Hello there
I don't get on here to post much at the moment, but I always check the pets pictures every day. Today I had a quick look at Cat Health and saw your post.
I remember how I felt a year ago when my Cleo was diagnosed with high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism and kidney disease. In a word, devastated.
A lot of confusion and questions and reading and crying. I sense that you went through something similar, just from reading your posts, I thought I could sense that reaction - forgive me if I'm being presumptious.
Cleo started medication for the high BP and hyperthyroidism, it was then that the extent of the kidney problem was unmasked, once these conditions were under control. That's quite common. Cleo was nearly 17 at that time.
During the summer (Christmas and just after, here in Australia) she was really off her food and lost weight. The heat and humidity of the Sydney summer really affected her. She was not on fluids then. She started fluids around February, I think it was, once a week at the vet. I was going through some legal wrangles at the time and just couldn't cope with the thought of doing it myself, I was just so wrung out with everything it was a relief to have someone take over anything for me. In hindsight I realise my stressed state affected Cleo. So what I guess I'm saying here, is the more relaxed and steady you can be, the more routine and calm your life is, I think it will really help Cosmo. I really think Cleo was distressed at MY distress over her and everything else that was happening at the time.
Giving the tablets became a routine. We have a special song we sing when it's time (well, I sing it!) and she takes them like a good girl, just the occasional spit when I don't get it right on the back of the tongue. She also has Chinese herbs and potassium supplement and now I am mixing in a little Green Lipped Mussel extract into the liquid potassium supplement for arthritic joints as she is a little stiff after resting. I just tip her head back and squirt in 2ml with a syringe and hold her head back till I hear her gulp. She knows what she has to do, and just gazes into my eyes the whole time, trustingly and lovingly.
I learned to do the fluids myself after all my dramas were past and I could mentally take it on board. It was very scarey at first but I did it at the vets several times then at home. Cleo went up to fluids twice weekly, now she has them three times weekly, about 100ml at a time. She is eating really well and even eats the kidney diet biscuits with gusto, now. She is not fond of the wet kidney diet, as are most cats apparently, it is just so boring and tasteless, the vet tells me.
We do the fluids together now with much ease and confidence. She sits still and afterwards I brush and comb her once or twice a week. I figure that apart from keeping her coat nice, the gentle brushing acts like dry skin brushing does on us, helping to remove toxins. Also it will help the lymphatic drainage which will also help remove toxins.
She felt the cold badly in winter and hugged the heater a lot. I made her a little polar fleece coat. She eats really well and has put on weight. Cleo will be 18 in December and everyone is amazed at how young she looks and how well she is.
Please, if I may say so, don't give up on Cosmo. Kidney disease is usually quite far advanced in cats before it is detected (I'm sure you know this now from reading all the websites) so at first they do feel wretched - and so do we and they pick up on that. Once stabilised and into a routine of fluids plus any medication they might need to address concurrent conditions (quite common), they seem to recover well and become much more their old selves. This year has been very precious as Cleo and I have become even closer than we were and she has found a deeper level of love and utter trust in me. We will both know when it is time. When she no longer can eat or drink or toilet or if she ceases to respond to fluids and is just miserable, I will give her the most loving gift of all, release from misery. I lover her too deeply to let her suffer.
This has been such a poignant time for me I have felt unable to share it until I sensed what I believed was despair and confusion as to the best course of action, in your post.
I do hope things are going well now for you and Cosmo and your other cat and dog have become supportive. My other cat, Colette, cuddles up to Cleo and helps to groom her - she teases her too and makes her run for a bit of exercise!
Take care and thank you for reading our story and thank you for posting so that I felt able at last to share the preciousness of this year since Cleo was diagnosed. Sorry if I've rattled on a bit, I am not renowned for brevity!!
Here is a picture of Cleo at her trip to the vet when she weighed in a little heavier, she's wearing the coat I made her.
Good luck.
TopCat
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