Hi all! My sweet baby Kit passed away yesterday and I have a number of her meds that I'd love to give away to someone since I can't donate them to a shelter as they are partially used. I live in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago and will be around the rest of the week as I have taken leave, so as long as you can get here, they are yours.

First come first served via DM to keep things easy.

- mirtazapine transdermal ointment (5g) - used twice

- maropitant 16mg 4 pack - only used 1/4 of one tablet

- ondansetron 4mg tablets - 3.5 tablets left

- prednisolone oral solution 15mg/5ml - about 15 ml left

- 18g x 1" polyhub sterile needles - 10 needles

- Plasma-Lyte A Injection ph 7.4 saline bag w/line - 800 ml left

- pradofloxacin 25mg/ml suspension (15 ml bottle) - unused

- gabapentin 50mg/ml liquid - I only used probably 1ml total

I'd love for these things to help another CKD baby :)

Also after 18 years, Jett is apparently an outdoor cat. We live on the top floor of a 3 storey Hong Kong village home, and can finally trust that he won't try to fall off the ledge. He has done this before actually, sneaking up there behind our backs 3 years ago, and nearly dying, using up one of his 9 lives. But now, even if he wanted to, he can't jump that high anymore. So his begging to sit outside in the sun finally results in him being able to do so, with fresh water and food and shelter available to him (you can see the water dispenser fountain behind him; he stopped drinking still water many many years ago)

If you're curious, you can find my other posts on Jett here, when he first got sick, and here, an update in stage 4 CKD

He's in final stage CKD now, with Creatinine levels nearly off the chart. You wouldn't know it from looking at him when he's feeling good (aside from being really skinny), but those kidneys are wearing down fast.

At his last vet visit, which was 3 weeks after his most previous, he weighed in at 2.3 kg, a full 1.2 kg lower than his previous measurement. Along with the kidney enzyme levels, this obviously had our vet saying he was probably in his final days. I couldn't believe it, as he was eating pretty well, and didn't seem much worse than he was 3 weeks ago.

After a final injection (iron, to give the last remaining DPO something to work with) the vet picked him up to give what I assume she thought would be a final goodbye, and noticed that he felt more robust than a 2.3 kg cat should feel. She brought in a new scale, and he weighed 3.5 kg after all. As it turned out, there was something lodged underneath the initial scale, and it messed up his weight measurement. The entire consult had to be redone with the new information. Obviously his kidneys aren't doing well, but he wasn't losing a ton of weight after all, and is still in good spirits and eating, with the help of various meds (cerenia and mirtaz mostly).

Since then, he's been roughly the same, though his appetite has been declining. We have taken to adding some of his old favourite food in a 3:1 or 2:1 ratio to get him to keep eating. Mornings seem to be the worse, as he is quite sluggish and nauseous at times. But he usually perks up once he gets his support meds, and gets to sit outside.

TLDR: Anyway, I just wanted to share this nice picture of Jett, because as all black cat owners know, nice pictures are few and far between. Sorry for the rest of the long rant

My male cat is 5 years old and was recently put in a catheter and given a number of medications for swollen kidneys due to a urinary blockage. Last year he already had a UTI and seems it relapsed (and even worse now).

He's doing better now, though sometimes small urine only comes out but I think it's because of his low food intake. He doesn't finish one half-pack of Royal Canin S/O wet food. Tried feeding him the dry one since we remember him eating it as well in the past, but now to no avail. Even if we mix small amounts of his previous dry food to boost his appetite or transition properly, he doesn’t eat it. But back in the vet when he was confined, he finished his food. :(

Apart from blending the food to make it puree consistency (since he does like eating treats with that consistency), any advice on how we can get him to eat properly? Bet his weight dropped a kilo or two already. 🙁

Thanks everyone.

Hi

Sorry if this is a really dumb question but my cat’s only been on an early renal diet for a couple months so this is all quite new.

Amazon’s scheduling for my cat’s food has been terrible and I have to pop to a pet shop in town tomorrow to find some food for her.
She currently eats Royal Canin Early Renal wet cat food but that isn’t available apparently and I’m not sure that they’ll have any other early renal food. Is renal cat food okay for a cat with very early CKD? As opposed to early renal. Thanks in advance!

