Cat Kidney Failure Euthanaisia

by Randy Stevens

Reader Question:

Yes I have a Story and some questions about Kidney disease in cats.

I had a short haired black & grey DSH female. I had her spayed at age 3 never and never had any health problems.

The Problem

All of a sudden she stopped eating and drinking and then she started to sleep more. I would call for her she could hardly hold up her head. She started to look really thin.

Veterinary Visit.

This was going on for about 1 week so I took her into the vet the very next morning. The the doctor checked under her for tumors and for signs of cancer. He also said she was very dehydrated and with her being dehydrated that he could not get blood work from her.

He said that she needed to be put on a IV sub-cutaneous fluids so he could get a blood test from her. just a note she weighed in at 7 pounds took her in at 8 am. On the 24th of March a doctor came in at 9 am and at 1:30 pm they said she needed more of the Iv sub-cutaneous fluids to get the blood test. at 3:30 pm the nurse at the vet wanted me to come in and talk too the doctor. I asked her did they get the blood work she said yes and it looks like its pointing at the kidneys.

Tests Indicated Kidney Problems

I thought to myself and asked do you think it would be ok to leave her on the Iv sub-cutaneous fluids over night because I was thinking to myself how could 6 or 7 hours on Iv sub-cutaneous fluids be enough when she was dehydrated.

Blood Test Results

The next day at 12:30 the doctor came in and Give me her Blood test which went something like this BUN >140.0 NORM says 15.0-32.0 mg/dl creatine >8.3 NORM says 0.8-1.8 mg/dl BUN/creat Ratio> has this **** not sure what that means total protein 9.2 NORM 6.0-8.0 g/dl glucose 83 NORM 70-130mg/dl alt (GPT)37 NORM 0-100 u/i ALP 32 0-90 U/l <<< not sure what a ALP or a ALT or a GPT is this test was called a Chemistry (DRI-CHEM).

Recommendation to Put Her to Sleep

He said that with her having kidney failure and with her being 13 years of age that it would be best to put her too sleep. I have alot of questions about the time of the blood test and did I do the right thing as this really tore me up. There is alot of back ground of this cat and if you need more info from me please feel to get in touch me.

Comment from our Veterinarian

Hi Randy,

I’m so sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, I can’t determine exactly what was going on with your cat without the chance to look over all her medical records, including notes regarding her physical exam and any information about a urinalysis, but I can say that the information you provided is certainly consistent with severe kidney failure.

Kidney failure is almost always a fatal disease. Sometimes it can be managed for a period of time with medications, special diets, and the routine administration of fluids, but at other times the cat may never improve enough to be discharged from the hospital. In rare cases, dialysis or a kidney transplant is a possibility, but this is not a reasonable option for most owners.

It sounds as if your veterinarian was convinced that euthanasia was in your cat’s best interests and you acted on his advice. Your actions very likely prevented her from suffering greatly. Doubts are a very normal part of the grieving process, but if you find yourself unable to get past them, call a counselor at one of the many available pet loss hotlines.

Best regards,

Jennifer Coates, DVM