My cat died of suspected kidney failure, have you experienced this?

Question

My beautiful cat whom I've had for seventeen years was put to sleep last night by a vet.

For a while she'd been going downhill, but was still so, so loving. Only that morning she had jumped on my bed for a snuggle.

Late yesterday I had discovered she'd vomited a clear, foamy vomit. I also noticed blood drops on the floor - she had blood in her urine and couldn't control the dripping. As any responsible pet owner would, I rushed her to an emergency vet clinic. I was then told that if I was to medicate her, it would only prolong her life, not make her better. I was given the option of euthanasia and after assessing my fear of losing her, to her pain, I chose the right option: to have her put to sleep.

It happened so fast and I'm shocked. I just NEED to know if I didn't chose to have her put to sleep, would have the blood in the urine have stopped? Did I make the wrong decision? I just miss my cat so much and would like to hear from anyone who has experienced this.

I can't thank all of you enough. I have tears running down my face at your kindness. Thank you for helping me through this loss - this has made such a huge difference.

I buried her under our mandarin tree with a jumper I made her.

Answer 1

I have just been reading the answers to your question and it has helped me make the very difficult decision for my cat Blue. He has had ongoing kidney problems for along time now and just spent 3 more days in the animal hospital on IV. He's had a lot of stays there. We are so reluctant to put him down because he is only 4 years old and such a beautiful, loving cat. Also we have his brother who will be lost without him..they are so close. We brought him back home, hoping he would come around, but he is only getting worse. We cannot watch him suffer anymore and are taking him back to the vets today to be put to sleep. We have cried oceans of tears but we love him enough to let him go.
Thank you for showing us that our love for him , as your love for your's...makes it the right thing and the best thing.
Thank you and God bless.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

There are two main types of kidney failure: 1) Acute Renal Failure which usually kills a cat pretty quickly, and 2) Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) where a cat can live for several years after diagnosis. I have a cat that was diagnosed with CRF 2.5 years ago and is doing very will with just diet changes. Some cats will need more help than that like sub-q fluids, etc. but most cats can live with CRF for quite some time. The links below have a lot of good information on proper diets for cats in general and cats with kidney failure. Don't be afraid to ignore the vet's advice and NOT feed your cat k/d. That is bad food.

Answer 4

you d id the right thing. At 17 she's lived a long, full life and I can tell she had lots and lots of love. Kidney failure is a common problem in cats, especially elderly cats. Had you done nothing, she would have died slowly and painfully. As for medication, it would have given her a few more uncomfortable months, not quality of life which is what you wanted.
Take comfort in the fact that there was really nothing you could have done to prevent this and that she had an absolutely beautiful life with you.
In a few months, when your heart has healed a bit, get another kitten and start over again (before you get a kitten think: "Do I want a new cat or do I want my old cat back?" Make sure you really want a new cat - nothing will replace your beloved cat until you meet again over the rainbow bridge.)
I'm so very sorry for your loss!

Answer 5

I had the same experience last fall. I had a little bit longer notice. She became dehydrated from urinating so much that we gave her IV fluids. It was only a couple days later that we had to put her to sleep. Once the process of kidney failure starts it can not be reversed. In other words you did the right thing.

I am so sorry about your friend, my cat was also 17 years old.

Just remember all the good times and after a while the pain will get better.

Answer 6

Kidney failure is common in older cats. Had she been to the vet for regular checkups? At seventeen, she should have been having blood panels run every six months to catch any potential problems early.

Common treatment for kidney failure caught in early stages is subcutaneous fluids. This is a simple process that takes about 5 minutes and your vet can teach you to do it at home. Your vet was right to tell you though that this will only prolong her good kidney function, as there is no "cure" for kidney failure. In some cases, it can add months and even years of good quality life.

If your cat was in the late stages of kidney failure before it was detected, hospitalization and IV fluids may have given her some more time, but there is also her quality of life to consider. In the end only you can make the decision to euthanize and only you know if it was the right time.

