My cat has kidney disease and is suffering. Is it time to say goodbye?

Poor Zoe! Usually CKD is a condition more associated with older cats. Obviously I can't see her blood work so don't know how bad she is in medical terms. However, it is very hard to know how long a cat with CKD has. Sometimes it is months, sometimes years. If she is comfortable at the moment I would let her be and monitor the situation. If her signs worsen and she starts vomiting and being unwell you ought to consider putting her to sleep. However, there is no reason why she can't travel to your new home with you if her signs are still manageable.

Hi and thanks for posting! The time each cat has when first diagnosed with chronic kidney disease does vary on the age of the cat and stage of the kidney disease. Cats that have this can do very well with great supportive and supplemental care. Kidney disease can be managed with prescription diets, certain kidney friendly vitamins, SQ fluid administration, and blood pressure medication if needed. While kidney failure is not typically painful, other secondary issues they can acquire may be, such as urinary or lung infections. Sometimes kidney disease can cause nausea which can be uncomfortable but not necessarily painful. Nausea is often treated in these patients with anti vomiting medications. Kidney failure patients may pass in their sleep, but not always. They can develop serious complications from compromised kidney function which can lead some owners to humanely euthanize them towards the end due to decreased quality of life. I hope this helps you and I thanks again for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Part of this decision should be based upon how Squeakers is doing clinically and how bad or not bad his values are. In general, if kidney disease is caught early on, it responds very well to treatment. Most of the time, treatment is simply a diet change to a kidney friendly, prescription diet. Pet’s where the disease is more advanced, may need to take a pill to decrease protein loss through the kidneys and they may need subcutaneous fluids on a daily or weekly basis. For cats with more advanced disease, they may need hospitalization and IV fluids to see if they will recover. Again it all depends on the blood values and how the pet is doing clinically. Most cats with kidney disease, if caught in time, will live an average of 2 to 3 years of quality life after diagnosis. This is variable though. Some pets progress quickly and others live longer than 3 years. You don’t know until you try. I hope this helps to guide your decision making. You can also find a fair amount of information about kidney disease on this website. Use the search feature. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

If you guys suspect Zoey is having kidney problems, I recommend to have her examined by the veterinarian within the next 24 hours. if kidney disease is caught early, it can often be successfully managed with a special diet. Here is a link about kidney disease with excellent information: https://www.petcoach.co/article/kidney-disease-causes-signs-diagnosis-and-treatment/ Please feel free to post any additional questions.

Poor Zola. I am so very sorry she isnt doing well. Unfortunately I do feel that her non response to treatment is a negative prognostic indicator. As far as studies, for a young dog in renal failure, the outcome is not good unfortunately. But it depends on the cause. Did she get in to grapes? Antifreeze? Was she tested for Lepto? I would say to try another 24 to 48 hours and get more information about potential cause of the kidney failure

I'm so sorry Lucy has been diagnosed with kidney and liver disease. Unfortunately I would need to know a little more about her particular case in order to give more specific advice on treatment and prognosis. Acute kidney injury can be caused by toxins or infections, and with aggressive IV fluid therapy and hospitalization sometimes the kidneys can recover full function. Chronic kidney disease happens more slowly, and while diet changes and monitoring for secondary problems like high blood pressure can help slow the progression of disease there is no cure. ALT and cholesterol can increase for a number of different reasons - gastrointestinal infections, pancreatic disease, and liver and gallbladder infections would be a few. It seems like her kidney disease is likely more significant at this point. If you have more specific questions you can consider starting a consultation with an expert or repost your question with a little more detail about her history and current treatments.

I am so sorry that Toby is so ill. Actually as long as he is happy there is no need to let him go. Seizures usually do not hurt, but they can make tired. I think you should just "listen" to him. One day he will stop eating drinking and having fun. When that day comes, you can give him the gift of painless relief of his suffering. But until then there is no reason to end his life. Listen to Toby, he will tell you when it is time. I wish you many more months and hopefully years with him!