Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Our dear kitty, Francis

So, in the week before thanksgiving it turned out to be the time to begin to gain some knowledge and expertise about feline kidney disease and chronic renal failure.

Erin's 9 year old cat had been lethargic (she's a danger kitty so anything short of being alpha female is lethargic) so we took her to the vet. Turned out she had horrible blood chemistry values and the vet asked if I wanted to put her down or see if they could get her to improve. After I remembered how to breathe again, decided that Francis (the kitty that looks so cute in the picture) deserved the best chance we could give her. She lost another half a pound that next week at the vet's but her blood chemistries improved to the point that could take her home the day before Thanksgiving.

So, in the week since then she's progressed to eating some wet cat food and we've learned about giving IV fluids and ProCrit to a cat subcutaneously three times a week, along with an oral liquid vitamin every day. Stairs are still tricky for her but she takes them at an angle; she also is strategic about jumping onto furniture by finding something nearby that's shorter (sometimes moved closer for her convenience but not telling her that) so it's two shorter jumps instead of one big one.

She's starting to get her attitude back so it's still up to her for how long we continue the kitty dialysis with the IV fluids. She doesn't like to be held so we'll see. But she got her chance and she's thriving for now, thanks be to God...

Postscript: Francis did fairly well, though continuing to slowly decline, until mid-January when she decided that she no longer desired our medical procedures. She passed into a peaceful sleep on January 25, 2008. Thank you "baby kitty" for your companionship and introducing me to the joy of playing with puff balls.

Francis Shanks: February 14, 1998 - January 25, 2008.