Prayers for my four legged furbaby

As I've mentioned on this board, my Persian kitty has to be put under anesthesia tomorrow for teeth cleaning and possibly extractions. As is normal procedure, they had to draw a blood sample first. Well, the results came back and I got a call from the vet this afternoon. Whiskers has CRF (Chronic Renal Failure) and his kidneys are functioning at 25% capacity. It's a terminal illness, but the vet said not to panic because it's possible, with proper treatment and care, that he can live a few more years. It isn't guaranteed, of course, but it isn't necessarily a death sentence.

That being said, this puts an extra strain on him as far as getting surgery tomorrow. They can't anesthetize him like a normal cat because of his condition, plus there's now a greater risk of complications. They're going to have to give him extra fluids, change the way they do some things, and they'll have to keep him a bit longer than planned. Plus, provided things turn out okay with tomorrow's procedure, we will both have to make some drastic changes. His diet will have to be changed, he will have to have extra veterinary care and I will have to begin administering fluid injections to him on a regular basis because animals with CRF get dehydrated a lot.

I'm really, really concerned because he's lost a pound from not eating, and just hasn't been himself. Let's just hope the teeth cleaning, etc. takes care of a lot of his issues, and that it isn't the CRF that's making him so listless.

Please pray that everything turns out okay. I couldn't bear to lose my baby, not right now.

Will do.

So sorry DK. Will pray for him and for you.

I know how I would feel if it was my baby. Praying for you both.

Thanks for the prayers! The little guy made it through the procedure, but they had to extract two of his teeth. Because of the infection, they didn't suture them so they told me to give him soft food for a couple of days.

He's still kinda drugged up, groggy, cranky, won't let me take his IV bandage off and insists on eating my other cat's crunchy food, even though I've tried several different foods moistened to help him be able to eat easier.

I feel like I'm taking care of a crochety senile old man.

I am glad he is home. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

DonnaKat wrote:

I feel like I'm taking care of a crochety senile old man.

Not senile, just stubborn. Time to break out a couple of cans of Fancy Feast. A lot of cats simply won't touch dry food that isn't dry.

I'm glad the old fellow is back home and feeling better.

how's the kitty today, dk?

Canned tuna!

That's just it, he won't eat wet food or dry food that's been wetted. He won't eat table food, either. Unlike my other cat who wants EVERYTHING, he turns his nose up at things other cats love...tuna, milk, homemade chicken, etc.

He absolutely would NOT let me remove that bandage, so I had to drive him back up to the vet this morning to have it removed. They said his leg was swollen and probably sore. I'm sure having that bandage on all night didn't help, either.

I just got home from work and the first thing I did was give him his pain medicine. Now I think he officially hates me.

Poor hurt kitty. Talk about being old and set in his ways. Will he eat the dry food that's been broken or crushed up some?

Nope, I tried that too. He nibbles, but that's about it.

I'm hoping he will eat more when his mouth begins to recover.

On the other hand, my other cat LOVES his renal control food. She was nomming on the moist stuff earlier. At least if she's ever diagnosed with it, I shouldn't have any problems getting her to eat.

I'm sure that you've tried hand feeding. Even when my Tigger is refusing to eat, he'll lick turkey baby food or vanilla ice cream off my fingers. Once he gets a taste of it that way, he'll eat a few bites off of his plate. I'm sure your baby will eat better when his mouth is more healed. Is he drinking? Maybe he would like a little beef or chicken broth.

DK - I just saw this thread. Glad your kitty made it through. I'm sure his appetite will come back when he feels better.

Hand feeding doesn't seem to work either.

He wants crunchy food, so this morning I decided if he can chew it, I might as well give it to him. When I had my wisdom teeth cut out, I was eating solid food the next day and I had four great big holes in my mouth. The main thing is getting his strength and weight back up. Once that happens, I can deal with his stubborn eating habits.

He did nibble a bit on the prescription food too.

I hear marijuana gives the user appetite.

Catnip makes cats high, would that help?

DK, by the time you come up with a good solution, he'll be out of pain back to his grumpy old self. At least he's nibbling something.