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A Catastrophe, and a Fursuit
11 years ago
So as some of you know (if you’re following my twitter), I came home from vacation recently to every pet owner’s worst nightmare.
We’d had people house-sitting, but they hadn’t noticed my cat Iroh’s sudden, SEVERE weight loss (they were dealing with a family crisis while we were away, so I can’t fault them for being preoccupied with that). He weighed approximately 15 pounds when we left, and when we came home, he was 10. To be fair, Iroh has always had an unnatural attachment to me, and often when I go away for a few days, he will stop eating and become very lethargic, but it became obvious almost immediately that this was not a case of separation anxiety.
We took him to the vet a day later, and after a series of x-rays and blood tests the vet told us that he was dealing with massive kidney failure. He asked us the usual questions: has he had trouble peeing? how long as this been going on? how old is he?
We told the vet that the cat had been (and still was) peeing fine, although he wasn’t eating, we weren’t sure how long it had been going on, and that Iroh wasn’t quite 3 years old yet. He asked for clarification on this several times, because it’s almost unheard of for cats younger than 3 to experience this. After more tests we determined that it wasn’t because he had a blockage (either crystals in his urine, or thread/etc in his digestive tract), and likely not because of an infection. We’ve never kept lilies inside, there was no antifreeze around, and to the best of everyone’s knowledge, no tylonal has fallen on the floor.
Basically, it means that his condition is congenital, and there wasn’t anything that could have prevented it.
The last three weeks have been extremely stressful as we’ve had to rush him back to the vet twice, for 4-5 day stretches of IV treatment to flush his kidneys and keep his vitamins up (pumping him full of water because his kidneys are broken and he’s dehydrated all the time means that he pees out the vitamins he needs faster than he can replenish them with food alone- he’s anemic, low on potassium, etc). We’re doing our best to help him recover, but it’s been touch-and-go, and still is. After the last lengthy stay, the vet suggested we take him home (it was looking like we were going to have to say goodbye soon), because there wasn’t much else they could do, and nothing they could do that we couldn’t. So we’ve had Iroh at home ever since, and he seems to respond better here. At the vet’s he wasn’t eating or drinking on his own, but here he’ll eat a little, and drink a lot. We’re still having to force feed him twice a day, add supplements to his meals, and give him sub-q fluid injections, but overall he seems to be perking up.
The only blessing in all of this seems to be that he’s not in excessive amounts of pain. He’s certainly not at his best, and he rests a lot, but basically it’s been described to me as a really, REALLY bad hangover (headache, upset stomach, and general lethargy).
Through all of this (particularly his vet-stays, when I wasn’t sure if I was going to phone them the next morning and get the news that he hadn’t lasted the night), I’ve basically been coping by burying myself in work- it’s a lot easier to deal with the unknown when you have challenges to focus on. My particular coping method was twofold – I needed a distraction, and I also knew I was going to have a (horrifying) vet bill.
Which is why I built a new fursuit, which is being put up for sale (I may end up selling Pixi as well). I’d love to keep it myself, but given the choice between fursuiting and my cat, there… really isn’t actually a choice at all.
This isn’t meant to be an ‘emergency commissions’ thing. Or begging for help or extra funding. Just a frank ‘this is what’s going on, and why, and if you could please plug me/help spread the word about the auction that would be fantastic.’
Suit: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13702171/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13702296/
Auction: http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1057702.html
Thanks guys
If you have any pet stories you'd like to share, please feel free. ~<3
- Apoxon
---
Hoodie commissions are OPEN
More information here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5771889/
We’d had people house-sitting, but they hadn’t noticed my cat Iroh’s sudden, SEVERE weight loss (they were dealing with a family crisis while we were away, so I can’t fault them for being preoccupied with that). He weighed approximately 15 pounds when we left, and when we came home, he was 10. To be fair, Iroh has always had an unnatural attachment to me, and often when I go away for a few days, he will stop eating and become very lethargic, but it became obvious almost immediately that this was not a case of separation anxiety.
We took him to the vet a day later, and after a series of x-rays and blood tests the vet told us that he was dealing with massive kidney failure. He asked us the usual questions: has he had trouble peeing? how long as this been going on? how old is he?
