Worried about my kitty

Ariel, my most sweet cat, is not looking so good. He was Dx with CRF early this year and he appears to have taken a turn for the worse while we were out of town. He appears to have lost even more weight, his eyes look dull and he's just not doing right. So I have a vet appointment in 30 minutes.... I need to round him up in just a minute. I'm hoping he just needs fluid therapy... so far his bloodwork hasn't indicated it was necessary. But I had one kitty that had an acute kidney shutdown and I'm... worried. I'll let y'all know what happens. Think good thoughts for him. He's the cat I brought back from Spain with me and I love him dearly. He was a late kitten, all skin and bones when I found him and it was touch and go at first. I'm afraid, at 14, that stress may have caught up with him.

The only thing I love as much as birds are cats. I hope your kitty gets better and I'll definitely be sending healthy thoughts!

Sending you posi-vibes ~~~~~

Wishing the best for Ariel

Poor kitty Please keep up updated!

Will keep your kitty in my thoughts. We have three and have lost 2 in the past so I know how hard it is when they get sick...

Poor Ariel, keep my priers too

Thank you all. The news isn't great -, He's in overnight but his kidney function is poor and the prognosis is guarded more later when not on phone. I can only hope the IV will kick start his kidneys. Feeling
ery sad and worried now.

Keeping you in our prayers,Jake,Josie and I

henpecked wrote:

Keeping you in our prayers,Jake,Josie and I

Tell Jakey-poo thanks for me. Oh, and thanks to you guys, too!

Thanks to all of you. He's like the best kitty ever, but I'm not terribly hopeful and am feeling guilty and depressed. It seems as if everything went downhill in 6 days, but probably I wasn't paying enough attention... his bloodwork was great in April and terrible now. Even when she admitted him, the vet didn't think things were that bad, but... hopefully the fluids will give him a new lease on life.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

(...)I'm not terribly hopeful and am feeling guilty and depressed.(...)

Deb, you shouldn't. You gave him the best care, a long life and love and I bet that kitty is fighting for his life to stay longer with you.
I know it's hard...

Margaret wrote:

ScooterNScotty wrote:

(...)I'm not terribly hopeful and am feeling guilty and depressed.(...)

Deb, you shouldn't. You gave him the best care, a long life and love and I bet that kitty is fighting for his life to stay longer with you.
I know it's hard...

I'm with Margaret. You know they hide illness well.

patdbunny wrote:

I'm with Margaret. You know they hide illness well.

I know... birds and cats, why do we love them? But it's hard not to think about the coulda shouldas. Without me, he probably wouldn't have lived to see 2, so there is that...

We lost a cat here a couple of years ago, same kind of thing. He was 14 or so and a great cat, saved him from a farm. I have an idea how you feel, Deb. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

I've got all the hope, faith, and good vibes I can muster coming your way. Nothing like the love of a good cat.

Thanks guys. He'll probably be hospitalized for a couple more days before we know anything. He's doing OK, but not eating for them yet. I'm planning to go visit later this afternoon.

Hey, have you guys seen the AT&T commercial with the vet's office? That's our cat vet! (they don't really treat birds, pigs or snakes). Her longtime partner retired (and apparently sold the practice to someone else) and she recently opened her own practice. So you can see he's in good hands.

The tall red-headed guy is Ben, formerly vet tech extrodianaire and now office manager. He once brought our kitty Nikki out from the back room and we enthusiastically greeted her with her nickname "Stinky". He looked at us and said, absolutely deadpan, "Well, you could just call me Ben". Cracks me up every time I think of it.

So, they pulled blood again today and it's slightly better but not great. At least his BUN is now measurable. With the IV running and a bunch of meds on board, Ariel is looking much much better. He sat on my lap for a while and then ate a bunch while I was sitting with him. I have a little hope he may get to come home, but not a great deal. He'll stay an inpatient until Monday morning and then we will see what his blood work is doing. I have no problem doing subcutaneous fluids if he has enough kidney function for a good quality of life that way. I'm just not sure he will. I'm so bummed because in April his function was just barely into the impaired range, and it just plummeted to zero, presumably while we were away (I THINK I would have noticed if he was that bad before we left). Anyway, I appreciate all your good energy.

Since I just finished explaing to the techs why I have a male cat named Ariel... it's after the spirit in Shakespeare's "The Tempest". It's pronounced Are-ee-el, and Prospero found the (male) spirit Ariel in a cloven pine -- I found my Ariel under a bush at the entrance to the canteen at the Villafranca Tracking Station in Madrid. In retrospect, it was a tactical error, that name, since everyone thinks he's a little mermaid....

Here is a photo of him, he's the one on the left, the large black and white monster is Pepe Le Pew.

Your kitties have just made it to the top of my catnapping list.



He's beautiful! I hope he pulls through and gets to come home.

KayLayUh wrote:

Your kitties have just made it to the top of my catnapping list.

Oh nooooooooo!!!!! I never thought of you as a cat burglar! Maybe if I post cute pictures of Nikki, you'll come and catnap her! She is absolutely gorgeous, and she's a very happy cat, but she just does not want to be handled by humans AT ALL. She actually lets my husband pet her from a fully outstretched arm distance, but since I'm the one that catches her to take to the vet and clip her claws, I don't get to touch her unless I hunt her for half an hour. Then when I finally get hold of her she goes totally, wierdly submissive. She's positively cuddly when at the vet's office, but that's the only time I ever get to pet her. We got her at just about a year old from a rescue. All we really know is that she was confiscated from an extreme hoarding situation at about 8 weeks of age and spent the rest of her first year with the rescue. She was described as "a little shy". I'm guessing she didn't have enough human contact during those first weeks and that she is essentially feral in that respect. Oh well, at least she's a happy healthy house decoration. She loves Ariel and is missing him... Here's a snapshot of those two:


'

I have a scar on my arm from handling a cat like that. He's terrified of hair dryers and an aunt turned it on while I was holding him, scratched up my whole arm.



She's a cutiepie, too. The only animals I love as much as birds are cats.

Nikki is GORGEOUS, but my mind is on Ariel. I'm very anxious for an update. I don't know how I missed this thread until just now, but I did. I don't care much for cats in general, but regardless of opinion about the species, I care deeply about my friends' family members. I'm sending kidney healing energy westward as I type. Please keep us posted...

Thank you Vicki! I'll know more on Monday.

Thinking of you and your buddy!

Kitty news not great, now waiting for results of abdominal Xray. Kidney values still very low -- he might do well for a few weeks on fluids just on that basis. However, he now has increasing white blood count and swelling (prob lymph node) in the abdomen. If it's an infection, treatment may be worth it, if it is cancer...I don't think treatment would be in his best interest given the kidney situation. Feeling very sad.