a couple of weeks ago on a saturday c.c. the love of my life became lethargic. which is never a good sign in a cat. and even before that morning she had started exhibiting strange behavior. but i was unable to take her to the vet because they like to get their money before you walk out the door and money was something that i didn't have so i just hoped that whatever it was would pass. it didn't pass.
on the first vet visit they pulled blood for a test that would be sent off and did some other test they could do in-house. they sent her home with an antibiotic because she had a kidney infection and the "big"test results would come back the next day. when the test came back it looked like she has CHRONIC RENAL FAILURE or CRF.
no cure, no coming back from. i felt like i was going to lose my girl within hours. but my girl is a fighter and she started having more energy the next day. she didn't like the liquid antibiotics. it's bad enough to give a cat a pill but the liquid..well she didn't like it one bit. but she got it twice a day anyway. on tuesday i picked up from the vet AZODYL a newish drug for CRF in animals. so now she is getting 2 medications twice a day. and i read everything i could find on the internet about CRF. i found out that there are boo-koos of articles about it. CRF is one of the most common problems in older cats and dogs. i realized that people out there in the world on all continents have written something on this problem. pets are important to us and i found so many websites that was filled with info to help people who are going through this crisis. i learned that she needs to have her diet changed to a low protein/low sodium/low phosphorous food. at this point she wasn't eating anything. i could get her to drink water but i couldn't find anything that she would eat. even though she started have more energy and acted like she was hungry she wouldn't touch the food. on many of the websites i read that i needed to get food into her and if she wouldn't eat the right food i should at least give her something not good for her just to get food in her belly. so i found out that deli turkey did the trick. so deli turkey is what she got. i would stand over her while she ate, i would take her to her water bowl and watch over her as she drank and i was filled with so much worry and stress. i felt i had no control over the situation. but i never prayed for her to live, i prayed that she would not suffer and not be in pain. so by that friday c.c. was acting like her old self. within 7 days she was starting to act like her old self with the exception of having an appetite. so last friday i took her back to the vet to see if there had been any change in her blood work.
now dropping her off at the vet while i went to work just about killed me. leaving her there all day by herself sent me into a panic. but i dwelt with it and worried all day until the vet called and said that she was looking and acting so much better that they wanted to do the "big test" again because there could be a possibility that she had some sort of "itis" and not CRF. my hopes soared for her.
so after work i went to pick her up. the vet said that she was an angel all day, letting them put needles in her and do all sorts of test, that is until they had the great idea to trim her nails. i could have told them that that was probably not a good idea. it pissed her off bigtime. i had asked for a pill form of the antibiotic because the liquid was not happening, and the vet was going to give her the antibiotic before we left. c.c. sliced the nice vet lady up. so we put her back in the box and i gave her the antibiotic later at home. they also gave c.c. subcutaneous fluids. that's where they inject fluid underneath the skin. or so i think. i am not the best person to give correct technical info. but anyway it helped with the peeing and pooping and her with her appetite. de-hydration can be a killer also.
so i left the vet with high hopes for c.c. there was that possibility that she could be cured of the "itis" and not have CRF at all. i never received the call about the test on saturday which did bother me a bit but for some reason an acceptance came over me. no matter what she had i was going to deal with it one day at a time. sunday came and the vet called and said "sorry but c.c. has CRF and now it's up to quality of life". so now c.c is eating her diet food and is getting her AZODYL twice a day and is peeing and pooping and acting like her old self which is all i can ask for. the AZODYL seems to be doing it's thing and c.c. hasn't shown any of the complications with the drug that i have read could happen. there is no timeline for CRF. from what i read it could be months or years before she takes a turn for the worst. and i have decided that i will do whatever that i possible can to make sure she sticks to her diet and takes her pills. i say that like she is the one who controls it.
if you are reading this and your pet has CRF and happens to be on AZODYL, remember that the drug must be kept cold and can't be broken open in order for the pet to ingest it. it needs to bypass the stomach and make it into the intestines. and if you buy the drug online it must be shipped to you in cold packs.
4 years ago
