I know how hard it is too with either a cat or a dog. It's almost like losing a human. Maybe that sounds awful but it's true. Haven't gotten another cat or dog for quite a few years now as it's so hard to lose them.

Our two cats (different times) were old and our two dogs (different times were old. Just awful to lose them

I'm sorry that you and your cat are going through this. I feel your pain and my heart just aches for you.

I lost my two last cats to kidney disease. The first passed at home, the second we took to the vet because I couldn't let him go through what the other cat had.

I wish I could say something nice to help you through this, but unfortunately I don't have the words you want to hear. I'm so sorry.

If you feel you need more input msarkie, we do have a pet forum at :
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum62.html

Praying you get the help you need to make the decision you must.

I would try giving the food in small portions. Many cats gag and
throw up when they eat too fast or too much. The hairball problem is everpresent with them. So with a sick kitty it would be hard to separate out that effect.

For the short term human foods are okay, but they don't have taurine in them which cats have to have. If you choose baby food or tuna and feed for any length of time you'll need to add taurine to it. (ask the vet for doses). This is cheap and you can buy it in health food stores.

It is really tough choosing when to put a pet to sleep. We've done it 3 times and it never gets easier.

Try giving smaller portions of food. It may stay down better.
Mix in alot of water with it too.

My son has a cat with malformed kidneys. He adopted her as an adult. He has taken her to about 7 vets in his college town and all had different advice. He had an ultrasound to diagnose it.
She is living on one small malformed kidney(they think the other is not working)! He found that using regular food for her was better than the restricted kidney type. She is much happier on regular. If you read the link I gave it sort of echoes that.

msarkie I am so sad to hear of your kitty being ill

I see Koala gave you the link to our pet forum...here itis again....many caring helpful members there http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum62.html

I also wanted to mention a catfood mix that saved our Shadow's life..... it is recommended as therapeutic by many vets and where Shadow would throw up most anything we fed him, and used to have severe seizures, now he is doing great.
Initially I was sceptical and not sure about adding the raw food, but honestly it has been miraculous! We had been warned by the vet that Shadow would likely die soon and he is now a robust healthy cat, ever since the food change!

Not sure if small amounts of this would help your precious Picabo.

I use chicken breasts that my meat market single grind for me and use 1/4 cup of the powder mix to 2 lbs chicken as that is what my vet recommended (the company suggests 1/2 cup per 2LB)
The mix may seem pricy at $49 a bag (the also do smaller $12 bags so you could get some and do a trial run) but it lasts long and I calculated it to be much cheaper than the regular petfood purchase over the same period

the THERAPEUTIC mix for sick animals is the Instincts PLUS one (in the gold bag) *not* the InstinctsTC one (in the black bag)

http://felineinstincts.ca/

they also have an article on kidney disease feeding
http://felineinstincts.ca/?p=1505

praying for you and your kitty

Everyone has given excellent advice. Cannot add much to it.

We did give our cat the Sub-Q fluids at the end of her life. As long as she was able to get up to greet me (she did not need to walk to me), I was going to keep her comfortable.

I have had many cat/dog loves. I think you will know when the animal tells you to let them have peace.

Makes me cry even as I type this. But the tears are full of great memories.

Well, after going through all the options in my head all weekend, I decided to start out with a blood test to see where we stand. So I took Picabo to the vet this morning and had bloodwork done. She definitely has chronic renal failure, but her numbers weren't too dreadful, although she had lost weight just since last week when we went for shots. The vet said if she were his cat he would want to try and treat her.

So they gave her 100ccs of fluid sub-q and showed me how it's done. I'm supposed to do it myself tomorrow. Wish me luck with that! She actually got loose even with the vet and assistant holding her and pulled the needle out and they had to re-stick her. There's some life in the old girl yet! She seems a little livlier than usual this afternoon, but boy is she annoyed with me. After the vet was done with her, while we were talking, she jumped down from the exam table, stalked off, and went into her cat carrier. She sat with her back to me all the way home.

I hope I can post a picture of Peek - so far I haven't been able to get any of my photos to post for some reason. She is a very dignified and ladylike cat who can walk across a crowded nightstand without knocking anything off. DH compares her to Grace Kelly.

Thanks to all of you for your support - it was a long, hard weekend. I think deciding what course to take was the hardest part. Once the decision is made, the burden is lightened a great deal.

I would love to see a picture!

Me too!

I'm so sorry that you and your kitty are having to go through this.

My little fur baby was in kidney failure and the vet. suggested we put her to sleep as she was only expected to make it a week or 2. My heart was breaking and I just couldn't do it. She (my kitty Friday) came to me when I was going through a terrible divorce and had become a guardian angel of sorts to me. With the help of my mom we did the IV fluid every day, put her on a special diet and prayed for what would be best for her.

I am happy to say that was almost 5 years ago and the vet is amazed everytime she sees her. There is no sign of failure or disease of any kind. From 6 pounds and barely able to move to an 11 pound of energy she is in constant motion playing with the other cat!

Here is a picture of Friday.



You are in my thoughts and prayers....just trust that whatever you do is the best for your fur baby.