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story said:
The Auld Warrior would immediately go outdoors and roll around to get the smell of the vet off. If it was raining he’d just sit in the rain til he was wet through.




I woke at 5:00 and lay awake with no clear idea about what had woken me. Then the quiet padding of paws and the proud leap onto the bed with the movements that make it obvious : he had a rodent.

Light on, specs on, just in time to see a baby rat half way eaten, only the hind quarters, legs and tail remaining. There was discernible crunching.

Big wet paw prints on the sheet, but not a drop of blood or a scrap of fur.

I’m thinking “How many of these feasts I slept through…?”

I wish he wouldn’t involve me.
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Oh yes! And if BD had brought-in a rat, a certain, "distinctive" smell.

Which TBH, I smelled more often than all the times I found dismembered rat bits laid-out beside me on the bed!

The cleanly dissected nose was probably the worst 🤢
 
pogofish said:
Oh yes! And if BD had brought-in a rat, a certain, "distinctive" smell.

Which TBH, I smelled more often than all the times I found dismembered rat bits laid-out beside me on the bed!

The cleanly dissected nose was probably the worst 🤢
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Raedwald left me a perfectly decapitated mouse head in the middle of the kitchen floor one time.
I think he must have been watching The Godfather.
 
We've had some of Jakey's blood test results back.
As suspected, significant decline in renal function - we're still waiting on urine results which should clarify whether there's any infection playing a part in that, but it seems likely he's now in the final stage of his CKD.
This isn't unexpected, he's been on Fortekor for over 2 years now, and the expected delay in progression of CKD by using Fortekor (which is an ACE inhibitor that lowers blood pressure) is up to 2 years, so he's done really well on it.

If the urine results show no infection, then we can opt for IV rehydration - Angel, our vet, said we can do that either for a couple of days at the main vet hospital, which is going to be ker-ching expensive and we can't really afford it, or they can do it as an outpatient at our usual vet clinic, which would be the option we'd go for as without overnight stays that would be the more affordable option. From then on, occasional subcutaneous fluids at home - this works like a form of kidney dialysis for cats, flushing toxins out of the bloodstream, and is possible because a cat has loose skin so you can just inject a bag of fluids under the skin and it gets absorbed into the bloodstream, it doesn't need to be done into a vein like it would in humans so can be done at home once you've been shown how to do it.

I am happy to at least give this a try, as Jakey is very easy to handle and do medical stuff to, I can't imagine he would be very stressed by this, so it's worth a go to see if it's feasible.
 
No need for sad faces just yet, we still have maintenance options if it is his CKD, he still seems like a very happy cat who wants cuddles all the time.
We'll find out more tomorrow or Thursday.
He's nearly 18 which is really old for an "oriental" type cat (not due to being a pedigree or inbreeding, just due to cats in the far east evolved a bit different and tend not to live as long on average as bigger, burlier cold-adapted variations of Felis catus) and I think he's still got some life left in him. Not years, but while he's happy I'm going to provide the medical support for him to carry on being a happy little thing.
I made a decision a while back that if anything went wrong with him that required invasive procedures or distress (or permanently being on medication that meant he didn't know what was going on - the stint he did on gabapentin was a low point but fortunately temporary) we wouldn't put him through that, but that's not come up so far, fortunately. And he's OK with regular vet visits and being handled.
 
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May Kasahara said:
My MIL's cat Oscar, who was a magnificent peach-coloured floof, always used to leave the arse. Also on the kitchen floor. Advisable to wear slippers when staying at theirs.
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It doesn't matter does it how pretty or floofy or even unlike a wild cat they look - the ones that are just a round mass of fur like a pom pom are just as deadly as the sleek and slender ones that look like mini panthers :D
 
story said:
The Auld Warrior would immediately go outdoors and roll around to get the smell of the vet off. If it was raining he’d just sit in the rain til he was wet through.




I woke at 5:00 and lay awake with no clear idea about what had woken me. Then the quiet padding of paws and the proud leap onto the bed with the movements that make it obvious : he had a rodent.