In the future, make sure all your cats have their regular vet check ups and hopefully any potential problems can be detected early on and dealt with while there is still quality time to be had.

Answer 7

I am so sorry for you, I send you a hug. I had the same thing happen with an older kitty. He was not looking good at the end, and he was peeing blood. You did the right thing, and you are a wonderful loving person. You did not make the wrong decision, she was in pain and it was probably humiliating for her. I hope that you will get a new cat (not as a replacement) but because there are so many cats waiting for a loving home like yours. You are full of loving kindness, I wish there were more people like you!

Answer 8

I am so sorry for your loss. I completely understand what you are going through. I went through a similar situation last November with my 4 year old kitty and still wonder if I did the right thing. She was very ill and treatment would have prolonged her life not necessarily make her well. It is a tough thing to have to do but the right thing for your baby. No sense in prolonging the inevitable and your kitty suffering in turn. Eventually you will come to know you did the right thing. It sounds like gave your baby a wonderful home and have many memories; a comfort in itself. Best of luck to you and time will heal.

Answer 9

An annual blood panel is strongly suggested for cats over age seven. It can show changes in body chemistry before overt sign of disease appear, and one of them is the beginning of the shift in blood chemistry that signals the beginning of kidney failure. A change in diet and, later, medication can keep kidney failure under control for quite a long time.

In the end, though, kidney failure always wins. Unless some injury, cancer, or acute illness occurs, most old cats die of kidney failure.

At seventeen, your cat was just about at the end of a cat's normal lifespan. (Cats can live into their twenties, but that's pretty unusual.) Kidney failure makes cats feel very bad, they don't want to eat, and at the end it is painful, with sores in the mouth and seizures.

I feel that with a diagnosis of terminal kidney failure in a seventeen-year-old cat, you did the right thing by selecting euthanasia before her existence became miserable and painful. It is the difference between extending life and merely prolonging dying.

I'm so sorry about your cat, but you must have given her good loving care for her to have lived seventeen years.

Answer 10

I lost my beautiful Kizi to renal failure on 7/31/04. I still miss her desperately.

Renal failure is chronic, progressive, and incurable at this point. There are treatments that can prolong life and improve quality of life for a time, but only the pet owner can know whether those would really benefit their particular cat. For Kizi, it meant the last year or so of her life, every morning, she got a bit of her favorite treat (about a teaspoon of baby food smeared on a saucer) and while she licked that off, she got an infusion of sub-cutaneous fluids. She was a very easy to handle cat (for me - for the vet or anyone besides me, she was a terror). So I was able to do this for her and keep her healthy and comfortable for an extra year. For most cats, though, this treatment can be very difficult and traumatic. My new kitties, for example, don't like to be held, and to be held still for 15 minutes with a needle in their shoulder dripping fluids into their body - they'd think it was torture. So for them, I would probably have chosen to end it much sooner.

Toward the last month, Kizi slept a lot more and lost weight. One morning, she suddenly started wheezing and showing signs that fluid was building up around her organs- her kidneys were no longer processing the fluids properly. I scooped her up and took her to the nearest vet, who told me they could still buff her up and send her home but she'd probably need the same treatment again in a few days, a week at most. Kizi HATED the vet, so I knew her time had come. Quality of life was now too low to be worth it for her. I had decided that when the time came, when she was suffering and I knew that in her situation, I would want to die quickly, I would give her that gift.

I held her while she died, and I still break down when I remember. I hate that I had to choose to end her life. I had hoped she would die quietly in her sleep one day. But you know, she lived a lot longer with me (and yours lived a lot longer with you) than she would have in nature. I gave her a long, healthy, happy life, and I feel I did what she would have wanted me to, had she understood her situation.

I'm sure your kitty would have wanted you to do the same for her, give her the best life possible for as long as possible, and then a quick, painless death rather than slow suffering.

You did the right thing.