I am looking for 16 mg tablets. I’ve been using transdermal and would like to switch to pills.

My cat is a 2.5 to 3 year old intact male tabby about 3.5 to 4 kg. He's FIV negative.

It started when I noticed he hadn't eaten for about 3 days and had really bad salivation. He'd had a dental problem before so I assumed it was that again and took him to the ER. They only did a CBC at first. The vet didn't think kidneys because he's so young and treated it as dental. A mistake come to find out. He spent about 6 days in boarding on IV fluids and an antibiotic and painkillers and he still wasn't eating on his own so they were force feeding him. The last day before the supposed dental procedure his energy was very low and the salivation got severe and his third eyelid was showing.

On Oct 18 I went in and told them we were waiting too long and he was getting worse. That evening the bloodwork before his surgery/dental procedure showed severe AKI with crea at 11.2 and BUN over what the machine can read.
I was angry about the delay but the vet admitted he was wrong to assume it was dental and that he should have run a full blood test at the start. I didn't want to turn it into a blame game at that point and kidney care began right away. The ultrasound showed enlarged kidneys and no dilated pelvis and he was still peeing. The cause is still unknown. They stopped the painkillers and started CRI fluids and Synulox and nausea meds and k/d. He's also on Azodyl and Pronefra.

He bounced back fast. By Oct 20 he was eating 100% on his own and brighter and his third eyelid was gone and the drooling had eased. On Oct 21 he was still eating and drinking and peeing and his blood pressure and urine test looked fine. On Oct 22 they rechecked after pausing the fluids for 6 hours and his crea was 7.6. His ALT was back to normal but his potassium was a bit high at 6.5. They switched him to lactated Ringer's and he ate 100% on Oct 23 and 24 and looked great. Physically from the outside he looked like he was getting back to his old self.

Then on Oct 25 he started retching and vomited twice even with the nausea meds and his eating dropped. The ultrasound showed inflammation in his stomach and pancreas. His legs got inflamed from the catheters so he was on subcutaneous fluids for about a day. On Oct 27 his crea was 9.9 and BUN is still over range. He started eating again that evening.

This morning he's back on CRI and eating again. The plan is to continue with the same protocol and added something called mucogel for a bit and adjusted nausea meds and a recheck in a couple of days once the fluids have been steady. The doctors say they won't give up but his main doc told me swings like this aren't a good sign in his experience.

I would appreciate it if anyone can tell me if recovery is possible here or what I should do? Has anyone experienced a climb after a drop and seen recovery?

This will be the 3rd/4th one in the past couple months with back to back cultures every time . One clears then another one appears. We just did Trimetho two weeks ago but now the vet days it’s a different bacteria but the same antibiotic is supposed to work. Does that make any sense. I think we used Orbax the first two rounds. Any advice?

Hi everyone. Has anyone had any success with taking BP at home? If so what do you use? My cat got her blood draw and pressure taken today and it was 200. Which is scary high. The last time it was 150 which wasn’t bad considering stress too. There was a dog barking like crazy in the office the whole time she was there and they believe that contributed but I want to be able to check it at home and get a baseline. Please help

My 16 year old cat has stage 3 ckd. I’ve been doing everything possible to make him comfortable and improve his quality of life. Or so I thought 😞

I give him gabapentin morning and night for his arthritis and pronefra on an evening. He stopped taking them in lick e stix/churu so I have to give them via syringe which he hates.
I also give him sub q fluids once a day and he recently had his first Darbopoetin injection.

Since the Darbo he’s a totally different cat.
He’s stopped purring, won’t sleep next to me and ducks away from me when I try and stroke him. It’s killing me that he’s starting to associate me with all the horrible things he doesn’t like. He’s always been such a loving and easygoing boy but now I worry he doesn’t like me.

Has anyone experienced this? I’m considering stopping everything but the gabapentin, I don’t want him to end his days hating me 💔

*Update: took him to the vet today and she said:
-stop the pronefra and we will start him on this new medicated Vikaly dry food so that removes the need to syringe that into his mouth.
-stop the darbo, his anemia isn’t so bad yet that we need to keep going with it. We can reassess down the line to see where he’s at.
-only give the fluids if his skin tent gets slow and takes a while to spring back.

