Stage 4 kidney disease - how long has she got?

[Cattyisbatty]

Our 13 year old cat has been living with stage 3 kidney failure for nearly 4 years. She’s in a renal diet and has done really well.
Recentky she went downhill - one minute she was her normal self, went for her daytime sleep and was still on the same chair 6 hours later. I got concerned- not interested in food, no grooming or toileting.

To cut a long story short, she had bloods taken and her disease has progressed to stage 4. However, less than a week later she is back to her normal self gallivanting around, jumping up on the fence, wanting her cuddles, etc. looking back I know see she’d slowed down a lot but now seems to have a new lease of life. Vet did prescribe some appetite stimulant which we’ve given.

i obviously googled and it said average life expectancy is 3 months, so we are mentally preparing but we were told to prepare for the worst 4 years ago!

Our dilemma now is do we go on holiday? We haven’t booked anything yet for various reasons and would only go in UK as I’m waiting for some test results so insurance would be a bust - but even so. Should dh shd I go and leave (adult) dc to hold the fort? I’d hate it if our lovely cat sitter had to deal with her becoming ill in her charge. Plus of course we’d need to return sharpish.

So if your kitties had this diagnosis how long did they live for and did they relapse and remit like that?

It could be days, weeks, or even a few months - every cat with CKD progresses at a different rate. Boycat went from being 100% in April/May, to having to be PTS the following January, others last years as yours seems to have done.

I personally wouldn't book a holiday if she's already having bad days or weeks. I'd just make the very most of what time she has left. Don't worry about keeping her on special renal food because at this stage it will make very little difference if at all. Spoil her rotten, cuddle her as much as she wants, and be prepared for the worst at any time.

When Boycat was nearing the end he was definitely getting distressed and confused off and on. I booked him in for his favourite vet to PTS 2 weeks later, and fed him anything he fancied, cuddled him all the time and made the most of the time. Gave me enough time to properly come to terms with what I was doing was the best for him, and to think through & make all the decisions e.g. cremation or burial (and if so where), any keepsakes like a clipping of his fur or paw prints etc.

@Allergictoironing- sorry to hear about Boycat - my thinking is similar in that I wouldn’t want to leave her with the cat sitter although I’d ho away wash for a few days if DC were at home if we could be back in a couple of hours.

We def are spoiling her - atm she loves sitting in the garden in the shade, I wfh so at lunch I sit outside with her. She gets her lick-e-lix and dreamies!!

its a good idea to discuss what will happen at the end. We decided not to bury her in the garden - just not practical, so it’ll be cremation through the vet.

Vet wants to do urinalysis but I’m not sure it’s really worth it as we know the diagnosis. Im
hlsd we got the bloods done as it means we can prepare.

There's a couple more things to think about when it comes to the dreaded day.

Make sure someone else is with you, I know there was no chance I was in a fit state to drive afterwards.

Cremation yes, but there's 2 types - single or group (first option costs more). Do you want to keep the ashes (would need to be single cremation)? Turn some into a keepsake like a pendant, necklace or ornament (there's plenty of companies that do this). If you're taking the ashes, what kind of urn do you want?

Do you want them to take a paw print for you to keep?

Book not just that day but the next off work. I was still suddenly breaking out in tears in the office a couple of weeks afterwards, and definitely would have on a call if anybody asked if I was OK the next day!

It may seem cold to some people to analyse this kind of thing in advance, but you may take some comfort in knowing you will have got everything sorted and won't have to make decisions then and there.

Sending solidarity as my cat has stage 2 and seems more unwell now despite only recently being diagnosed. It seems that the disease is very unpredictable unfortunately. In your shoes i wouldn't risk a holiday in case of being left with regrets. The chances are your cat sadly won't be here next summer, so I would personally make the most of the time now. Sorry you're going through this.

As I would agree that making a plan is good.
What I would disagree with is that everyone needs a couple of days off work. Everyone is different and grieves differently.
You do you, I don’t love my pets any less than anyone else, but I sob my heart out for a few minutes after they are gone and then I am done. Yes I miss them, but my grief is quiet and I do best getting on with life and being distracted.
Do what ever is best for you and your way of grieving.

I haven’t thought about it in that much detail but a paw print would be lovely. My kids would love that & my daughter has tattoos and I’ve heard you can get them with ashes in!
I work for my dh in his company so thankfully time off isn’t an issue.
An hoping the day doesn’t come for a while l. She’s currently happily sitting on my lap!

Thanks @Idontknowhatnametochooseand sorry to hear your cat has it too. When she was diagnosed 4 years ago we were essentially told to take her home & enjoy the time, but she rallied and has been essentially fine.
I’m hoping she makes it until the end of 3026 but it’s probably a long shot. I was saying, half jokingly, to DH she had to make it until the end of my DS’s final year at uni and she become ill literally in hospital last week of exams!

Our DCat had stage 4 kidney disease (symptoms came on rapidly and we only knew about the kidney disease when it had already reached stage 4). Sadly he died within 10 days of diagnosis (we had him PTS as he became so poorly so quickly).
I think that if progression of the disease is slower, then maybe the outlook may be better. The vet did tell us that he’d had cats live for months or even years with the level of disease our DCat had, managed with meds and a careful diet.

My beautiful lad lasted just under 3 years after being diagnosed with stage 3 at 7 year old.

He was fantastic taking the pills but his eating got worse and worse, we had to give up on the CKD food and just fed him whatever he was willing to eat. Was such a dilemma but ultimately he was starving himself.

He slowly withered away to skin and bone and the final straw was laboured breathing, could see his nostrils flaring, high heart rate etc. He also couldn't seem to get comfy (probably as he had no fat/muscles to cushion him).

@scaredfriend- it’s really sad your cat passed so quickly. It’s a weird old disease andI feel she could go downhill again quickly and we could be looking at weeks instead of months.

That’s so young to be diagnosed, I’m sorry,

My cat was 10 and will be 14 in July so she’s a little miracle! She’s still eating her renal food but when she was ill last week we just bought some luxury pouches so she could lick the jelly!
She’s a very small cat with not much fat on her - only weighs 2.5 kg - so no weight to lose really, bless her. I expect you know when it’s time, you don’t want them to suffer.

Tanya’s CKD website is a godsend for CKD cat owners.

My previous cat probably lived for about 6/8 months once diagnosed. We were advised to keep him indoors permanently and feed him a renal diet. I explained to the vet that he loved being outdoors, keeping him in wasn’t an option and would be too stressful for him. The vet was lovely and agreed that we go for quality of life over quantity. He wouldn’t eat the renal food so the vet said just feed him what he’ll eat. He lasted 6/8 months. It was a rollercoaster but one day he just looked so sad and we knew the time had come.