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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

My cat has liver failure. What are the signs that the time has come?

75 replies

FourFortyFour · 25/02/2011 20:45

SadSad.

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Gay40 · 27/02/2011 22:16

The vet says we'll just know when her time is up. It's hard when she's skipping round the garden looking OK, then on other days she just sleeps and can't be bothered.
HATE it when I come downstairs and she's still curled in a ball on the sofa....in the same position as when we went to bed :(
Get that sick cold feeling, till she mews.

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 28/02/2011 10:37

I hate that too. Mine is sleeping a lot at the moment but she always has. I have a feeling she is leaking wee a bit though dh says her bed doesn't smell. I can just smell it at times.

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catsmother · 28/02/2011 14:06

Sadly kidney failure is one of the most common reasons for cats falling ill. I've lost 3 of mine to it .... one was due to go the vet the very next day but "luckily" fate intervened and she died in her sleep, at home, so I was spared that decision ... but had to make it for the other 2. It's heartbreaking I know, but the flip side of the coin is watching your beloved pet struggle to eat, get comfortable, jump onto and from things, lose control of their functions, have their fur go horrid and lose weight. Yes ... you do kind of "know" .... and in my experience, there was probably a month during which time I began to think something wasn't quite right (at the start) but hoped I was wrong .... but realised after a week or 2 that this was probably "it". It's natural to go through thinking that they "might" get better but in the end your optimism is outweighed by what you see before you and personally, I couldn't impose any further suffering on them when on the balance of probability things would just have got worse. It's hard to explain but I guess I felt I owed it to them to do that one last thing - and to be there with them at the end, although it's traumatic (for us, not the cat).

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 28/02/2011 16:28

Thank you for sharing your story, catsmother, and I am sorry you have been through a loss of your pet so many times. Reading what you have put has given me hope though as she isn't at that stage yet. She does go up the stairs slowly but has done for a while and has arthritis so it could be that.

She has eaten all her tea and gone off for a nap now.

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ImeldaM · 01/03/2011 14:17

Very sorry for your situation, my lovely old cat (18yrs) was PTS last autumn with kidney failure. She went downhill very quickly, started to sleep beside her food bowl, drinking loads and wee was very watery and copious. On her last day found her in pool of own urine & no attempt to walk, knew that was time Sad

I really miss her & treasure the 'last' photos we have of her.

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 01/03/2011 16:03

Sad ImeldaM.

How soon did you realise she was ill and how long was she stable before going down hill and to the end?

We have caught it early on but I know I need to prepare myself as her actions are sometimes saying different to her results.

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ImeldaM · 04/03/2011 13:55

Sorry for taking so long to reply, not been online for days.

My cat was fine until about 1 month before PTS, she had been lethargic and off food so took to vet for check up, vet discovered very large lump on kidneys (probably tumour, but not appropriate to investigate at her age).

She went downhill rapidly from then, lost weight, slept beside food dish and hardly went anywhere. She was still eating (little) until the last day or so but very little poo, drinking lots and copious amounts of dilute wee (sign that kidneys are really not working).

For the final week or two I kept thinking it would be that day (that she would need PTS, didn't want her to suffer) but then decided to leave it until further deterioration. IMO, as long as she was able to walk (a little) to eat/drink/use her tray and still seemed interested in her surroundings then to leave her be. On her last day, as said, found her lying in own urine with no attempt to get up, knew it was time Sad

Best wishes & hope this helps somewhat

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 04/03/2011 17:33

It is so so sad.

Mine seems okay at the moment and I am trying not to obsess over every little thing. Little madam still manages to spit her tablets out so there is still life in her yet Grin.

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ImeldaM · 04/03/2011 18:04

Definately Grin
On my cats last day when I took her to the vets, I had her in an open basket to avoid stress of putting her in cat carrier. I said that if she decides to have the energy to try and jump out I would have been pleased and would bring her back home!

whomovedmychocolate · 04/03/2011 21:37

Fourfortyfour - pestle/mortar/butter is your friend when giving pills to cats. Seriously, crush them, mix with butter - they can't get it out - put it on their paws, they groom, they eat the pills.

