Conference misery::feline_v1

4161.0. "Young cats can have kidney problems, too." by RTL::WILPOLT (Carrie Wilpolt, dtn 381-1884) Fri Nov 09 1990 18:08

I had to put down one of our two cats about six weeks ago, and
thought I'd share a little about her problem so that it won't 
happen to you in the same way.

Tuolumne (two-oll'-uh-me) was about 18 months old, adopted from
Hillsborough County Humane more than a year ago, usually quite
active but always a little skinny.  She had to be put down because
she had kidney problems and toxins in her blood had already built
up to severe levels.  The reason that the problem got out of hand
before we were able to do anything to help
is that cats of this age *rarely* suffer from kidney problems, so
the symptoms that she displayed over a period of months were always
attributed to other causes.  The vets feel that this was probably
a congenital kidney defect, and that too is quite rare.  But then,
she was a rare kitty. :-)

The sad part is that in hindsight, all of her symptoms are obviously
attributable to kidney disease.  I can't feel too bad about not being
able to help, though, because she saw the vet a week before she died,
and, like me, he did not identify the problem (we just decided to change
her from dry food to wet food to encourage weight gain. The vet DID feel
a bumpy kidney and this should have tipped him off to do blood tests.)  
If I knew then what I know now, of course, I would have asked him to do 
tests earlier.

Here are the symptoms.  
1. She drank a lot of water, always.  She LOVED playing with water. 
    Not a problem if that's the only symptom.

2. She started peeing outside of the litter box,
   usually immediately outside, but eventually she chose a stack of
   newspapers in the kitchen.  We had her tested for FUS, and she tested
   negative, so we began to try to treat the problem as a behavioral one.
   The thing to note here is that she *DID* respond somewhat to our training
   (positive reward for peeing in the box).  She really tried!  What a 
   great little kitty.
   **Our FALSE assumption** was that the problem was EITHER FUS OR Behavioral.
   In fact, FUS is not the only physical problem possible, but there really
   wasn't much in the way of other symptoms to cause us to have a blood
   test done.

3. She was always a bit thin, but we didn't expect her to start really 
    filling out until after she was 12 months old, since our other cat
    was similarly small until she got a little older.

4. One of the cats started vomiting up dry food, with varying frequency,
   but never more frequent than three times in a week, and usually less.
   In about a six week period, one of the cats (we didn't know who) 
   would vomit once or maybe twice one week, not 
   at all in the next two weeks, twice the next week, once the next week,
   and so on.  Our mistake was in not immediately separating the cats to
   figure out right then **Who is Eating What, How Much, and Who Is Losing
   What?**.  Especially after talking with my best friend, who is a vet
   in another state, I now feel that because cats are so subtle in general,
   it is very important to know WHICH cat is doing what, as soon as possible.
   If we had *known* that it was Tuolumne, we could have put the puzzle 
   together sooner.

The rest of the story is very sad-- she started going downhill very 
quickly in the week following her vet visit, and she stopped eating 
anything except cat treats (a bad sign in itself), and her interest
in water continued.  The vet was not able to see her in time-- she
had stopped eating on Wednesday, and I spoke to the vet on Thursday
afternoon and again on Friday, but I should have just brought her in again.
I took her into an emergency care place Friday night. We put her
out of her misery after verifying the diagnosis with blood tests.

To make things worse, my husband was out of town and wasn't there 
to say goodbye-- and we didn't have each other to cry on while we
grieved.

There is some question about whether I'd recommend the vet we used,
but I think the symptoms were spread out enough (and kidney problems
in young cats are unusual enough) that he could not be blamed for
missing the picture.  She really looked pretty healthy a week earlier,
and we had not figured out yet that she really had several important
symptoms that merited blood tests despite her age.  I did speak to 
him about it afterward, and told him that I thought that he should
*always* tell all clients what *all* of the possible "next steps"
might be.  He should have told us sooner that we could have blood
tests done if we got really worried-- then we might have just said
"go ahead and do them now", because we cared more about the cat than
about the fifty bucks (or whatever).  

Anyway, I don't want to start any "vet bashing" (really, please don't), 
but wanted others to hear what happened to us.  One of my biggest lessons 
was that cats symptoms are subtle-- and they try not to act sick if they can. 
So if you ever wonder whether to bring your cat in to the vet-- go
right away.

Oh, and now that we've moved to a new house and have the other kitty
(Kenai) settled, we're looking for a new, young kitten.  I know someone
has a black and white stray, but we *REALLY* want another black and orange 
kitty, like Tuolumne.  (i.e. a dark tricolor).   Send me mail if you
know of one.

--carrie

    I'm so sorry about your baby.  For whatever it's worth, I understand
    that kidney disease does not cause any pain until things are very near
    the end;  it sounds like you spared her that.  I do wonder a little
    about your vet -- my impression is that drinking unusually large
    amounts of water (excluding when it is because of a change to dry food)
    is something meriting testing for kidney disease or
    diabetes, but I also think it is not likely from your description
    that earlier detection would have helped.
    
    Hugs to you and Tuolumne in heaven,
    
    Karen, Sweetie, Holly, and Little Bit (and neighbor cat Tuolumne)
    

    Sorry to hear about your loss.....
    
    Re. - looking for another tri-color....Try Adopt-a-Cats/Concord,
    MA., they have many lovely cats available, and I remember seeing
    one that color this Sat.  They were at the Marlboro Cat show.
    
    L-

	We're sorry to hear about Tuolumne as well, especially since we went
	through something very much like this last August with C.C.  She had
	been drinking quite a bit, was losing weight, and eating very little.
	We at first thought that it was due to the high heat and humidity
	during the summer.  None of the cats was eating as much as usual,
	but C.C.'s fur was looking bad as well.  She became increasingly
	lethargic, and we took her to the vet's.  The first doctor who looked
	at her couldn't find anything, but suggested we bring her back for
	blood tests if there was no improvement within a couple of days.
	Two days later we brought her back and they tested her blood at that
	time.  Her levels were very high, but the vet suggested that he keep
	her for the weekend.  She was in kitty 'intensive care' for three
	days, on IV's and diuretics, and luckily, she survived. 

	I often think that if it wasn't for this file, and all the good
	advice and information that it contains, C.C. wouldn't be around
	today, as I wouldn't have picked up on her symptoms as early as
	I did.

	Sandy, Smudge, Tas, Jenny, C.C. and Beau

     We are also very sorry to hear about your baby...!! In August of the
    year,, I also lost  a cat to Kidney Disease. We will remember
    you and her in our prayers
    Kate, Happy, Preschie

    I have added Tuolumne's name to the Silver Lining Memorial List.
    I hope that helps a little.  For more info on the SLM see note
    2228.
    
    Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.  Hopefully it will
    help save some other kitty from the same fate.
      Nancy

    carrie...
    
    so sorry to hear of the passing of tuolumne.  it sounds like you did
    all you could.  cats do not want us to know they are sick, and will
    take great pains to hide it (and hide themselves if they are not well). 
    take care...
    
    diane, stanley & stella