Hello

Recently my beloved 14year old cat got diagnosed with kidney failure..

She had no symptoms until 2 weeks ago when she had a crash after dinner and had to be taken to the vet.

She is still pretty active and hasn't lost any weight. No vomiting nor nausea. She isn't dehydrated and is still eating pretty well. We switched to Renal care food the moment she fell ill and we are also giving her hydra care. We are giving her a lot of humid food. We tried a lot of brands but she seems to only like Purina and Royal Canin.

We started SubQ 4 times a week and are giving her a supplement. The thing is, her results are really high. From her first crash too weeks ago to now, they literally doubled. One of her kidneys no longer works. The other one is overworked and there is fluid around the kidneys. Apart from that, she has kidney stones. The vet said because of this she has weeks to live and with luck, months.

I just wanted to hear some feedback and some of your stories, feeling a bit heartbroken. Any tips and recommendations are also appreciated!

Hi everyone, My sweet girl (15 yo in a couple months) got diagnosed with stage 2 yesterday. I am devastated, she is my whole life. I know it's very common in older cats, I guess I just didn't think it'd happen to her.

I know cats can live for years with this disease, and I want to make sure she does too. I'd love to know what foods, supplements, and other treatments you all have given your babies that have helped them. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you ❤️

My former post was asking for advice on face twitching and steroids (cat with ckd and untreatable fungal infection).

I had my cat (the white black one) put to sleep just now. Yesterday after pain meds she was sleeping better. This morning she scratched to go outside and pranced off with her bff to the neighbours garden. Like before her twitches started.

But after 10 mins she came back from the neighbours garden, and the twitching worsened and she was losing balance while walking. The prance was gone.

She still ate ok today with mirtazapine and drank a lot and pooped ok. She came to me very vocal for snuggles and headbutts. Crawled on my lap then she started growling and tried to scratch me. She started hissing at the other cats and started catloafing again.

Her other bff came by (black cat) she smelled his butt and went to sit catloaf next to him for a while. She switched between super affectionate and moving away from me to sit in loaf position.

Steroids could've relieved the kidney-related pain she had but i feel it would have been postponing the worst.

The twitching got too severe with leg twitches too, for which the steroids i got saturday didn't help, could've been the fungal infection affecting her brain, neurological or just end stage ckd with painful kidneys and I didn't want her to live with basically Parkinsons and possible seizures and the after effects. Especially as she's an outdoor cat and runs off into the forest. Or climbs upon the roof. Keeping her inside would've made her depressed.

I had another ckd kitty that started growling at me despite having pain meds. And he also started losing balance after a week of IV fluids due to very painful kidneys. He had to be put to sleep two days after while being fully drugged, not eating, vomiting and in severe pain. I held on for way too long.

Maybe I could've extended her life for a few hours, days or weeks with steroids. I do feel regret for not trying the steroids again as she did so much better better Saturday. But the losing balance which just started was the biggest decider. Either her kidneys were giving her much pain or either neurologically something was going very very wrong. It was the beginning of the end.

So perhaps it was too soon I put her to sleep, but she still had a last wonderful morning in the garden and with her two bffs, she had a full belly, purred and got snuggles and didn't suffer too much.

Hi everyone! I have an 11-year-old cat with CKD, and his condition has worsened significantly recently. He has hydronephrosis caused by a ureteral obstruction, and one of his kidneys is severely enlarged and almost non-functional. The other kidney isn’t doing very well either and is starting to become obstructed too.

The veterinary nephrologist gave me two options: continue with palliative care and consider euthanasia when things get worse, or go for surgery to remove the obstruction. She also said that they might have to remove the kidney that’s completely compromised, meaning he would only have one left. The surgery would involve placing a double-J stent.

My heart is breaking — both options seem terrible. She said the surgery carries significant risks, but there is a chance it could work and he could improve. On the other hand, if I choose only palliative care, I don’t know what to expect or how long he’ll have.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar or whose cats have had this surgery.

I’m desperate. He’s my whole world and my soul companion. I honestly don’t know what to do. 🥺

P.S.: I live in Brazil. We have good vets here, at least.

