Vibes needed please - all 3 cats poorly

[katkisses]

Originally Posted by booktigger

Thanks everyone - Sam had his usual reaction at the sight of a needle, so while it was a bit harder, at least he still felt well enough to fight us. The rest of it went peacefully though. When we checked his mouth, the vet said it was about 4 times bigger than when he first saw it, which was only 3 weeks ago, and it was really affecting his jaw, which is why it was bleeding so often, so the vet was right about it being inoperable, and the fact it got so big so soon meant it likely was cancer. He had also lost a bit more weight. While I am still annoyed with the first vet for not picking it up, at least it meant I only had the last 3 weeks knowing he had a growth, and not nearly 3 months. I just can't help thinking we might have been able to buy him another few weeks if he had started ab's and Metacam sooner. The vet was really compassionate afterwards, and even expressed concern about me driving home, which I have never had before, and spent time with me talking through things. I will do a tribute to him soon, he was such a wonderful cat, RIP my little meerkat.

Molly will be seeing the new vet next week to be checked before she gets her next lot of steroids, and OScar is back at the vets today, I am taking him and his mum up, so will get to be in the consult room with them.

You did your very best, and that is all we can do.

It will never be easy saying good bye, but you did what was right.

It was his time, I am so glad that he didn't have to suffer. I have a couple family members that will not pts... and it is beyond heartwrenching. It's not fair to the animals.

Many that your others continue to improve. I know how stressful this must be. Rewarding, but extremely stressful.

 

[farleyv]

You certainly gave Sam every good thing in life. He is whole again over the Bridge.

His little soul thanks you for being so very good to him in his later years.

God Bless sweet Sam..Run and play at the Bridge.

And God bless you for your unending devotion to Sam and the rest of your dear friends.

 

[booktigger]

Thanks everyone, it is helping a lot knowing I got the timing spot on, and that he had a good last day (except for when he got grumpy, towards the end of the day)

KatKisses - my neighbours have let most of their animals go on too long, and I think that is why I am the way I am with my animals, I have seen too many suffer. I do let some of mine go a day or two early, but that is to ensure that they dont suffer, and I dont have any regrets with that, I would rather lose a week with them than make them go a day too long.

 

[farleyv]

Your last sentence are words we should all live by. I will remember that when I am faced with administering the "ultimate kindness"

There is Sams legacy.

Thank you.

 

[booktigger]

Your very welcome, and I am glad something good could come out of this.

Zi has been sick again this morning, a week after she was last sick, I have given her some Zantac, but really reluctant to get anymore, she keeps foaming after I give it to her, and I also dont want to her stop coming near me, as if I can't give her her Metacam, she cant/wont eat. I did notice her fur was looking a bit separated last night too, but she didn't seem dehydrated. The vet wanted to do bloods, but I am reluctant - partly due to selfish reasons, I dont want to know at this moment if her kidneys are getting worse, and partly cos if they are, I am not sure what else we can do - she can't take Fortekor, her dry food is renal (which is the majority of her diet), and she is picky with renal wet. There are only binders in her wet, but she is very picky about her wet food, so I dont want to stop her eating it completely. My only aim when I got her diagnosis was to get her to her birthday, which was last week, so it is ironic she starts being sick more frequently around that time - it is 5 months since her diagnosis though

 

[otto]

Originally Posted by booktigger

Thanks everyone, it is helping a lot knowing I got the timing spot on, and that he had a good last day (except for when he got grumpy, towards the end of the day)

KatKisses - my neighbours have let most of their animals go on too long, and I think that is why I am the way I am with my animals, I have seen too many suffer. I do let some of mine go a day or two early, but that is to ensure that they dont suffer, and I dont have any regrets with that, I would rather lose a week with them than make them go a day too long.

I agree completely. Too soon is better than too late.

Originally Posted by booktigger

Your very welcome, and I am glad something good could come out of this.