We told the vet that the cat had been (and still was) peeing fine, although he wasn’t eating, we weren’t sure how long it had been going on, and that Iroh wasn’t quite 3 years old yet. He asked for clarification on this several times, because it’s almost unheard of for cats younger than 3 to experience this. After more tests we determined that it wasn’t because he had a blockage (either crystals in his urine, or thread/etc in his digestive tract), and likely not because of an infection. We’ve never kept lilies inside, there was no antifreeze around, and to the best of everyone’s knowledge, no tylonal has fallen on the floor.
Basically, it means that his condition is congenital, and there wasn’t anything that could have prevented it.
The last three weeks have been extremely stressful as we’ve had to rush him back to the vet twice, for 4-5 day stretches of IV treatment to flush his kidneys and keep his vitamins up (pumping him full of water because his kidneys are broken and he’s dehydrated all the time means that he pees out the vitamins he needs faster than he can replenish them with food alone- he’s anemic, low on potassium, etc). We’re doing our best to help him recover, but it’s been touch-and-go, and still is. After the last lengthy stay, the vet suggested we take him home (it was looking like we were going to have to say goodbye soon), because there wasn’t much else they could do, and nothing they could do that we couldn’t. So we’ve had Iroh at home ever since, and he seems to respond better here. At the vet’s he wasn’t eating or drinking on his own, but here he’ll eat a little, and drink a lot. We’re still having to force feed him twice a day, add supplements to his meals, and give him sub-q fluid injections, but overall he seems to be perking up.
The only blessing in all of this seems to be that he’s not in excessive amounts of pain. He’s certainly not at his best, and he rests a lot, but basically it’s been described to me as a really, REALLY bad hangover (headache, upset stomach, and general lethargy).
Through all of this (particularly his vet-stays, when I wasn’t sure if I was going to phone them the next morning and get the news that he hadn’t lasted the night), I’ve basically been coping by burying myself in work- it’s a lot easier to deal with the unknown when you have challenges to focus on. My particular coping method was twofold – I needed a distraction, and I also knew I was going to have a (horrifying) vet bill.
Which is why I built a new fursuit, which is being put up for sale (I may end up selling Pixi as well). I’d love to keep it myself, but given the choice between fursuiting and my cat, there… really isn’t actually a choice at all.
This isn’t meant to be an ‘emergency commissions’ thing. Or begging for help or extra funding. Just a frank ‘this is what’s going on, and why, and if you could please plug me/help spread the word about the auction that would be fantastic.’
Suit: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13702171/ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13702296/
Auction: http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1057702.html
Thanks guys
If you have any pet stories you'd like to share, please feel free. ~<3
- Apoxon
---
Hoodie commissions are OPEN
More information here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5771889/
I'm not sure when the next WFBS is, but we'll see ^_^
If it's for sure kidney failure, please have a look at the resources here - they may not help immediately, but will ABSOLUTELY help you with Iroh's long-term care. My cat Wintressia was diagnosed with CRF/CKD several years ago, and although she is elderly (~15), the same care principles apply to a younger kitty with chronic kidney failure.
http://www.felinecrf.org/
http://www.felinecrf.com/what0.htm
There is also a Yahoo! mailing group that is fantastic and wonderfully supportive at feline-crf-support[at]yahoogroups.com (or just find it on Yahoo groups).
If Iroh is on dry kibble, you must get him eating canned/wet food if you can. I have my cat on a raw food diet, which has improved her health massively in the last two years, from "your cat has lost 75% of her kidney function and will die in two weeks" to "your cat is acting like a 7-month-old kitten again". (However, if he will only eat kibble aside from the force-feeding, it's FAR more important to have him eat something/anything he WILL eat rather than nothing at all!)
If you want to talk shop about CKD/CRF once you're feeling up to it, or just want a sympathetic ear, please feel free to drop me a line anytime - I have become very, very familiar with B12 injections, sub-q fluids, low-potassium foods, kidney diets, medications, azodyl, "secondary" afflictions, fluctuating creatinine and BUN levels, and all of the scares/fears that come with kidney failure in cats <3
p.s. one sneaky way I have found to get extra water/fluid into a cat when they don't want to drink - drip a little water onto their paws - they'll groom it off and ingest it that way! You don't want to overdo it or stress them, but a very small amount can help hydrate a kitty that absolutely needs that extra water intake.