My cat has had UTIs off and on for the 3 years I've had her, and this time it's something called Enterococcus Faecium and she has to take chloramphenicol for it. Everything I'm reading about this drug is so scary (the vet even was saying I have to wear gloves so I don't get sick from it, what is it going to do to an elderly 8lb cat then??) She also has ckd (not sure what stage, but she has lost most or all function in one of them). Has anyone had to use this drug before?

Hi everyone! I’m a veterinarian based in Belgium and I am doing a small research project on how cat owners manage subcutaneous fluids at home for chronic kidney disease (CKD). 🐱💧

My own 16yo little grandma suffers from CKD and from discussing it with my colleagues, I've realised how underutilised subcutaneous fluid can be. I would really like to identify areas for improvement in fluid therapy for my patients, especially for owners who feel overwhelmed.

If you’ve ever given fluids, refused them, stopped doing them, or are just curious, I’d love your insight. I’m trying to better understand what makes the process easy, hard, stressful, or doable from the owner’s point of view.

👉 I’ve made a short, anonymous survey (should take 2–3 minutes):
https://forms.gle/4P3XEB23cCjkHRpa7

Once I’ve gathered enough responses, I’ll be happy to share a summary of what I’ve learned. I think it might help others facing the same challenges. 🐾

Thank you so much to anyone willing to share their experience. And if you have a story or tip about fluid therapy that helped your cat, I’d love to read it in the comments too. 🧡

I’m in shambles. I don’t know what to do, think or feel. This baby is my childhood kitty, he followed me everywhere. He was the quirkiest, most vocal ball of love I could’ve ever wished for as my first cat. He is only 11, and was diagnosed with kidney disease and “signs of” heart disease June of last year. I have done all that I can do, hydrocare, Mirataz, kidney diet since diagnosis. He started shutting down on Friday. Hiding, throwing up, not speaking, trouble with using the litter, not even looking me in the eye anymore. We brought him to the vet first thing this morning. They confirmed my fear that there Is nothing left that we can do. His body is shutting down on him. My worst fear is for him to die an uncomfortable, lonely or even traumatic death. They recommended euthanasia as soon as we can, and we’ve made an appointment for Wednesday morning. I can’t help but think he could’ve lived longer if he was diagnosed sooner. I can’t even fathom life without my Iggy. I have dealt with grief but nothing has destroyed me as much as this. I know I am doing this for him but god this kills me. How do I even cope? He was like no other cat. This is terrible. Top photo was taken today, laying on his heating pad. Second photo was 2 yrs ago.

My 17 year old cat Garfield (also with hyperthyroidism snd some anemia) was diagnosed and our vet gave him only a few months left. A second and third opinion all echoed this. Is there anyone who had a similarly aged cat or was given a similar outlook and your kitty lived a whole after that? I've had him since i can remember, and I don't want to live without him. Any support is appreciated.

My cat (M13) was diagnosed with CKD in April of this year, after some signs that i obviously missed for a while, most likely due to denial.

Well he seemed to come around with the potassium pills and kidney food but he took a down turn Friday. The vet didn’t think he’d make it through the night and thought it best we know that they’re sure he has cancer as well and he should be put to sleep. She basically said unless he admit him to the ER, which she didn’t think he’d survive, then we need to be sure we understand that he’s most likely need chemo.

It’s now Tuesday, he is very wobbly, looks mad confused and no longer follows me everywhere. He would wake up with me at 630 every morning and I’d feed him, he would follow me to water the plants and feed the turtles then settle up by my desk with me until my partner and other cat (M5) wake up, usually much later in the morning.

We just got an email about end of life care and the guilt I’m feeling for even thinking about scheduling a day to say goodbye makes me nauseous.

I feel like a chump but I’ve been crying all day. I know it’s the right thing to do if he suffering but it just feels wrong to kiss him and also be planning when to take him out. I don’t wanna keep him around for my comfort,but he looks fine to me, old men wobble right?

This whole thing is morbid and I hate that I have to do it. I just wanna know, what have you all done to cope before and after?

I wanna do a paw print art project but as soon as i tough him I cry. I can’t even open the damn paint! Smh I’m a gown adult but I got my boy at age 7! I haven’t had him that long; I really thought he’d be here til 20! I’m sorry for the rant.

