Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My poor Furball, a Persian I rescued a little over two years ago, is sick. I am not sure of his exact age, but he is estimated to be around 6 years old. I noticed that he was going to the bathroom outside of his litter box, he wasn't eating much, and he wasn't drinking as much water as usual. Also, he wouldn't play, even with catnip, and he no longer greeted people at the door. This has been going on for about a week or so. Furball's regular vet comes to us, but when I called her, she said she thought he needed bloodwork done and recommended a clinic. I took him in there today and this vet, seeing him for the first time, felt around on him and said there was something really wrong with his left kidney. She thinks it's a tumor. Urine tests didn't show much, the blood work results should be in tomorrow. She wants to open him up for surgery if he is stable enough to do so. Should I seek another vet opinion before allowing this? Can't they do an ultrasound or x-ray or something to have a better idea of what is going on first? I'm scared to death. I've been crying all day. Can someone please give some advice?

Persians are prone to something called polycystic kidney disease. This could be part of the problem. Definitely you should seek out a second opinion - and also call your regular vet for her opinion as well - before undergoing invasive surgery.

I am sorry you are going through this. Best wishes to you and your cat!

The results from the blood test indicate that the kidneys are not fuctioning properly. We have an appointment for tomorrow morning with a different vet to do the ultrasound on him. He is currently taking antibiotics. Also, it was mentioned today about the possibility of taking him to the university for their specialists. We bought special cat food for the kidneys, but Furball is not interested in it. He has lost two pounds since the last time he was weighed, which was July of last year. He seems to be feeling okay today, and he is very social and loving and playful. One other thing, his front leg is really swollen. We have no idea why. So I guess my questions would be: what would cause the leg swelling, would it be kidney related or something else? Do you think that the university specialists would be able to save him? Do you have any suggestions for getting him to eat and drink more? (They gave him fluids under the skin yesterday and today to help him feel better.) Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Furball is my baby, and my husband and I love him dearly. This is breaking our hearts. Please help.

One question, the biggest question of all...Assuming this is the worst case scenario, how long do we have left with Furball? Thank you for helping us through this difficult time.

I am sorry about this diagnosis. There is no way to predict how long a cat who has kidney problems can last - some will live for several years and some will not.

Best wishes to you and loads of prayers for your kitty.

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Smile, it will make them wonder what you are up to!

I'm so torn up about this. I'm also feeling horrible for the times I was too busy to cuddle with Furball when he wanted to cuddle. When he would jump on my lap while I was on the computer and I would move him because I was too busy. Or the times when he wanted to play, and I was too tired or busy. My heart is breaking.

I have the abnormalities of Furball's blood work in front of me, if you could help me understand it a bit better. BUN 112; Creatinine 4.7; Potassium 5.2; Phosphorus 12.7; ALBG 2.5; Cholesterol 165; Red Blood Ct 4.66; Hemoglobin 7.0; Hematocrit 22.7; NEUT 24; LYMPH 17. I know these are the abnormal numbers, but I don't really understand much about what it means.

Thank you for helping me through this very difficult time.

Furball had his ultrasound today. He has polycystic kidney disease, common in Persians I've learned in the past few days. The ultrasound showed that both of his kidneys are affected. The left one is very enlarged and has a massive cyst on it, which they can't do anything about. They gave me the things I needed to start him on sub-q once a day, 100. They gave him a Procrit shot for anemia, and gave me two more needles to give him the shots myself this week. We will take him back one week from today for another round of blood work to see how those numbers look.

So it looks like we can do what we can to make him happy, and keep him feeling good. Everyone says how you know when they are done fighting and when they want to die. I hope so, because I would hate to see him suffer. They really didn't give me any sort of a timeline, just said that some don't make it more than a couple of months, while others last for a couple of years. I'm praying for as much time as possible.

The only other thing that I am aware of to consider would be a kidney transplant. The nearest university with those capabilities would be somewhere in Wisconsin (we live 3 hours south of Chicago). Has anyone had any experience with transplants? It looked like they had an 80-90% success rate. It could give him a normal healthy life for a lot longer than he would otherwise live. If you have any information on this (good or bad), I would like to hear it.

Thanks again for your kindness.