my cats go sooner rather than later, and my neighbour has made comments on 2 of them, but I had to do what was best for them, not for me. Snowy was eating and relatively happy (did a couple of odd things the day before though) but the vet had warned me that she would feel like she had the hangover from hell constantly - I dont get hangovers, so went home pondering that one - went out, got drunk and had the hangover from hell, couldnt even have a drink of water without wanting to throw up, and I knew then that I couldn't put her through that, however well she looked, that was no life - and a sort of selfish reason was that I was warned she could have gone downhill at any moment, and I didnt want to come home and find her suffering.

I lost a cat Zeppy, 2 years ago to CRF. He was diagnosed at 15 years old, and started really showing signs when he was about 17 or so. I, too, had a really hard time with it. I tried going the vets route with different food (he wouldn't eat), giving meds to stimulate appetite (he foamed at the mouth), so I asked my mother what I should do. She said (i know this is weird, but since we are talking about hangovers...) if you have an alcoholic dying of liver cancer, give him top shelf. So I went back to the fancy feast and things were fine for 2 nice quiet years, at 17, we started sub q... and he liked that a lot. And then he let me know it was time.
Basically, people will always have something to say... ALWAYS...
You should have heard people, they couldn't believe my cat was still alive... but people are not in our or our kitty's shoes.
It just really comes down to our baby's quality of life and ours as well. I do know as I have been there, and if you read my other postings will see i am there now. You really need to trust your judgement, as well as your vets and your cats, but never ever get down on yourself, anything choice you make will be out of love... otherwise you wouldn't even be on this site!

thank you

i am going to see what i can do to get more sleep, things always look better after some really restful sleep

i have been trying to find someone who can come in and stay the night, just one night, to take care of her so i can get some sleep

heck even someone who could come over for 4 hrs and let me sleep!!

but everyone is afraid to- although all she really needs is food and reassurance
in her own home.

Originally Posted by catnapt

i have been trying to find someone who can come in and stay the night, just one night, to take care of her so i can get some sleep

heck even someone who could come over for 4 hrs and let me sleep!!

but everyone is afraid to- although all she really needs is food and reassurance
in her own home.

Click to expand...

You may well have already looked into this, but a lot of time vet techs are willing to do home visits outside of work. They should have the skills and experience to watch your baby while you get some sleep.

hi and thanks
yeh the pet sitters and vet techs will only come in for 15 min visits, they do not do several hours at a time

what she needs is someone to be there when she wakes up, so she does not wake me up

i can't put her in a room by herself, she would absolutely panic.

but thanks for the suggestion