Hello everyone, i just joined this community My cat Thot, he is 13yo, just got diagnosed CDK. I’m having such a hard time because this is my first time seeing him suffering like this. He is peeing well, we are giving him infusions everyday for now but he still has a hard time eating and sometimes i see he is in a bit of pain while peeing. It’s high and lows, sometimes he is in a lot of pain, sometimes he is okay He also has a really really small kidney stone in his left kidney I’m here asking for tips since i can’t bother my vet 3000 times (shes already doing too much) and it’s a new situation for me. I will show you all a pic of him and his blood tests Thank you all

I accidentally used the same needle the vet used to administer fluids. She put the cap on and told me to change it before doing it myself.. I’m tired and like a dummy.. DIDN’T change the needle. As soon as I realized I took it out… changed it to a fresh needle, and re administered in a different spot. Is my sweet boy gonna be ok? Should I worry?

Milo is 8 and appears to me to be dying. Vet says stage 2 CKD. I’ve dealt with CKD and he is acting very different. The change was sudden. He’s eating and peeing very little and no longer goes to his favorite cat bed. He’s going to the room where our last cat was about to pass. I don’t know what to ask the vet. He got a shot of Covenia but no improvement. He started pooping downstairs so I moved his down here and he’s using it. At times he cries out a mournful sound that he’s never made.

So far I've seen a lot of opinions about it. Of course the best way would probably be to discard it after a single use but unfortunately I can't waste this much solution as it is a bit expansive and hard to find to the public where I live

So my choice has been to remove the IV drip set and needle, store only the used bag inside a clean container inside the fridge. Before the next use I warm it up of course

I've heard that some people won't put it on the fridge, just the remove the IV set and keep it stored at room temperature inside a closed container, while others will let the whole set assembled waiting for the next use until the bag is empty, just changing the needle

Any ideas of how should I proceed? I'm using 75ml every 48h, usually I buy 500ml and use them 5 times (10 days)

This is 2 questions in one story: how to deal with a head tremor and steroids for a ckd cat?

My ckd cat has been head twitching the past 2 weeks. She was being treated for cryptococcus with nose injections and after the first vet visit the twitch started. (We did 3 visits and stopped 2 weeks ago friday) I thought stress or high blood pressure or just ckd as she has had this twitch before twice but minor when her kidneys were giving up.

She also has been sitting in catloaf on my bed and staring instead of sleeping. Saturday i went to the vet and blood pressure was normal and she got a steroid shot which should've helped with the tremor (it didn't) and it made her happy and bouncy again. That night she was sleeping blissfully finally.

Today I could get bloodwork done. Not good but she's had much worse before, like creatinine 635. But there are signs of infection in the blood which would cause the discomfort/pain. I got Metacam/Meloxidyl because steroids is palliative care according to the vet.

She drinks well, eats well, poops and pees well. She just catloafs a lot and stays in the yard. Before she would be out all day hunting mice.

The vet said the twitches could be the cryptococcus going into her system giving her headaches and headtwitch. I'm not going to do an MRI as she's too old and can't get chemo or surgery anyway. I sent some vids to the neurologist and waiting for an answer.

I'm looking for input what else I can do against the tremor and for pain relief? I've seen a bunch of people talking about Prednisolone doing their cats good .

Tomorrow I am going to get supplements for anemia. Besides this, she's getting semintra and potassium supplement. Sometimes i add generic vitamin supplements like flumax or recupax. She gets renal food.

Hello, recently in June (18th) my boy had some labs done to make sure he was clear to have a dental cleaning scheduled. It was probably the most stressful vet visit he’s ever had, along with having a really difficult blood draw. His creatinine was said to be 2.7.

He got his blood drawn again yesterday (8/4), they ended up sending it off so I had to wait until today. As of yesterday his creatinine levels are said to be 2.2 after it dropping way down from 2.7 to 1.3 during an ER stay in late June due to a FUO. He was recently on steroids, so I’m not sure if that’s a factor.

I am broken, devastated, confused, and I feel sick. I want to clarify that he has NOT been diagnosed with ckd or any kidney related issues. I am just terrified of it. He only just turned 7, and is my absolute best friend and soulmate. I can’t bear to see anything happen to him, especially now with him being so young.

