Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I lost my cat on Christmas Eve. I am still in shock. She was ten years old and seemed to be in good health. A few days before I took her to the vet, she lost interest in food. Since she was never a big eater, I didn't think much of it at the time. Tuesday evening, I realized that she was just kneeling on a rug by the back door (usually she sleeps on something - preferably my husband's lap). I mentioned to my husband that I thought she might be ill and he said that when he emptied her litter box the night before, he thought it seemed like she was urinating more than usual.

I took her to the vet the next morning. By this time she wasn't moving much. He checked her temp. and she was several degrees below normal. She was also somewhat dehydrated. He said he would keep her to get some fluid into her and also do some blood work. About an hour later, he called and said her glucose was 170 and that her kidney functions and electrolytes were off (but didn't say what the measurements were). He said it was hard to tell what it all means because she was dehydrated.

The next morning he called and said that she didn't make it through the night.

My husband and I are devestated. I want to know why she died and if there were signs we missed that she was getting ill (the only difference in the month or so before she died was she seemed more demanding about wanting her food and she only wanted the wet food).

Please help us. We love our animal companions and we want to be sure that we don't miss signs of illness in our pets in the future.

Ten is fairly young, and only your vet can really know after looking at her blood work, urine work, etc.

But, from your description, I can hazzard a loose guess that she had kidney failure. It more commonly hits cats 11 and older. I'll list some of the symptoms and you can let me know if it sounds right.

Drinking more water than normal (did you see her at the water dish more than usual)?

Urinating more than normal (indicating drinking more than normal -- your husband noticed more urine in the box).

Weight loss -- this is another big sign -- did she lose weight the last month or two?

It is really hard to tell, but your mention of more urine kind of points to maybe kidney problems.

More hungry than normal, doesn't tho. That points to Thyroid problems.

Did your vet give you any indication from the blood work? Kidney and Thyroid would both jump out on blood work.

She was a bit young, but not too young, for either, tho.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

I re-read -- you did say loss of appetite for a few days.

Loss of appetite and excessive peeing are an indicator of kidney failure.

No one can be sure but your vet, tho. We can only guess to try to ease your mind with an explanation.

Know if it was kidney failure, there wasn't much you could do because by the time you see it, it is usually advanced. I lost a cat a 16 from it. He lost weight a couple months before he died and peed more, drank more, and totally lost his appetite the last week.

If you have other cats, the only thing I can mention is you may want to start taking them to the vet every six months around age 8-9 when they become seniors vice every year for a check up. Have them do blood work (and urine if they feel it is necessary) and you can get indicators of early stages of disease and take some preventive steps (switch food, etc.).

However in your case, she was 10. That is very early Senior age. So it may have been something else.

Rest as easy as you can at this difficult time that there was little you could do since she was so young. Most people don't even see signs of kidney disease in their cat until 11 or 12 years old in blood work.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

I hate to post a third time, but you wanted indicators for the future and peace of mind knowing. I re-read your post and dehydration is a big one for kidney problems.

Drinking more, peeing more, eating less, dehydration... You listed the four biggest indicators.

If you catch it early enough on (blood work for Seniors every six months starting around age 8-10), then you can switch food and when it gets to later stages, they can give fluids to your cat at the vet every couple weeks or so, until it gets more advanced.

They say Kidney failure is the #1 killer of cats once they reach Senior age.

She was so young to have this, if she did, and my heart goes out to you.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

Hi,

I am so very sorry for your loss. I wish I could tell you exactly what happened but I am in agreement with the other poster that your baby might have had kidney failure. If you can find out what the abnormal lab results were, we might be able to tell you more.

It is very true that 10 is a bit young to lose a cat to kidney failure, but if this is what Callie had, there might be more to the story. For example, some cats are born with kidneys that did not develop normally and these cats will often become sick at a younger age. Or, there can be a disease present called polycystic kidney disease, where cysts form and take over normal kidney tissue. My Fiona died at 12 of kidney failure, but she survived 2 house fires in her life and was probably affected by toxic smoke. She was 10 when her kidneys atarted to fail.

Another possibility is that your kitty had acute kidney failure instead of chronic kidney failure. This type of kidney failure happens very quickly and is usually caused by something toxic to the body, such as some drugs or poisons. In cats that already have compromised kidney function, a severe infection can be fatal. If there is any possibility at all that your kitty came in contact with something toxic to cats, this possibility would have to be considered. Even some foods, such as onion and garlic, are toxic to cats, as are many plants.

Cats are experts at hiding the way they really feel when they are ill, so there may not have been much to pick up on.

I hope that at least some of this has been helpful. Please feel free to post again if you have any additional questions.

I feel so bad for you and your husband.

Take Care,
PHKitkat