He weirdly agreed to take the gabapentin in cat food broth tonight, he will likely refuse it tomorrow though cause his motto is very much “never let them know your next move” 😂

My Merlin (age 6) was diagnosed with Stage 3 chronic kidney disease on 10/18.

Initial blood work from his yearly on that Sunday showed him at a CRE score of 3.5 and a PHO score in the higher norms. We went to the ICU and stayed for three days (Sunday - Tuesday), where he increased to CRE 4.2 and stayed as such while on fluids. We were release Tuesday night and retested yesterday... We now have a CRE 5.0 and a PHO 7.0 score.

I am so confused and distraught. The ICU rules out an acute injury and he is eating normally, sun bathing, greeting people at the door. Why is he going up? Will he go back down with renal food and fluids? Every time I talk with the vet, I feel like I am just another day closer to loosing my little boy and I am terrified. I don't want to lose him.

Has anyone experienced this? Is there any hope of lowering those scores and giving my Merlin ever a few more years?

Somehow the first two times I did it perfectly, but the needle fell out. I've since made a harness, and now I can't get the tent. I am 100% positive I'm doing it wrong because she cries, when me or at the vet have gotten it right she doesn't even react.

Her skin behind the shoulders is SO tight. The tech commented on it when they first sent us home with fluids. I had no idea how serious she was. I went back to have them show me again, her "tent" is like the size a finger. It's SO small. I can pull on the area, but getting just the skin has been ridiculously hard.

I'm desperate for a trick or tip if anyone has any tricks to getting the skin, .

My only problem is this damn tent, everything else has been good. My cat is actually being so good, she's unbelievably patient and just sits there eating. I am getting so, so traumatized accidentally stabbing her :( I know there are other spots, but I can't find any instructions. And I know it's her because I can get the tent on my cat really easily

I am deeply heartbroken with my baby’s passing. He was my second cat. Before I adopted him, he was at our doorstep six years ago, roaming around the compound. It wasn’t until two years ago that we finally took him in because he was being by bullied by other cats in our area. During his first blood work-up, he already had elevated kidney values, but he was still playful, had a great appetite, and seemed pretty normal.

Fast forward to April this year, I brought him to the vet for dental prophylaxis since his mouth had a foul smell and you can really tell he had a rough start in life and was eating all sorts of junk outside as most strays experience. I’ve considered it for a long time but kept postponing it as the procedure was quite expensive. Before scheduling the surgery, he was seen by the vet and we did all the routine bloodwork needed to ensure he’s in good shape and to avoid any surgery-related concerns. His kidney values were still high but were only slightly elevated than normal. His vet ruled out that surgery is still needed as he already had stomatitis and prolonging the condition of his mouth wouldn’t do him any good. I was also aware of this and this was one of concerns, that’s why I researched a lot. I wanted to prolong his life so we went with it. Almost all of his teeth were pulled out, only the fangs at the front were left. Days went by and noticeably, his appetite decreased. I thought it was just because he’s in pain due to the surgery, but this went on for a few months.