Light on, specs on, just in time to see a baby rat half way eaten, only the hind quarters, legs and tail remaining. There was discernible crunching.

Big wet paw prints on the sheet, but not a drop of blood or a scrap of fur.

I’m thinking “How many of these feasts I slept through…?”

I wish he wouldn’t involve me.
Click to expand...


Cat has refused his dinner. He ate every scrap last night.

He has been asking for treats all evening. I have refused to give him any more treats.

He has now humphed off into the night. I suspect he will be dining on chassé les rongeurs sous la lune d'automne.
 
story said:
Epona

I don’t think I’ve ever had such concern for a cat I didn’t know personally before now. My thoughts are with you and Jakey. And Nate too.
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Part of what makes him such a fantastically great cat is that he loves everyone - if you met him, he'd be straight on your lap purring his little heart out and wanting to be stroked under his chin.
When people visit, he goes to each lap in turn.
He's nervous of men when they are standing up, always has been, I think he might have got a paw or tail trodden on when he was little, but once sat down he'll include them in his rounds.
He's so incredibly gentle - he has scratched me once by accident when I was trying to get him in the carrier and he was struggling, and he accidentally caught my mum's finger with one of his back claws when she was on our sofa with her hand on the arm of the sofa. He's clumsy, he's never ever deliberately scratched or bitten anyone, and his vet notes say he's gentle and just to give him treats to distract him if he needs anything done to him. So he's even a nice polite and gentle cat when he's at the vets.
He's so incredibly stupid and clumsy it's not even funny though, so many near misses with him missing a jump and he is a complete idiot in lots of ways - he wasn't breathing when he was born and I think had a bit of birth anoxia as a result.
 
He is so thin now though - don't worry, I make sure he is happy, not in pain, I constantly go through in my head what is best for him.
But when you stroke him you can feel every bone in his body bless his little heart. When we first got him he was a chubby thing nearly 6kg, most of his life around 5kg, now just over 3kg :(
I don't know where he finds energy to run around, which he still does a bit.
I'd never try to keep him alive if I felt he wasn't still getting enjoyment out of life, which I am fairly certain he does. And he sees a vet regularly and all his care and welfare needs are discussed with the vet.
But he is skin and bones bless him.
 
Epona said:
He is so thin now though - don't worry, I make sure he is happy, not in pain, I constantly go through in my head what is best for him.
But when you stroke him you can feel every bone in his body bless his little heart. When we first got him he was a chubby thing nearly 6kg, most of his life around 5kg, now just over 3kg :(
I don't know where he finds energy to run around, which he still does a bit.
I'd never try to keep him alive if I felt he wasn't still getting enjoyment out of life, which I am fairly certain he does. And he sees a vet regularly and all his care and welfare needs are discussed with the vet.
But he is skin and bones bless him.
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Aw, he sounds such a lovely cat. Our Paddy, who also has CKD, is very skinny now (despite having a good appetite) and looks 'old'.

We had our neighbour round last Friday, who hadn't seen him for a while, and he commented that Paddy was looking old!

I wish I knew his real age. He should be 15 or 16 according to the age the rescue charity estimated when we got him, but he could be older. He's definitely aged in the last year or so, but still appears to enjoy his food, and a good old stroke, and being combed. In fact he parks himself at the end of the bed every night at a regular time, and starts shouting if my OH doesn't get the comb out and get to work :D

Like you, we make sure he appears OK as we don't want to prolong his life if he's not enjoying it. I do sometimes wonder if he's about 18 though.
 
oryx said:
Aw, he sounds such a lovely cat. Our Paddy, who also has CKD, is very skinny now (despite having a good appetite) and looks 'old'.

We had our neighbour round last Friday, who hadn't seen him for a while, and he commented that Paddy was looking old!

