Crosspost from r/AskVet to get more input. We know we're the most qualified to make the decision of when to say goodbye but just want some help understanding some of what's happening to help us as this is our first and only fur baby.
- Species: Feline
- Age: ~15
- Sex/Neuter status: Male / Neutered
- Breed: Domestic Shorthair
- Body weight: 4.78kg / 10.5lb as of 1/9/2020
- History: Chronic Kidney Disease, Small Cell Lymphoma of the intestines, Heart murmur (echo shows physiologic murmur, likely not a main contributor)
- Clinical signs: Eating very little, gag-like reaction with and without food in mouth, temporary loss of use of rear legs, occasional peeing outside litter box (though he still walks to his litter box sometimes), possible incontinence
- Duration: Gagging (~1 week) and temporary loss of rear legs only within the last 24 hours
- Your general location: San Francisco
- Links to test results, vet reports, X-rays etc.
- Can provide if more helpful, but basically his creatinine is 5.8+ and BUN is 120+ as of 12/31/2019. Last vet visit was 1/9/2020 and vet suggested euthanasia at any time based on assumption he would no longer eat. Suggested to take him off all meds (amlodipine, cobalequin, prednisolone, cerenia, mirtazapine). Feed him whatever he likes.
Our cat, ~15 years old, was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, which has now advanced to end stage. He also has small cell lymphoma in his intestine but the vet said the kidney failure is the limiting prognosis. Over the past few weeks his food intake has decreased, but he’s still able to take small bites of certain foods when we prompt him and still occasionally seeks out food himself. We had been focusing on renal-friendly foods but now feed him anything he’ll eat (chicken, salmon, other fish, baby food, corn, honeydew, cream cheese).
Last week when we brought him to the vet, they told us we could lose him very soon, especially if he stops eating. Things weren’t the same as before but he still seems happy, likes being pet, hops up to the low bed with effort and does not show any clear sign of discomfort. Then last night, his back two legs gave out multiple times, and he could not walk. His legs felt completely disconnected when we tried to move them. At least once he looked very wide-eyed, possibly panicked and/or distressed. After a little while (generally over the next few minutes, no longer than 10ish min), he was able to walk again, though showing some weakness in his legs. This happened a few times throughout the night. So far as of this morning, he’s walked around fine, sometimes walking with significantly reduced effort, and walking at a decent pace. He still has enough energy and spunk to push against us if we're smothering him as we try to spend time with him.
He’s also been gagging for the past few days, usually right after eating something, sometimes even when not eating anything. We’re suspecting he may have developed dysphagia but don’t want to rule out the possibility of it being nausea now that he’s mainly off all his meds, including cerenia. We are having more evidence that it's possibly dysphagia since even eating baby food (pureed texture) causes him to open his mouth and tilt his head to the side to consume. Oddly we sometimes hear a grinding noise (almost like eating a chewable vitamin) when he tries to move the food through his mouth, like something hard is lodged. We opened his mouth and didn't see anything but won't rule this out.
Wondering if anyone else has experienced this? Our vets never said anything about leg weakness or temporary paralysis in regards to end stage renal disease. We are struggling with the idea of putting him down soon, especially in light of his legs. He still likes to be cuddled and pet and comes to us occasionally. Just want some input because this is the hardest decision for us, and our one and only furry family member.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/eoeu9m/cat_with_end_stage_kidney_disease_legs_gave_out/
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