Around July, we noticed he was vocalizing at night. He was peeing everywhere, and he would only take a bite at his food before refusing it. I had him checked again and found out that his kidney values have already skyrocketed, and he’s now diagnosed with CKD. I thought it could just be managed with meds at home, but then he also lost his balance and started being wobbly. He couldn’t walk straight and would always have sort of a frown on his face. I couldn’t help but blame myself, thinking it was due to the dental surgery that led to the events that happened afterward. For almost four months, we’ve been in and out of the vet, administering meds and fluids, and even force feeding him 4x daily since he really wouldn’t eat on his own. We’ve tried renal, non-renal food, even with mirtazapine, he would only eat a bit of non-renal food then dismiss it. It broke my heart seeing him look so frail. In July, he was confined at his usual vet and was discharged after a few days. He looked so frail at home, wouldn’t even look at us and only slept so I brought him to another vet. His condition improved with AminAvast, Renal P paste, iron supplements given by the vet. Still, we still had this routine, until last week when he was vocalizing again. He started walking out of his usual spot, seemingly wanting to communicate something to us that cannot be explained. I brought him again to the vet and that’s when we found out his kidney values are back at 1,000+. His crea was going down prior to this result, btw. From 1,201 in July to around 700+ then 600+ and now at 1,061. These were still high but I was hopeful since it was going down. This time his urea, glucose and other kidney disease indicators went up as well. SDMA was over 100. The vet did an ultrasound of his kidneys for the first time and that’s when we found out his kidneys were enlarged and had fluid inside. Even with all these tests, I remained positive. I didn’t think that I would lose him too soon—even if his life has actually been extended already as we all thought we would lose him back in July when his crea was over 1k. To sum it all up, he passed the day after that vet visit. I felt that it was so sudden and unexpected as we were only discussing his new medications literally yesterday. He had a new bag of fluids and we had just given him first doses of new meds that meant to address the inflammation in his kidneys. Looking back at it now, it seemed like his condition was really declining and I was just in denial. The morning of that day, we tried to feed him but he would hardly open his mouth. I guess what really pains me is that I wasn’t there when he passed. I was at work. We fed him around 8AM, I left for work at 9AM. My mom still fed him at 2PM and 8PM, but when I came home at 11PM, I already found him lifeless in his litter box. Even when I saw him frozen, I couldn’t comprehend if he was really gone or not. His belly was hard and his feet and ears were already cold, but still, I was thinking that maybe he’s just asleep. It’s only been a few days.. and I know it will be really hard to overcome my grief. It’s just so sad to think that he’s not with us anymore. I now have all the time to myself since we’re caring for a sick cat, but it feels awful to have this much free time especially after all that we’ve been through in these past few months.

I guess I’m just writing this to let it off my chest and find comfort in a familiar community. I still have another cat who’s perfectly healthy, but I couldn’t help but still feel sad and blame myself for causing his health to decline. How did you guys get over the death of a beloved pet? 😞 How can I take care of my other cat better so that he wouldn’t have the same illness?

15 year old stage 2, lower end phos levels. He’s on the hills k/d for dry and wet. He loves the wet food chicken stew recipe and licks the bowl clean. He’s always been a petite guy but he’s not putting on weight, if anything he’s lost a little bit since diagnosis. Are there any tricks im missing out to help him gain some weight.

he has a decent appetite, plays like a kitten still and everything else remains “normal” about him. Just really hoping to add some weight back…

Thank you in advance, im worried im not doing everything in my power to help him.

Yesterday, 25 October, I said goodbye to my beautiful soul kitty, my little grey mouse, my baby girl, my everything. After almost 17 years together, I genuinely cannot comprehend a world without her in it.

Lucy had the most beautiful, peaceful passing at home, surrounded by all the love in the world. I cannot thank Belinda from Peaceful Paws enough for making such a heartbreaking experience so gentle and beautiful.

As my precious girl drifted away, I held her close, stroked her beautiful soft fur, and gazed into those enormous green eyes that have looked at me with so much love for almost 17 years. I told her what a perfect little girl she’d been, how incredibly proud I was of her, and how being her Mama has been the very best part of my life. I told her she’d filled my heart with more love, happiness and joy than I ever thought possible, and that I would love her forever.

And then my beautiful girl was at peace 💔

We had five precious days together before saying goodbye, filled with all her favourite things, endless cuddles, kisses, belly rubs and as much whipped cream as her little heart desired. She was so incredibly affectionate, snuggling into us and gazing deeply into our eyes with so much love. It genuinely felt as though she was telling us that she was ready, that she knew how much we loved her, and that it was okay to let her go.

Lucy was the strongest, bravest, most extraordinary little girl. She fought so hard for so long, and I couldn’t be prouder of her. She had already overcome so much. In 2014, Lucy was diagnosed with nasal cancer, and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful that we were given another 12 precious years together after that. But as grateful as I am for every one of those years, anything other than forever was never going to be enough.

I wanted to protect her from everything, and in the end, the last thing I could do for her was make sure she never had to experience the suffering that was coming.

I also want to say a heartfelt thank you to all the beautiful, kind and compassionate people at Southern Animal Hospital, who cared for my precious girl with so much love, gentleness and respect throughout her twice-weekly visits. They all adored Lucy, and knowing how genuinely loved she was by everyone there meant so much to me. On Saturday, they all gave my beautiful girl one last big cuddle, which I’ll treasure forever.