Zi has been sick again this morning, a week after she was last sick, I have given her some Zantac, but really reluctant to get anymore, she keeps foaming after I give it to her, and I also dont want to her stop coming near me, as if I can't give her her Metacam, she cant/wont eat. I did notice her fur was looking a bit separated last night too, but she didn't seem dehydrated. The vet wanted to do bloods, but I am reluctant - partly due to selfish reasons, I dont want to know at this moment if her kidneys are getting worse, and partly cos if they are, I am not sure what else we can do - she can't take Fortekor, her dry food is renal (which is the majority of her diet), and she is picky with renal wet. There are only binders in her wet, but she is very picky about her wet food, so I dont want to stop her eating it completely. My only aim when I got her diagnosis was to get her to her birthday, which was last week, so it is ironic she starts being sick more frequently around that time - it is 5 months since her diagnosis though

I did not know Zi had kidney problems? and your vet has her on metacam? What the heck? I know metacam is approved for use in cats in the UK, but why would a vet put a kidney cat on metacam? Did your vet not mention to you that metacam is known to cause acute kidney failure in cats?

Or..is this a "last resort" type of thing? Meaning, it's metacam for pain, or let her go? Sorry if you've already talked about this. I am just so against metacam use in cats, I haven't said anything before because I didn't know Zi was CRF, but I was shocked to read this.

 

[booktigger]

Yeah - I kept her off it as long as possible (we have tried numerous glucosamine supplements, but she refused to eat any of them after a few days, this is the only thing she has tolerated and that is only cos i syringe it into her mouth), but when told she had a dodgy hip as well as the limping in her front leg, I reluctantly put her on it, and now can't wean her off as she doesn't eat otherwise, she manages less than 24 hours without it, so it is that or let her go, and she is otherwise happy. Her bloods were done last April and her Urea was just slightly high (12.9, top end of scale 9.9), but she had had an upset tum the week before, so vet wasn't worried as everything other than her cholesterol was normal, she went on Metacam in Oct/Nov, and I took her with suspected kidney issues in December, I thought the Metacam was the problem, but when she had repeat bloods done 3 months later, her kidney values were better, her creatnine was just within normal (274, top end 277, she was 293 in Dec), and her urea was better than last April, 12.4 from 15.9, so the vet was happier about her being on it. Because of the MEtacam, she can't have Fortekor, so all she is on is renal food, and her wet food is normal adult.

Trust me, I dont like Metacam either - mind you, I dont like Steroids either, and both Sam and Molly were on them. Seems ironic that all 3 were on drugs that I absolutely hate, but it is keeping them alive.

 

[otto]

Well quality of life is the bottom line.

And, if metacam can give her that, even if it shortens her life, but lets that life be comfortable, then I agree that it would be worth it.

 

[booktigger]

It is, but I do wish i had never put her on it, as her kidneys obviously got worse so quickly (even though they have since appeared to be better, although she has never had a urine test, so the vet said they could be slightly false), and hypocritcal as it may sound, I do still advise people against using it. I am not overly bothered by shortening her life, at the end of the day she is 20, so long term has a completely different meaning, but I would hate someone with a young cat to end up with that diagnosis, and I do advise people with young arthritic cats to use glucosamine supplements as long as possible, it isn't nice knowing your cat has an incurable illness caused by a medication you opted to use. I have even tried every other day with her, but it affects her eating too much. WE did try a tablet anti-inflam that is supposed to be kinder on the kidneys, but typically she wouldnt take them!!

 

[booktigger]

Molly had her three month check up this week, it was a locum vet who is very nice, she had put a bit of weight on (although that could be partly due to bloating), and overall he is happy with her, she doesn't need to go back for another three months - I mentioned that I had had another cat with intestinal lymphoma and she went downhill very quickly despite being on a higher dose of steroids and he said that each cat is affected differently, and that they can have a more benign form, which is still serious, but obviously gives them longer, so hopefully that is the case with Molly, as it is 4 months since someone thought her tummy didn't feel right, I only had Mabel for 5 weeks and the rescue hadn't noticed any diarrhea while there, and it took nearly 3 weeks to show here. She is happy in herself and eating well (getting a bit more demanding for food, but then she has always been a very food orientated cat, despite being a small cat).

Zi is getting quite fed up with being syringed Metacam, I am going to give her a few days of it in high fish content food (She got wise to that the other week), and is a bit wary as I have been brushing her lumps out - she is the only cat I know who can get lumps on her head - she is shorthaired!! Her breath is quite stinky again, but the Convenia didn't really help her much, I feel like we are fighting a losing battle with her gingivitis, nothing seems to help, althoguh it can be caused by kidney issues, so maybe that is why. I got her some different food from PAH, she isn't eating loads of it, but still loving her renal dry, although I caught Ellie eating it this morning, so not sure how much of it she has had this week, I have been amazed at the clean bowl, but now suspecting Elllie!!

