I thought it was his teeth but it's his kidneys

[MrsBennetsEldest]

My lovely, lovely boy hasn't been quite right for a while. He is twelve and I thought he was getting a little bit senile. He seemed to either forget he had just eaten or couldn't eat much in one sitting and be constantly asking for food. Yesterday he yawned in my face and his breath was vile so I thought it's his teeth.
We saw the vet last night and it's not his teeth at all but his kidneys seem to be failing. I am in shock. It seems the strange things he does like sitting in the bath screaming, talking to the wall, attacking our other cat when she is fast asleep could be down to high levels of toxins in his blood / brain. He drinks out of the toilet, a lot, why did I not realise this is not a quirk of his but excessive thirst. His vile breath is another symptom of kidney failure. He hasn't lost weight because he is getting old, he is ill. I am so upset, I have failed him. I have had him since he was 12 weeks old and he is a huge part of my life.
Bloods were taken last night and I am waiting for a call sometime today to let me know how bad it is.
Can anyone tell me about their cats with kidney problems and successful treatment. Please.

Please don't beat yourself up, even as a vet with my beautiful moggy girl I didn't notice as she had several other health conditions. It was only when she refused two meals in a row, sometimes there just aren't obvious signs there.

Thank you for reading Lonecat, I honestly thought he would go on forever,

I had a cat with kidney problems about 15 years ago. She lived for a year after the initial diagnosis. She had special food which I bought from the vets and she had to have injections every six (I think) weeks
I'm not sure it's something that can go away, but I our case it was managed by the diet and injections.

My cat has been on a special diet for his kidneys, came in a choice of wet or dry and was a renal diet.He was doing many of the same things that your cat is. Fortunately, being very strict about his access to other foods made a huge difference and his kidney damage and his bloods improved. That was over a year ago, when he was 13.
It depends how severe, obviously, but I hope your cat will be the same.

Thank you Snozzle and SilverApples, I will just have to wait and see how bad his kidneys are. It's reassuring to know that he could be ok with diet etc. Poor thing, he's shouting at me for more food, I've fed him 3 times already this morning.

My darling Twoago had serious kidney problems at about 12/13 and I didn't notice at first, Mrs. It creeps up so quietly.

So don't reproach yourself - as soon as you did notice there was something amiss, you had him up to the vet.

Best of luck and let us know how his bloods turn out.

Good luck with the bloods.

My last foster cat was born with severe congenital kidney problems and almost died as a young kitten. The vets managed to get her stabilised and I took her on when she was eight months old. She lived for two more years and was mostly very well and happy in that time, but the only thing she ever ate was kidney diet food (luckily she really liked it) and I took care to make sure she had plenty of water bowls around and was drinking regularly. She had blood tests every three months and never quite crossed the threshold where they wanted to medicate her until the end.

Just wanted to update. The vet said she has seen worse, she thinks he could go on for as much as six months or as little as two months. We have an appointment for tomorrow morning for the renal food and medication. Thank you all for being an ear and a shoulder. I am thankful I have some time left with him and will be able to do the best I can for him when the time comes.

Even two months (with good quality of life) is better news, eh? And the real future might turn out brighter.

Well done for being so strong yourself.

Ask about Semintra brand spanking new drug for renal failure in cats replaces fortekor and is better. Mean survival time on Semintra is 400 days.

Remind me, Lone - that's a palatable liquid that can be taken in food isn't it?

Yes and works out cheaper than fortekor if your cat weighs less than 4Kg. It is more specific than fortekor so you lose the side effects that fortekor.

Our cat collapsed with kidney failure at Easter, I'd been to the vets the day before as she was off her food but it wasn't picked up. It was touch and go for 24 hours but she's now on pills daily and has made a very good recovery (despite refusing to eat the renal food, preferring to starve).

She's doing very well now and has to now go for 3 monthly check ups/injections to help kidney function and is on kind to kidney food as it's the only way she will tolerate. Not sure how long she'll have but she has a good quality of life (even catching mice again at 12!)

With medication it's not all bad (but is expensive).

Really sorry to hear about your cat. My old girl cat was diagnosed with kidney failure earlier this year (aged 18). Sadly she had to be put to sleep last week but we did have a few good months with her and really it was just in the last week or so of her life that she really started to fade badly. The final weekend was very hard once I'd decided enough was enough, but I didn't want her to suffer and it was obvious that she was very poorly (she had completely stopped eating and was very weak & withdrawn).

We had tried the special kidney food which she wasn't keen on & hardly touched so I gave her whatever she wanted to eat, the vet said that in kidney failure any food was better than no food at all. She was also was quite clear with me that kidney failure would in the end be the likely thing that would kill the cat so I just wanted her to have a good few last months. We didn't look into any medications for the kidneys but I did try to get her arthritis treated a bit - sadly these medications only made things worse with her kidneys.

I was and still am very sad to be without the cat as she came to me as a rescued kitten aged just a few weeks old and I could hardly remember a time when she was not around. But there are lots of happy memories and I feel ok that I had her put to sleep at the right time before she was in significant pain or distress.

I hope things go ok for you and your cat

Oh lovely, don't beat yourself up for not realising what was happening: the important thing is that you got him to the vet & the kidney problem's now being treated. A friend's cats with kidney (& thyroid) problems both made it to the age of 20 - am not certain when the kidney problems developed, but I know they survived much longer than anyone had dared hope.

Difficult as it is to face the idea of losing an animal, it is good you have the chance to prepare (as far as you can) & make sure the time you have left together is as happy as possible for you both. Don't be afraid to come here if you need advice or just to talk to People Who Get It

We have the semintra, only problem is it was for 30ml, Hector needs 5ml a day. So I have been given 6days supply and told to give the surgery a call in a couple of weeks. Why on earth didn't they explain how much he would need etc. My vets is a twenty min drive away so it's not like it's easy to just pop in and get some more. Sorry for my pointless ranting.

Thyroid fine and no diabetes. He is really putting it away.

My old girl went into renal failure in late 2009. She was on a drip at the vet for three days and came home with Fortekor and an uncertain future.
She's currently asleep on the sofa and turned 18 this summer.
Sometimes they can surprise you.