A particularly special thank you to the wonderful vet nurse Deborah, who helped me more than she’ll ever know. Making the decision to say goodbye to my baby girl while she was still having happy moments was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Deborah gently and honestly reassured me that, having watched Lucy’s decline, she truly believed it was time and that letting her go peacefully before she began to suffer was the kindest thing I could do for her. Her compassion and reassurance gave me some much-needed peace at a time when I was absolutely heartbroken and questioning everything. I’ll never forget that kindness 🩷

For the past 18 months, my entire life has revolved around caring for her. Countless hours researching kidney disease, treatments and supplements, twice-weekly vet visits for fluids, medications, special diets, and doing absolutely everything I could to give her more time and keep her comfortable.

And now, suddenly, it’s all stopped.

There are no more medications to prepare, no more vet appointments, no more treatments to research. The little girl who was the centre of my world is gone, and I feel completely lost.

I feel so empty inside. There is a Lucy-shaped hole in my heart that nothing will ever fill.

She wasn’t just my cat. She was my baby, my little soulmate, my comfort, my happiness, and the most precious part of my life. Her love carried me through some of the hardest times I’ve ever experienced, including losing my first beautiful boy when he was only three and a half. Lucy helped put my broken heart back together, and now I don’t know how to begin living with it broken again.

I want the whole world to know that Lucy existed. That she was here. That she was perfect, intelligent, cheeky, strong, brave and so unbelievably loving. That her beautiful little life mattered more than words could ever express. That one tiny grey cat with enormous green eyes brought more happiness into my world than anything else ever has.

Waking up this morning without her beautiful little head nudges, without hearing her tiny paws coming down the hallway, without seeing her gorgeous face peeking around the bedroom door, has been unbearable.

Knowing I’ll never again feel her warm little body curled up in my arms as we fall asleep, stroke her velvety ears, kiss her beautiful face or feel her little head nuzzling against mine is something my heart simply cannot comprehend.

I think I’m still in shock. I feel numb, almost as though my brain is protecting me from the reality that she’s really gone. I know that when it finally sinks in, it’s going to absolutely break me.

I know I need to keep going for her beautiful little brother Bowie, who has known her his entire life. He needs his Mama now more than ever, and I will give him every bit of love and comfort I can. But I don’t know how to navigate a life without my precious girl beside me.

More than anything in this world, I hope with every fibre of my being that our souls will find each other again. I desperately want to believe that one day I’ll hold my beautiful baby girl in my arms again, look into those gorgeous green eyes, and tell her how much I’ve missed her.

My beautiful, sweet little Lucy, thank you for choosing me to be your Mama. Thank you for almost 17 years of unconditional love, happiness, laughter, comfort and the most beautiful memories of my life.

You were my greatest joy, my greatest privilege, and the most beautiful little soul I have ever known.

I hope you knew, right until your very last breath, just how deeply and completely you were loved.

I love you, Lucy. You are, and always will be, my everything 🩷

Until I can hold you again, my beautiful little grey mouse 🐭💔🌈

25 October 2026 🐾

Hi! My cat who is turning 15 later this year was diagnosed with early stage 2 on July 2025. While she is still in stage 2, looking at results I can see her SDMA levels increasing over time and would really appreciate some advice on how to lower it or keep it managed better :c . Want her to stay in stage two as long as possible. I have her on the Hills renal, kidney care dry food and while I do try to get her to eat the medicated wet food, she only eats fancy feast wet food, so I give in for the extra hydration.

She does not drink hydracare, although she drinks good amount of water. I am thinking about encouraging more water drinking and trying harder to get her to eat the medicated the Hills wet food. I would appreciate any advice on what others have done or any supplements that can help! Thank you.

My feline baby (12f) was diagnosed with stage 1 chronic kidney disease about a year ago. Since then, her values had initially slightly worsened between November 2025 and May 2026.

Today was appointment day for another blood and urine test at the vet. It was scheduled, so I took her, but she had displayed zero symptoms over the past 6 months. She even gained weight (she's actually a bit overweight) and was more playful and energetic than ever.

The only thing we changed since May is adding a renal kibble diet to her already low-phosphate senior wet food (not renal, she hates renal wet food). I believe it's the kibble that made her gain so much weight and I have to adapt the portions better, the vet said.