 

[otto]

Mouth odor, as you said can be a symptom of the kidney disease progressing rapidly, or she could be forming an ulcer in there, which will be very painful. She's a fortunate old girl to be with you who cares so much.

 

[booktigger]

Just tried to check her mouth, she squealed as i opened it and ran away from me!! She is due for repeat bloods at the end of June, so I might bring them forward to be on the safe side. Unfortunately I struggle getting antibiotics into her!!

 

[katkisses]

Many more for you and the kitties.

 

[booktigger]

Her results are back - I dont have the exact numbers, the vet just said they aren't that much different to last time, except she was just within the normal range last time and she isn't anymore, so she is back in mild renal insufficiency. Her phosphorus was low last time and isn't anymore, so the vet thinks that is good (I'm not too sure, personally). I also got a urine sample, as it makes testing more effective apparently and he was happy with that. I asked him about feeding her the high fish content foods, and he said not to - so she got a full pouch when she got home (well, she had been starved, locked in one room all day and then had bloods taken!). Now I know the results, I am still going to do it one day a week, as it is the only food she will take her Metacam in without noticing, and the only food she will eat a full pouch of. Am not sure whether to do repeat bloods in 3 months (the only reason I do 3 monthly rather than 6 monthly is because of her being on Metacam, and that was what I thought had caused the kidney issues - the vet did say it might have. The irony is that she still limps, but I am reluctant to put her up to the next dose of Metacam, as that is the highest we can go with her weight, and is a lot riskier to her kidneys, especially if she loses weight, as it only has a narrow therapeutic safety margin, so overdose can be seen at small overdose levels). At least things are looking better than they did in December.

 

[python]

Aww. Booktigger. I sympathise, I really do. Sometimes it's so hard to know what to do for the best.

I had to use Metacam (only short term and a small dose) with Poppy (she's coming up for 10 years old) to reduce inflammation in her eye as she has a corneal ulcer. Just waiting on the lab results of that as we're not sure if it is a recurrence of the Herpes virus she had as a kitten (cat flu) or if she's been scratched by one of the other cats - she's a bit of a madam and thinks she rules the roost!

We have also had problems with Snowy - he took a stroke the other night but is much improved now, although not quite himself yet. He's 12 years old.

Three weeks ago we had our beloved Lucy (you'll remember Lucy - our lovely Tortoiseshell and White who nearly died 5 years ago - when I first joined this forum) PTS. She was 22.

Everything seems to happen all at once.

Sending healing vibes your way

 

[otto]

Thanks or the update on Zi. How is her mouth?

 

[booktigger]

Am sorry to hear you are having a rough time of it Python.

He looked in her mouth and didn't really say much, although it is very stinky. The convenia didn't really do much, so not much point putting an extra med in her system.

Molly hasn't eaten as much this weekend, but it is very warm here, so hopefully that is all, but her tummy feels a bit bulgier than usual. OTher than that she is her usual self though.

 

[booktigger]

Have had a really bad weekend with Zi - she has been so grumpy that Ellie has been batted round the head numerous times (and most of it for trying to get past her to get to me), her fur near her back legs isn't looking great, just tried to groom her and got bit for my troubles, she is also looking really thin on her back end this weekend. Her walking looks funny from the back (although she is still managing stairs and stuff), but when i gave her last nights Metacam, she moved at the wrong point, and part of it went over my arm, and I didn't want to give her anymore as I didn't know just how much she had had. Am going to ring the vets on Mon and find out just what her blood results and weight was

 

[farleyv]

They always seem to move at the wrong time. As always, continued vibes and good thoughts and prayers going up for you and your kids.

God bless.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

My old Sven is the same way, when we go to squirt his medicine down his throat, he moves, and the medicine ends up everywhere but in him. Plus, his "ankles" and feet were looking really ragged, and I tried to groom them and he bit me too! (didn't really break the skin much, but it shocked me, because he's usually my teddy bear cat). AND, his back hips lately are so bony looking...more than usual. But, he loves getting a bath and blowdry at the groomer, so we took him in and even though he is now so frail (kidney cat), they said once again he enjoyed it immensely, and they said I would not believe the amount of fur that came off him, since he wouldn't let me near him with a brush

. Anyway, now he looks SO much better, albeit still skin and bones.