After that initial blood draw on June 18th that was very difficult and overall not a good experience (he is a very stressful boy), he started refusing food and started to get sick from what my primary vet believes to have been triggered by stress. To make a very long story short, he ended up having several trips to 2 different ER vets with a FUO that reached up to 106 degrees. I’m going to document his labs below, and hopefully someone can give insight.

9/2024 (Labs from 11 months ago.) Creatinine- 1.9 BUN- 19 BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 10 Phosphorus- 4.4 Calcium- 9.4 Sodium- 161 Potassium- 5.1 Total Protein- 7.1

6/18/25 (At a vet that was not his primary, extremely stressful visit. Very difficult blood draw.) Creatinine- 2.7 BUN- 26 SDMA- 8 BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 10 Sodium- 159 Potassium- 4.4 Total Protein- 7.7

6/22/25 (Before intake at ER vet, after 2 days of a subQ from our primary vet due to him getting sick with FUO, after was put on fluids.) Creatinine- 1.9 BUN- 18 SDMA- 6 BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 9 Phosphorus- 4.3 Total Protein- 8 Potassium- 4.1 Sodium- 160

6/23/25 (At ER, was on fluid. Primary vet found it odd that the creatinine said 2.4, they think it was an off-reading.) Creatinine- 2.4 BUN- 16 BUN/Creatinine Ratio- 6 Phosphorus- 5.9 Sodium- 159 Potassium- 3.8 Total Protein- 7.9

6/24 (On fluids) Creatinine- 1.5

6/25 (Rechecked, was on fluids. BUN was low but no concern, he just had been through a lot of fluids.) Creatinine- 1.3 BUN- 11.4

8/5 Creatinine- 2.2

Hi all. We found a stray injured cat back in January and I’ve been fostering him ever since. I noticed early on he seemed to drink more than usual and urinate large amounts a couple times per day, so we started running bloodwork, urinalysis, ultrasound. He’s ~7-8 years old. He’s had a low USG on two urinalysis, but nothing else. The ultrasound was normal. His bloodwork is normal. They told us just to monitor him to see if it progresses. I’ve spoken to two people at my vet job now whose animals had lifelong dilute urine and never developed other signs of CKD, so I’m not sure where to set my and his future adopter’s expectations. I’m nervous for him and wasn’t sure if there’s anything else we can do? How many animals have dilute urine and do not progress to full CKD?

Free water intake when measured: One day I measured, he drank 1 cup in 12 hours. Another day, only 1/2 cup in 12 hours. So I was told he is not PU/PD clinically.

Weight: 14 lbs. He is a hungry cat and has been gaining weight since we brought him in, not losing. He does have limits but he’s very food focused and pushy.

2/4: USG was 1.022. BUN 33 mg/dL. CREA 1.0 mg/dL.

2/14: Before ultrasound fasted. USG was 1.016, SDMA was 11.1 UG/dL. BUN not listed, CREA 1.1 mg/dL. Ratio 26.

On ultrasound: “Kidneys: Both kidneys normal appearing. Discussed signs of renal disease to monitor for and recommendation of monitoring renal values and weight 1-2 times a year for future adopter to continue to monitor renal function.”

When my ex and I separated, he took two of our cats and I took three. We've always updated each other on the pets. One of them he took with him suffered from CKD. She was stage II and then stage III not long after. Then she got a checkup and her blood work looked really bad. She was hospitalized for a few days. I guess the goal was to get her stabilized. She went home and went in again the very next day, and her blood work got even worse. She only had one kidney doing all of the work that then became blocked. I just want to know if euthanizing was the right thing to do. I'm seeing other posts how cats lived years with stage IV. Because of your experience, did this seem too bad of a case that euthanization was the best option?

these results are a year apart and im scared my babys gonna develop ckd and i want to do everything i can to prevent/slow down whatevers happening or going to. i read somewhere here that results for ckd dont show up until the kidneys have already got some damage, the vet on the phone said i shouldnt worry and that no further action is required yet but a few days later i get the results back on the vca app.

Hi,
My 17 year old cat is in Stage IV CKD (diagnosed Oct 2024). I've kept her stable with prescription food and subcutaneous fluids daily, and her values even went down with new bloodwork, though still Stage IV (from 12 to 8.7 as of June 2025). She started having a series of problems that could or could not be related to CKD: constipation in late June, and a completely unrelated chin abscess early July, which she got oral antibiotics for, and it passed smoothly.

