I am going through the exact same thing as another poster. My Tiki is 18 and the vet also diagnosed her with renal failure and a possible kidney infection on Monday. Gave me antibiotics and an IV bag (for under the skin) to do at home. But I cannot get her to eat anything!!! I've done the canned food, the dry food, the dry food softened with water/chicken broth etc...I've even taken canned tuna and blended it into a smoothie so she could drink it. When that failed I tried using a dropper to get it into her (the result was that the started foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog....just like she does when I try to get her meds into her).

I am very stressed out and upset and have found that most people (outside of the forum) just jump to the "what do you expect at her age....have her put to sleep". I could see that if she was lethargic or in some kind of pain. But other than the recent wobbliness (that I attribute to her not getting the right nutrition), she is very active and loving. She runs to the dish when I put the food down....she just can't get more than a mouthful or 2 before she loses her interest.

The vet's advice was to admit her for 3-4 days and have a catheter (sp??) put in so she can get more IV and injections but as much as I love my cat, I do not have any way of coming up with the 600-800 dollars that would cost! And I'm more afraid for my cat's mental health if I leave her at the vet's for that amount of time (in the 15 yrs I've had her, she's never had to stay overnight at the vet w/o me).

I'm sorry if I seem to be rambling but I am very distraught at the entire situation and am hoping I can get some words of wisdom from people who have been in the situation.

Thanks for listening folks and TIA for any responses I may get!

Heather in PA

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