I wish I knew his real age. He should be 15 or 16 according to the age the rescue charity estimated when we got him, but he could be older. He's definitely aged in the last year or so, but still appears to enjoy his food, and a good old stroke, and being combed. In fact he parks himself at the end of the bed every night at a regular time, and starts shouting if my OH doesn't get the comb out and get to work :D

Like you, we make sure he appears OK as we don't want to prolong his life if he's not enjoying it. I do sometimes wonder if he's about 18 though.
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Some cats do get kidney disease younger - it's really prevalent in cats once they are over about 12 so if they get it at that age they can look really skinny by the time they are 15 - part of what makes them look old and skinny is once the kidneys start leaking protein, it gets to a point where the body starts breaking down muscle mass for protein to use. Plus being on a low protein diet (because eating protein will cause more damage to already damaged kidneys) and they can quite quickly end up looking very bony as their muscle mass just depletes, so it's normal to be able to see the femurs and parts of the pelvis in a cat who has had kidney disease for a while. There's not a lot you can do about it, because giving more protein will just damage the kidneys more and not go towards making muscle.
Jakey was incredibly muscular when he was younger and it's mostly that that's gone. Weakness around the hind quarters is also not uncommon as a result of the loss of muscle, and that can make them look very bony and a bit frail, can't jump as high or run as fast. It's really important to monitor how happy and content they are - my Jakey has always loved sitting on my lap for cuddles as one of his best things, and he's glued to me and while he mithers me for head rubs and kisses I feel like I know he's OK if that makes sense.
 
Epona said:
Some cats do get kidney disease younger - it's really prevalent in cats once they are over about 12 so if they get it at that age they can look really skinny by the time they are 15 - part of what makes them look old and skinny is once the kidneys start leaking protein, it gets to a point where the body starts breaking down muscle mass for protein to use. Plus being on a low protein diet (because eating protein will cause more damage to already damaged kidneys) and they can quite quickly end up looking very bony as their muscle mass just depletes, so it's normal to be able to see the femurs and parts of the pelvis in a cat who has had kidney disease for a while. There's not a lot you can do about it, because giving more protein will just damage the kidneys more and not go towards making muscle.
Jakey was incredibly muscular when he was younger and it's mostly that that's gone. Weakness around the hind quarters is also not uncommon as a result of the loss of muscle, and that can make them look very bony and a bit frail, can't jump as high or run as fast. It's really important to monitor how happy and content they are - my Jakey has always loved sitting on my lap for cuddles as one of his best things, and he's glued to me and while he mithers me for head rubs and kisses I feel like I know he's OK if that makes sense.
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That's very useful to know, thanks. Fortunately, Paddy seems to like the renal food!

I wish he was as compliant at the vet as Jakey. He's a very gentle cat but the only time he gets a bit fighty is when the vet takes blood from his neck vessel.
 
oryx said:
That's very useful to know, thanks. Fortunately, Paddy seems to like the renal food!

I wish he was as compliant at the vet as Jakey. He's a very gentle cat but the only time he gets a bit fighty is when the vet takes blood from his neck vessel.
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My Sonic died (well we had him put down before he started to suffer but ykwim) of kidney failure that hadn't been picked up on blood tests 6 months before and came on suddenly and I would say one thing to look out for is really really bad breath - when they get to a point where they can't rid themselves of toxins any more, their breath starts to smell very faecal and it's really quite noticeable.
I would say as long as their breath doesn't smell too bad, they're not in end stage yet and there's a chance for some sort of maintenance regime, so just whenever Paddy is near your face try to get a whiff of his mouth, and if he develops very bad breath treat that as urgent.
 
Epona said:
My Sonic died (well we had him put down before he started to suffer but ykwim) of kidney failure that hadn't been picked up on blood tests 6 months before and came on suddenly and I would say one thing to look out for is really really bad breath - when they get to a point where they can't rid themselves of toxins any more, their breath starts to smell very faecal and it's really quite noticeable.
I would say as long as their breath doesn't smell too bad, they're not in end stage yet and there's a chance for some sort of maintenance regime, so just whenever Paddy is near your face try to get a whiff of his mouth, and if he develops very bad breath treat that as urgent.
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Thanks, that's useful to know.
 
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