Reply With QuoteNo great age - bad luck. I've been fortunate, all of my cats have lived 15+ years.
Just had to say goodbye to our 10 year old British Blue. Kidneys failing. Had this ten years ago with our other cat.Your cat seems fine then suddenly stops eating. You notice them drinking water and maybe some weight loss. Straight on the phone to the vet.Unfortunately quite often the damage is done by the time you notice the signs. Anyone else lost a furry friend like this? It’s heartbreaking
No great age - bad luck. I've been fortunate, all of my cats have lived 15+ years.
Very sorry to hear.
Very sorry to hear that, always heartbreaking and 10 is no age.
Our last cat died, we believe of kidney failure in 2020 (couldn't get to see a vet because of covid). She was 16 and went downhill very rapidly, she died in my arms my only consolation.
My condolences.
We have had cats that died from kidney failure, but always at an age when something was going to get them and their kidneys were first up to the plate.
Our current one, Kevin, is 20+, senile, epileptic, arthritic, and therefore very near end of life. No-one has told him; he wanders round either purring or howling at the moon, and looks as fit as a butcher's dog. I think you drew the short straw with the 10yrs bit.
Sorry for your loss OP.
My very first cat ' Cadbury ' had kidney failure at the age of 18. We had her put to sleep. This was the first time that she had left my side. It broke my heart.
Very sorry to hear this too.
We lost our 12 year old ragdoll last year. She developed kidney stones which blocked her ureters acutely.
We had 24 hours to decide whether to euthanase her there and then, or spend £8k on an operation to plumb her kidneys into her bladder with a plastic pair of ureters.
We took the operation route and bitterly regretted it. She developed a postoperative infection in the prostheses and after another 7 weeks of in and out of intensive care, died anyway. The total bill was £16k.
On reflection I wished I had let her go before the operation but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
If anyone finds themselves considering a subcutaneous ureteral bypass for their cat, I would advise you to think very carefully about how far you want to push yourself and your animal vs the returns.
Wishing you well with your situation, OP. I know it is different but kidney disease in cats is insidious and cruel regardless.
Last edited by j0hnbarker; 21st March 2024 at 19:19.
Sorry to hear that, it's never easy. We get so attached to them.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Sorry for your loss. We have two cats. I was reading somewhere or saw somewhere, I can't remember, but a lot of dry food "supposedly" causes it to develop more rapidly. I don't know whether that's true or not, as no scientific articles were referenced. Our female cat prefers dry food, so it's a worry.
Never easy to say goodbye
Very sad, we love our pets so much.
Our Gizmo was diagnosed at about seven with kidney issues, we changed his diet to exclusively Hills K/D and he got to 19.
He went very quickly when his time was up. Rip gizzy.
Weve had 3 cats over the years and theyve all died of kidney issues…it seems to be their Achilles.
Our cat has Asthma, has an human inhaler every morning and didn't expect him to get to almost 14 that he is now. He never drinks water despite having a bowl of water available his whole life.
Fingers crossed on the kidney issue, I know it's common.
Sorry for your double loss at 10 years old.
Sorry for your loss, kidneys do seem a very common problem.
Our rescue Meg made approx 12yrs before the same issue.
Last edited by gunner; 22nd March 2024 at 10:03.
Really sad for you. We lost our Persian to kidney failure around 12 years ago, I still miss her. Chin up my friend, from one cat dad to another.
Sorry to hear of your loss OP.
Our cats (or other pets) really are part of the family unit and it truly is heart breaking having to say goodbye. We keep photos on display our our cat that is no longer with us and over time the good memories from time spend together shine through.
Here’s a photo of Ivan our first Russian Blue who used to love cuddling up to all our sandals. He passed quickly with some form of cancer a few years ago now.
Our current cat, another Russian Blue called Sully, is enjoying some morning sun, as he usually does…
Hugs to you OP
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Yes, dry food + sometime reluctance to drink water, not surprised TBH.Originally Posted by Ventura
Also, kidneys are the most obvious limiting factor to life for mammals. Unlike liver they have a limited capacity to regenerate so every incident (lack of water, kidney stones,...) takes a toll, a bit like a doomsday clock. It's more prominent in cats because they should get most of their liquid intake from food, and dry food takes a toll, but rest assured it is also the case for us. I think studies (cell based studies extrapolated, so theoretical) show that the oldest we could get to is around 140 years unless we had kidney transplants.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Thanks Guys for the condolences. Looking at this post I also see you have some gorgeous cats. Interesting that dry food diet was mentioned. My first cat died many years ago who was fed dry food. She wasn’t keen on wet stuff. I was happy to go along with that too as the advice at the time was wet food was more likely to cause tooth decay, gum disease and subsequent abscesses.
Sorry for your loss, it’s an awful feeling; we are down to a single cat now, but have had them my whole life. Am sure you gave a cat an amazing life & they knew they were very much loved.
Not sure I buy into the hype on dry food being bad as long as the cat has enough water available. You’d think the number of people the likes of Mars Pet employ with Animal Physiology & Animal Science degrees would know what they were doing a little more than watch fans.
Vets will have their own opinions based on their own views, likely a more casual association. Yet to see a vet practice that doesn’t sell Hills or RC kibble though.
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We had to put our 5 year old rescue girl down a few months ago due to this. We did fluid treatment and various other things for nearly 3 months and it cost 1,000s but all it did was slow down the inevitable. In hindsight we should have tried treatment for a month and then called it but this cat and my Mrs really bonded so we carried on after we should have stopped - her being only 5 was also a part of it. The house still seems lonely without her.
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