Found the Yahoo group link! And I didn't mean to link to Tanya's CRF page twice, whoops!
He has been switched to wet food (he hates it, but it's much easier to feed him), but still eats his dry kibbles on his own. We're pretty concerned about his weight, and since he's not eating much of his dry kibbles, he's still getting the special wet-food (that way, i can be sure he's eating enough). FelineCRF has been a huge help with symptoms and generally care and what to expect, which has been good. overwhelming, but good.
thank you for the tips ;W;
we're really hoping he'll pull through. I've had him (literally) since the day he was born, so he means a lot to me. I'm not giving up on him yet. ;^;
The first vet I saw with Wintressia basically gave me the death sentence with her - and since she was so old (~13 at the time) the vet didn't seem to even care to pursue any treatment. So I went to see a feline specialist (40 miles away, but worth it for a cat I'd had for 13 years!) and things improved from there! :}
And for sure poke around on Tanya's site - she has a huge list of canned foods you can try and I think she lists the phosphorus content, which can become important later. Fancy Feast classic flavors also are apparently "kitty crack" and LITERALLY even the fussiest non-canned-food lifelong-kibble-eaters WILL eat Fancy Feast classic flavors, so you can always try Iroh on those if he's not fond of wet food overall! (not the sliced or pate or cubed flavors of Fancy Feast, but the classic - the great thing is that I think the classic flavors are actually grain free, which is a very important thing for me!)
I also always mix in some water with the wet food to make it even MORE watery for even more bonus water ingestion! (I have lots of tricks, haha)
I also offer the water bowl directly to Win after she has eaten. For some reason, she seems to be okay with drinking from the bowl if I offer it to her personally by hand - I don't know why. You can always try that with Iroh! (Try everything! XD )
I've noticed though that Win HATES the special kidney wet food ;} If your vet didn't suggest it, you can try getting bonito flakes (basically dried tuna flakes) from the pet store and sprinkle it onto the wet food like a topping. Most cats seem to love the tuna flakes and will be more amicable to eating wet food with the flakes on it, especially if they're lifelong kibbleholics like my cat was.
I haven't gotten over the guilt feelings that I "caused" Win's CRF by feeding her a lifetime of dry food, but like you said, sometimes younger kitties get it as well, and what's done is done, so no sense in worrying - I know of several cats on the CRF mailing list who developed kidney failure at 1-3 years old and have lived full-length lives.
Vitamin B will help a lot with appetite stimulation too - if/when you go back for a vet checkup, ask about B vitamin injections or supplements if he isn't on them already.
Also, many kitties with kidney failure (even young ones) also develop secondary conditions like high blood pressure and/or inflammatory bowel disease, so when Iroh stabilizes, you might consider asking the vet to check his blood pressure as well.
Sorry to put so much info on you at once - I don't mean to worry you - but I know that Iroh has probably made it through the worst of his crisis and now it is all about maintaining his condition through fluids, sub-q fluids, and diet! :}
we got some powdered supplements from the vet a few days ago, and tried those (they have B vitamins, plus iron and potassium, etc), but they made him REALLY sick, so we've taken him back off, and are giving him -just- the B vitamins (drop-form), instead. he's doing better, i think. still not great, but he's not throwing up or looking like he's given up.
The cat had been given to them as the owners had to move out of the country.. the stress from being in a new environment/not seeing its owner caused him to not eat properly and he ended up with jaundice.
A cat is so sensitive when their food intake changes. Its possible your cat ended up giving itself fatty liver disease from not eating while you were away.
Not sure if your cat is jaundice'ed but this article someone wrote about it is very helpful at explaining what may have happend
http://www.ebay.com/gds/Treating-Ca.....0766556/g.html
thank you for the article link, though! there are a few tips that i think may come in very useful for making Iroh more comfortable!
i really hope so too. he's too sweet to just give up on. ;^;
I'm making a journal to spread the word.
i really appreciate the signal boost <3