She has even been at stage 2 a few years ago and also completely recovered. Her vet back then said he had never seen anything like it and couldn't explain her full recovery of previously worrying values.

I'm starting to wonder if there are situations like stress or other conditions like her asthma flaring up from time to time that could influence kidney values in the short to medium term? I should have asked her vet today but forgot.

Has anyone had a cat go back and forth between stage 0 and 2?

since my cat discharged she's been waking up every so often to quickly eat kibbles or wet food if I haven't clear it.

she's vomited three times so far (white liquid) all 3 similar conditions, afternoon after a long sleep(I work night shift so usually 5-2pm everybody is asleep) and her wet food and kibbles are usually from when before I sleep which is around 5am and whenever she vomits it's always around when I wake up and she doesn't want to eat the food but sometimes I wake up and the food is gone

so I'm not sure if she vomited because she didn't want to eat the not fresh food or because she was sick and had no appetite?

a quick google with gemini ai says it's because of her stomach acid and that it's normal ckd behavior to graze food?

. I'm worried because before she crashed she vomited while liquid as well but that was multiple times everyday

the vet told me it's suspected ckd but not sure if it was due to infection or something else because her urine test shows suspected high blood and GOOGLE told me hypertension could cause a kidney crash.

the vet told me to return for another round of checks $500 sgd even though we already did two blood tests($700+) and a urine test($100-200 i forgot) when she was there

Can anyone give me some suggestions on supplements that have worked well for your kitties? Thank you!

My little Merlin was just diagnosed with Stage 3 CKD this week and I am currently shopping around for food, supliments, etc.

He's only six and this came out of the blue during his yearly examination (no symptoms, no nothing, even the vet was surprised). I am still in a bit of a shock, so any recommendations, advice, etc. is 100% appreciated. I just want my little guy to be able to enjoy his meals and snacks as we tackle this.

Thank you to everyone in advance!

Hi everyone,
My partner cat is 16 years old. About two weeks ago, he had a blood clot (saddle thrombus) that affected his back legs. Things looked really bad at first, but somehow he managed to recover. He started walking again, eating, and acting more like himself. They were so happy and hopeful.
Unfortunately, this weekend he suddenly stopped eating. They took him to the emergency vet, and his blood tests showed very high kidney values. He was given IV fluids, and the vet also sent fluids home so they could continue his treatment.
Yesterday, he started eating a little more, which gave them some hope. They also had to help him urinate. But since yesterday, he hasn't peed again.
His condition keeps going up and down. One moment he seems a little better, and the next he's really weak. He ate a bit last night, but he spends almost all his time sleeping and barely responds to anything.
The hardest part is that my partner is currently working abroad and can't fly home to see him or say goodbye. Ideally, he os hoping his cat can make it another 8 weeks until he comes back, but no one know know how realistic that is.
The vet hasn't suggested putting him to sleep, so they are holding on to some hope.

Has anyone experienced anything similar with an older cat?
Is there still a chance for his kidneys to recover with fluids?
What could it mean that he hasn't urinated since yesterday?
Can cats recover from something like this, even temporarily?
What should we realistically expect at this stage?
I know nobody can predict exactly what will happen, but I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences, especially if you've been through something similar.
Thank you so much

My cat suddenly got sick a week ago, and we took her to the ER. Apparently her labs were the worst levels they have ever seen with a creatinine of 27. One week later after spending a amount of money that I didn’t even think was possible, almost the same amount as a down payment on a house, we have gotten her creatinine down to seven. The thing is she’s not eating and they’re giving her fluids and food through an NG tube because she’s not eating, but she is neurologically every day getting more and more brighter and active and acting like herself. I am going to be giving her subq fluids and going to try syringe feeding. We are already very seriously financially constrained because of this issue and have to get her out of there by today because we cannot afford it. I wanted to ask anyone that’s on here if they’ve had an experience like this and how long their cat has lasted afterwards.

We have a working farm and two of our well-loved 4 month old barn kittens wandered too far. They got into our neighbors garage and were closed in. I'm not totally sure on exact timing except that our neighbors were gone most of the 8 days that the brothers were missing so possibly 6-7 days. Peppermint Patty is struggling now.

