My Kitten Has Kidney Failure, What do I do?

[Den82]

Last summer I found a kitten on the side of the road. She was minutes away from being killed. Cars were zooming inches from her head. I picked up her, took her home and before you knew it, she became my side kick. Shortly after getting her, she got sick and wasn't eating. I took her to the vet and got pills and she came back around.

Late last week, she stopped eating. To make a long story short I took her to the vet and they called me today and said the test results show kidney failure....and it's bad.

This is of course has to happen when my bank account isn't very big. I spent $275 yesterday. The vet is telling me the only thing they can do is IV for a few days, which is over $500 and not guaranteed. He also recommended a feeding tube (maybe around $800) and even mentioned transplant which has to be done at very select places mostly in California and NYC!?!?!

I can barely afford the IV. My sister went through all of this with her cat and the cat died anyway. She suggested putting her down. However the doctor has mentioned nothing about that and has not suggested it. She said they never do until you do. Saying they do not want word to spread they suggest that and/or they want to get you to spend as much as possible. I am not sure I share her views, but she could right.

I am feeding her with an oral syringe and she is not throwing it up. But regardless, she is in bad shape and I stuck in being able to decide what to do. It's going to kill me to take her to be put down. I have guilty issues and all kinds of emotions.

Doesn't ANY have experience here with cats and Kidney Failure? She isn't even a year old. This should not be happening to her.

[Mikey]

My nephew had a kitten that had kidney problems ... They did a lot of things (procedures) but in the end the cat died anyway.

Maybe it would be best to just let it peacefully pass

[Zemo]

I would try another Vet, go to the humane society, they rotate vets from all around your county and are way cheaper. Get a second opinion. If it's the same, imo you have to put her down. It's a tough thing to do, but the best thing sometimes.

[Figuremod73]

I would probably try a second opinion with another vet first. If your options (and funds) are limited you arent going to have much choice.

See if a vet can tell you how much pain shes in and decide from there if its for the best.

I know situations like that are very sad im glad you have tried your best for her.

[domino]

I feel your pain. We had the same thing happen to one of our cats a while back. We had rescued 3 wild kittens back in 2007. Two of them didn't make it past a month, while the runt survived. I got so close to this kitten while having to hand feed it that we just had to keep it even though we had 5 other cats. He became my buddy. Well, four years later he started having health problems and had a tumor. While the vets would have done everything they could to keep him alive, it would have cost an enormous amount of money and there were no guarantees that he would make it or live a normal life. It was very hard but we chose to put him down. Even if we had all the money in the world, we couldn't stand to see him in pain. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do and it really affected me for awhile. I will admit that I cried for a few days over him.

It's always sad when anything, be it human or animal, gets sick when they are young like this. The decision will come down to what you can or cannot do. It's hard. This kitten may not of had the longest life but at least you gave it a great home and cared for it. You gave it a chance that it might not have had otherwise. My thoughts are with you.

[Den82]

I am force feeding her and she is not throwing it up. However, I simply do not see her last long at this point and if she does, I can't see how she is not suffering in her current condition.

I have a lot of guilt issues in regard to money. I feel like I am making excuses and just want to put her down so I do not have to spend anymore. But IV is not guaranteed and they way I see it, it is just to prolong her life, not save it.

A transplant if course way out of the question. If I was Michael Jackson rich, sure. But I'm not.

Not sure about a second opinion. Reading the symptoms for Kidney Failure, it seems to be the culprit. A second opinon would just be more money. Money I might need for other help for her. There are a lot of but's and what if's and maybes here.

[JediJaida]

I had two cats die from it. But both of them were pretty old, into their teens when it hit, and we had no warning except for when they both stopped eating.

Ebony, who was my darling, died two days after we moved into the apartment we're living in now.

Rusty, who I raised from a three week old piece of fluff, died eight years ago this month. I still miss the little brat something fierce.

I am so sorry to hear about your little kitten; kidney disease is a terrible thing to happen to a pet.

The only advice I can give is to go to the humane society, get a second opinion and ask the doctor if putting her to sleep is the best option.

It hurts like hell to have that done to a pet, but sometimes it is necessary.

I remember coming home from night school when I was about nineteen, and noticed that there weren't any newspapers on the floor for our dog, Tippy. Her bowls were missing too, and that was when I knew that my brother and mother had taken her to the ASPCA and had her put down.

I cried like a baby for days, because she was one of the best dogs out there.

You have my condolences, whatever you choose to do.

[Hector]

Sometimes the unconditional love we have for our pets, blinds us, your kitty is in pain, that's not quality of life.

My doggie had kidney failure, I just couldn't put him down, but my stubborness made him suffer even more, until I couldn't bare it anymore, and finally had him put down.

If I could go back, I would've done it sooner, and not let him suffer like he did, all because I wanted to extend his life, despite him being even more miserable.

I'm not advicing you to do this, it's not my place, just recounting my own experiences.

I feel your pain.

[Wise4671]

Den,
I'm sorry to hear about your kittens health. What ever you decide to do dont feel guilty about it you showed what type of person you are when you picked the kitten up off the street and gave it a home. You may not have had her for a long time but I think you made that kitten very happy in the time that you did have her.

John

[Rallygirl]

My last cat died of kidney failure. Bob suddenly became listless and stopped eating. There was no way I could afford the expensive treatments, so I went the route of IV. The vet would pump Bob up with fluids and he would have a few good days, but then he would deteriorate again. After a few weeks, I decided that it wasn't fair to either Bob or me to continue like that, and I had him put to sleep. I felt terrible, but it just wasn't realistic to spend thousands of dollars on him.

[Duncan]

Sorry to hear what you're going through. We just put down a cat within the last three weeks, and the poor guy was only two years old. He had some sort of cancer which had advanced pretty far, and neither we nor the vet thought that it was appropriate to fight it.

I understand what you're saying about guilt over money. Many of the vets near me have questionable ethics, so it's hard to know what treatment is appropriate for the animal...as opposed to the vet's bank account. I don't appreciate that, as I'm already trying to figure out how to do what's right for this animal who can't speak for himself. I can only hope I guess right.

One thing to consider is that shelters put down plenty of healthy animals every day because there aren't homes for them. IMO, it seems reasonable to let the really sick animal go peacefully, and maybe when the time is right again, go and save a healthy one who otherwise would have been put down.

[hedrap]

Dude - let her go on her own. Make her some place to be comfortable.

Do not blow hundreds of dollars you don't have. I've been down this path over a decade ago, and it's more about the feeling it gives you than it does saving them.

Millions of cats out there. No need to feel guilty.

[Hector]

I don't quite agree about letting her go on her own, that's agonizing pain for her, slow death is horrible, I'd rather put her down, that's more humane to me.

But having said that, it's a natural process in the animal kingdom, but then again, we are talking about someone's loved pet here, difficult either way.

[fallensaviour]

Been down this road with three cats in the last 20 years.It is best to put it down peacefully as hard as that is.
Vet bills can pile up fast.Try not to let your emotion make this decision.You have done some looking up and research on your own.
You already know the right thing to do for your cat.Even if it did well in the surgery and recovery you will be going through this again in just a couple of years.Good luck and sorry you're going through this at this time.

[Den82]

Still awake. I haven't slept. I got tons of stuff I need to do and I'm not getting any of it done.

I kept her because I was convinced she was put there for me to find her. I just got a bug to go out that day even though I really didn't. I was saying for awhile that I had wanted a black kitten and all of the sudden I find one on the side of the road.