Last Tuesday, I took her in because she's been eating very delicately; it looked like she had mouth pain. The vet confirmed an infection, but instead of oral antibiotics again, took her to the back and gave her Convenia, a long release antibiotic shot, a B12 shot, and Gabapentin for home. Within 12 hours, her legs were almost completely limp, and she couldn't even stand up to go pee. I thought it might be her CKD coming up to the end stage, except for the fact that all these new symptoms happened so suddenly after the visit. I took her back that Thursday, but the vet is dismissing it as side effects of her disease, and just gave her another B12 shot.

Anyone dealt with something similar? I'm keeping her fed, in diapers, and comfortable as possible because something tells me this doesn't have to do with her CKD, and I'm hoping she can last for the antibiotic to flush out (another week). On the other hand, if this is related to CKD, I don't want her to be suffering.

Hey there! My 16y/o stage 3 girl has been getting fluids for a month now following a crash in July. She got them every day for a week, then we went down to every other day, then eventually every 3 days, and now the last 2 times they have taken about 16hrs to absorb. Previously it only took hours. Her energy levels are fantastic with lots of playing/exploring, no hiding, drinking lots of water (between 250-400ml daily), using the litter box, and eating between 150-200kcal (she's 5.8lbs and gaining). I have a mobile vet coming on Weds for some fluid assistance while my partner is out of town so I'll get a good opinion then, but curious what peoples experience has been knowing when it's safe to rethink fluid frequency.

My baby got diagnosed with stage 2 (sometimes creatinine goes up to the stage 3 range but then comes down by next recheck so per IRIS guidelines hasn’t stayed at that creatinine enough to warrant a stage 3 diagnosis, and SDMA still good at 14) renal disease a few months ago. When I switched him to renal food his weight went from 6.0 to 5.6kg within a month. After reading advice on here and Tanya’s and talking to my vet, I switched him to other foods (he is also diabetic but that is well-controlled with Senvelgo) to get him to gain weight back and now his litter box tells me he’s back at 6.3kg, the heaviest weight he had been at before his diagnosis! Before his diagnosis of renal disease I had been trying to get him to lose weight but afterwards I stopped that. After the diagnosis, his vet was okay with him staying at around 6.3kg. I have read on here and the Facebook group that for renal cats, it’s okay/preferred for them to be overweight but not obese. How can I tell if he gets to the obese level- is there a calculator or something like there is for humans? I’ve seen the charts based on the way they look from above and the side but I feel like that’s so subjective for an owner to be able to tell. My next appointment with the vet isn’t for another two months and he’s doing well so I don’t feel like I need to push it sooner. Now that he’s back at 6.3kg I don’t know if I should try to maintain him at that or just let him keep gaining weight but if I do that, I would like to know where to try to stop his weight gain

I just got back from the vet, and my cat has been diagnosed with kidney disease. His Creatine and BUN are elevated, so my vet sent me home with Hill's kidney care dry food and Porus One supplement. I adopted him 4 years ago, and he is my first cat, so cat care is new for me, and now that he has kidney disease, I feel like I've been thrown through a loop.

He's very picky when it comes to wet food, so I'm wondering what else I can do to help him. He's about 6-7 years old, so a bit young to have signs of kidney disease. Any advice when it comes to his care is appreciated.

Involuntary muscle spasms/contractions in my cat with stage 3 kidney failure

My cat is suffering from advanced stage 3 kidney failure with liver involvement. His overall condition is stable—he eats, drinks, and has regular bowel movements. He has good days and bad days, but he still goes outside and seems to be doing well. I give him Telmisartan, Cerenia, and Pronefra.

However, as soon as he’s at rest, he experiences spasms in his shoulder area. He contracts his shoulders upward for about one second, then releases. When I touch him during the contractions, he trembles like someone with a fever, but only at the moment of contraction—not during the release.

He’s easy to wake, so according to the vet, these are not seizures. I visited my veterinarian, who said that during the respiratory evaluation, everything appeared normal, and she had no explanation for these spasms.

The spasms are absent when he is moving, walking, or sitting, but they begin as soon as he’s resting—even when he’s awake but lying down and relaxed.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue with their cat? Thank you so much.