They both seemed to be recovering well but Patty has a sporadic wheezing cough. Day 4/5 he declined and suddenly struggled with mobility (I think he was feverish but didn't take temp). For the last 24 hrs I've had him in our attached garage in a cozy crate. He's peeing, I think bowels are fine too but haven't seen that in the crate yet. He's eaten cod liver oil, chicken broth, a little scrambled egg, kibble, probiotics. I suspect that he's got some kidney damage but I don't know what would go wrong in a week with (presumably) no food or water.

I wonder if this group has suggestions for what to do for him now/for a few days to boost his recovery. I can't afford or manage something like Royal Canin long term for a barn cat and I can't bring him indoors. His brother (the runt) is doing very well.

My 17 yo cat Kit has had early stage kidney disease for years that was very stable, so much so that the vet recommended wet food but not a specific kidney diet for years. Then June of this year, she had progressed a bit and a kidney diet was recommended. She had a recheck of bloodwork in July and creatinine went from 3.1 to 2.9 after kidney diet and BUN went from 50 to 41 (only numbers I have right now because they were left on voicemail). She also started on low dose methimezole for hyperthyroid at that time, which I know can start to impact the kidneys but again, low dose.

All was good until earlier this month she had some vomiting and then one night couldn't pass stool so I took her to the ER. They thought it was IBD acting up and throwing all the kidney values off so hospitalized her for 2 days with IV fluids and sent her home with a steroid and antibiotic for potential acute kidney injury and she was doing great. This entire time she was eating and drinking as normal. She was slowing down a bit and losing some weight, but I figured that was just some age catching up with her because she acting normal otherwise. Purring, walking fine, no incontinence, eating, etc.

Then Friday night I come home and noticed she hadn't eaten her food from earlier that day. That's the first time that had ever happened so I didn't think anything of it. Refilled it and showed her it was there. She mostly slept with me that night and again was walking fine and acting normal.

Saturday morning at 8am my partner finds her on the kitchen floor having trouble standing. I rush her to the vet and they say her kidney values are very high and recommend IV fluids to see if she stabilizes (I don't have exact numbers but I have sent an email tonight to ask for her records - it was all just a blur when they read them out to me at the time. I can update when I get them). By that afternoon there was no changes and since she was just hospitalized a few weeks ago, I didn't want to transfer her there when she was doing so bad. Came home with subq fluids, steroid, gabapentin, and appetite stimulant. I scheduled at home euthanasia for Monday.

But last night and this morning, she started eating and drinking. She's started purring again intermittently (this is a cat that purrs if you even look her way.) She's walking in circles a lot and stumbling, probably from toxin build up, but she is able to hold urine until I help her to the litter box or she goes into the litter box herself. Hasn't had a bowel movement in the last 2 days though.

I now find this subreddit and the felinecrf website and am doubting my decision. I'm really mad that I was never recommended subq fluids before now when it seems like that is a normal treatment. I didn't know about phosphorus binders and B vitamins, miralax, appetite stimulants, etc. And now I don't know what to do because I do agree with sentiments like "letting them go when there's more bad days then good" and "better a day too soon than a day too late" but she's had good days up until yesterday! I moved her euthanasia appointment to Wednesday because I'm spiraling wondering if I'm giving up on her too soon and she could get to a place where she has a good quality of life again with these other treatments. I'm taking her to her previous vet for a second opinion about her numbers. I'm having a hard time coming to terms with how she went downhill so fast and if there's anything else I could do when she was literally jumping from the couch to the counter 2 days ago and up on the bed and now she can barely walk. I know she will eventually pass away from this but I don't want to give up if there's more I can do and now I'm hearing that renal cats can be on death's door and then turn around with some of these treatments.

TLDR: cat took very sudden turn for the worse 2 days ago but previous to that was acting normal and now I'm finding out about other treatment options and wondering if there's more I should try before I put her down but also not wanting to wait too long and have her have a bad quality of life.

UPDATE: I got the bloodwork back from the vet this morning and all her potassium, phosphorus, iron, etc was normal so there was nothing else to treat. Her poor kidneys were just failing. We did at home euthanasia this afternoon and it was the most peaceful and lovely experience. I felt certain that it was the best decision and not a day too late. I'll miss my sweet girl.