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 05/03/2011 11:47

She isn't allowed butter and she takes the tablets for me no problem 99% of the time. I get it in her eventually the other 1%. She is very very naughty for dh Grin.

She had very shake legs this morning Sad.

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whomovedmychocolate · 05/03/2011 21:53

Fish paste works too (those horrid little pots for sandwiches you can buy).

Sorry she's not doing so well today. She might go on for another year yet you know. You never quite know with older cats.

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 06/03/2011 12:40

She isn't allowed anything at all other than the food and biscuits the vet has sold us.

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Original poster
FourFortyFour · 07/03/2011 16:02

It looks like she has an ulcer inside her mouth. I just don't understand it. The vet said it was early days that her kidney was starting to fail yet her we are Sad.

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ImeldaM · 08/03/2011 11:06

Sad How is her thirst, urine/poo output?

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 08/03/2011 13:47

She is drinking more than she was which was when I first took her to the vet. It isn't every day that she drinks a lot though, maybe a few times a week she has more than half her water bowl by tea time. Not sure on output as she goes in the garden. She has been playing with her toy today though and has been out in the garden a couple of times.

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ImeldaM · 09/03/2011 08:43

That sounds good Smile

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 09/03/2011 09:19

She has good moments and then some times she looks poorly and old. She seems to be having trouble getting up when she has been curled up asleep on the sofa.

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Jux · 09/03/2011 15:17

You will know. I'm sorry you are facing this; pets aren't just animals, they are part of the family, cats are people too, after all.

My cat got to 18. She was a sweet old thing and had gone completely batty by the end, but our young cat used to look after her when she got lost crossing the corridor between the kitchen and sitting room - he'd rush out and get her, bring her in and settle her by the fire.

Vets are usually pretty good about this. If you tell them that you really want to know what is kindest to the animal, they will tell you if they think you are prolonging a life which has little quality. They don't like people who let animals continue to suffer from some sort of unchecked sentiment. Ask them.

ExitPursuedByABear · 09/03/2011 15:40

Sorry you are going through this Fortyfour. Had my old girl pts on 25th November. Posted the whole thing on here as I was not sure either. She was 21 and the time had definitely come. If she is eating and sleeping and can get around, then imo just keep an eye on her. Mine had stopped eating and was sitting by her water drinking all the time. Having done the deed [sob] I then went through various phases of feeling that I had left it too late - but if this life is all we and they have, every moment is precious and as long as she is not in pain, just let her keep going.

You really will know, believe me.

Having a little weep now just thinking about mine.

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 09/03/2011 16:25

I am sorry if my posting has upset anyone Sad.

I really appreciate all your posts.

She was waiting for me when we got home, a bit later than normal and she will have known so I will be in trouble now.

I honestly still think she has quality of life.

She is due at the vet next week so will see what they think then.

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ImeldaM · 09/03/2011 16:57

That is so sweet about your younger cat helping your oldie Jux

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 12/03/2011 09:03

Well FFFCat gave us a fright last night sounding like she was choking and going to be sick. Thankfully she wasn't and seems fine today. She isn't eating all her food though. Vet on Friday with a urine sample.

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Learning2Knit · 12/03/2011 21:55

Hello FFF + others, I have sobbed my way through this thread....its nice to know Im not the only one who frets constantly about her mog and dreads the day he has to be PTS.

I can totally relate to your earlier post about her being there when you moved on from an unhappy life. My ginger mog has been there for me.

Mine is on tablets for kidney degeneration and thyroid so 2 a day, I watch him like a hawk and am sad that I know now it is just a matter of time. He is my first cat but had him from a kitten so take on board the experience from other posters that "you know". I will miss him so much when the time comes, DP too even though they have the bloke thing going!

Hope she has done Ok today. Will be thinking of you.

Original poster
FourFortyFour · 12/03/2011 21:59

I am sorry I have made you cry L2K Sad.

I have been out most of the day but FFFCat has been fine and even played with her toy. She was not impressed when DH picked her up and put her on my knee so he could sit next to me. I think she is fine Grin.

TBH I am dreading the vet visit as I will have to wait Fri-Tues for the result and to me her nose doesn't look as pink and she hasn't been eating all her food a lot of the time.

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