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My 17-yo cat was diagnosed with early kidney disease last summer at her checkup. Her semi-annual checkup in December showed she progressed to stage 2 and we started SQ fluids twice a week. I did not notice much improvement or a change in her after giving fluids like I expected. The last few weeks she has been eating a lot less, so I took her to the vet last week. Her kidney disease progressed rapidly to stage 4 and kidney failure, much faster than I ever expected and I am completely devastated.
Instead of hospitalizing for IV flushing right away, we opted to start antibiotics in case an infection was the culprit (pending culture results which may or may not shed light) and treat her at home with aggressive fluids, cerenia and mirataz. Her respiratory rates are good, all around 20. She had been doing well the last few days until she barely ate anything yesterday. I understand if she stops eating, we will have to hospitalize her and am looking at bringing her in today if she doesn't eat something soon. If the antibiotics haven't made a big difference, then it seems we are not dealing with infection, but rather, something that cannot really be fixed.
I'm wondering what the possible outcome is for her coming home from hospitalization. I understand flushing the kidneys can rid her body of toxins, help the kidneys function better and make her feel a bit better in the short-term, but longterm, she has still lost a lot of lost kidney function and that isn't going to change. Is she going to wind up in this same scenario again in a few weeks, a month down the line, two months? Of course, no one knows what might happen, but I guess I wonder, is it worth putting her through this now to buy us a little more time? I don't want to give up but I don't know what to do and having a difficult time making decisions.
I'm just wondering if anyone has experiences of similar cases to share or just general support. It's so hard to imagine life without her but I don't want her to be ill for my sake and I'm cautious of pushing too far. I guess I'm not even entirely sure if I'm facing the end soon or not, which is making it extra hard to see what's best.
Please no judgment for our decisions, we made them with the full support of the vet, lots of consultation and discussion and consideration what was best for us and for Amber, and we thought the home care approach was worth trying to reduce the stress on her being in hospital as long as she was eating. If it were pancreatitis or something else curable, then I'd have had her in there in a heartbeat.
Instead of hospitalizing for IV flushing right away, we opted to start antibiotics in case an infection was the culprit (pending culture results which may or may not shed light) and treat her at home with aggressive fluids, cerenia and mirataz. Her respiratory rates are good, all around 20. She had been doing well the last few days until she barely ate anything yesterday. I understand if she stops eating, we will have to hospitalize her and am looking at bringing her in today if she doesn't eat something soon. If the antibiotics haven't made a big difference, then it seems we are not dealing with infection, but rather, something that cannot really be fixed.
I'm wondering what the possible outcome is for her coming home from hospitalization. I understand flushing the kidneys can rid her body of toxins, help the kidneys function better and make her feel a bit better in the short-term, but longterm, she has still lost a lot of lost kidney function and that isn't going to change. Is she going to wind up in this same scenario again in a few weeks, a month down the line, two months? Of course, no one knows what might happen, but I guess I wonder, is it worth putting her through this now to buy us a little more time? I don't want to give up but I don't know what to do and having a difficult time making decisions.
I'm just wondering if anyone has experiences of similar cases to share or just general support. It's so hard to imagine life without her but I don't want her to be ill for my sake and I'm cautious of pushing too far. I guess I'm not even entirely sure if I'm facing the end soon or not, which is making it extra hard to see what's best.
Please no judgment for our decisions, we made them with the full support of the vet, lots of consultation and discussion and consideration what was best for us and for Amber, and we thought the home care approach was worth trying to reduce the stress on her being in hospital as long as she was eating. If it were pancreatitis or something else curable, then I'd have had her in there in a heartbeat.