NWR - Feline Kidney Failure or Diabetes?

Hi Girls,

My Mom just called and said that she and my Dad took the cat (who I call Tubby) to the emergency vet last night. I noticed over the past 2+ months that he was losing a lot of weight and my Mom was pretty much chalking it up to age. This is the first cat my family have ever had so we were clueless. He was fine at his vet checkup last year. Just recently he hasn't been able to keep food down and lost 5 pounds!
Anyway, the doctor said that it could be diabetes or feline kidney failure.
Have any of you girls had to deal with this?
The vet said if it is diabetes it's treatable however if it is kidney failure they would probably have to put him down tomorrow.

Yes, sadly I had to deal with this about 2 years ago with my family cat Kiwi. He was about 16 years old and had all the same symptoms. He never seemed to be in pain, just lathargic and loosing weight. Like you and your mom we figured it was age. Then when he wasn't keeping anything down we called the vet and took him in.

He was in kidney failure. They had given us 2 options. One was to let our little guy go and the other was to give him daily subcutaneous injections of saline. Basically they were going to train us to give him a shot everyday just under the top layer of his skin. We decided it was best to let him go. We didn't want to torture him with daily shots when the doctor said due to his age and being sick his quality of life was never going to be what it once was.

It was very hard and I will be thinking of you and your family. I hope it for your sake it is diabetes so it can be treated.



ETA: I was told Feline Kidney Failure is actually very common in older cats... just an FYI

so sorry.

FHs cat who lived with us for 3 years had this last summer. We she was diagnosed with a kidney problem in May 2009 & until August we gave her subcutaneous injections of saline 4 times a week at home. Then at the end of August FH went to Canada with his friends & she got really sick. She was pooping all over the house & not clean herself. I rushed her to the vet & they said she was just depressed from FH not being home. He got home from Canada at 8PM & after driving all the way home the cat completely ignored him. We rushed her to emegency vet & they put her down that night. It was horrible & she was completely suffering.

Thanks for your thoughts!
He's 14 (gray and white with a pink nose and green eyes - so adorable). My Mom named him Catechism b/c she found him abandoned in a box while teaching CCD. He must have gotten sick a few months ago b/c I noticed he was steadily losing weight - was 12lbs and the vet weighed him last night at 7lbs! I used to have to chase him away from the dinner table b/c he would be obsessed with butter and anything that had tomatos or garlic. Which is why I called him Tubby although the doctor said he was just 'big boned'.
He was throwing up everything and I noticed that he was drinking A LOT of water. He never used to do that. I guess we'll find out tonight whether or not they will put him to sleep. It's not a good plan for my parents to inject him everyday as he has lost so much weight and strength already it might be kinder to euthanize.
Thanks for listening.

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Posted by Shamrocknkate

Thanks for your thoughts!
He's 14 (gray and white with a pink nose and green eyes - so adorable). My Mom named him Catechism b/c she found him abandoned in a box while teaching CCD. He must have gotten sick a few months ago b/c I noticed he was steadily losing weight - was 12lbs and the vet weighed him last night at 7lbs! I used to have to chase him away from the dinner table b/c he would be obsessed with butter and anything that had tomatos or garlic. Which is why I called him Tubby although the doctor said he was just 'big boned'.
He was throwing up everything and I noticed that he was drinking A LOT of water. He never used to do that. I guess we'll find out tonight whether or not they will put him to sleep. It's not a good plan for my parents to inject him everyday as he has lost so much weight and strength already it might be kinder to euthanize.
Thanks for listening.

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mine little guy was grey with white and a pink nose too....

im so sorry to crash but sadly ive dealt with feline kidney failure

my cat gerry had it..he was a fatty cat and was losing weight and got so weak

he was an older cat but in the end w had to let him go

im so sorry

I'm so so sorry. Your cat is in my prayers.

My cat Jules had serious kidney problems about two years ago. He had toxins built up and they were causing him to not be able to urinate. It was a serious issue, and almost fatal. However, we caught it in enough time, and he was VERY young (only 2 years old) so they were able to fix it.

I'm SO sorry you are going through this. Having a sick pet is so horrible. for you & your kitty.

FH & I adopted a little kitten...Brody (aka Peanut). We had him for about 7 months and he wasn't getting any bigger. He was still only 5 lbs when he was close to a year old. He drank TONS of water ALL the time & just wanted to be held & cuddled. When we took both cats in for their checkups, the vet said Brody was still very tiny. They took his blood and as soon as it started coming out into the syringe, they told me it was very thin. They tested it & he was anemic. They ran more tests and we found out that he was born with malfunctioning kidneys We had him in the emergency vet hospital for 2 days on IVs and everything but he wasn't getting better. We had to put him down (exactly one week before his first birthday ) FH & I seriously cried for days while he was in hospital and when we had to put him to sleep. It was by far the hardest thing we've ever gone through. We def didn't expect anything like that b/c he was just a baby. Caught us completely off guard.

omg im so sorry, i hope it's not kidney failure! i have never dealt with this before but i just wanted to send hugs and prayers. keep us posted

Sorry to crash but I just wanted to share my experience with you...sorry you are going through this and I know how you feel...we have 3 cats and 2 have kidney failure. One is in the beg. stages and she is stable, it hasn't gotten any worse even though she has lost weight...one we give subcutaneous fluids under his skin a few times a week and he is stable. I hope your cat is OK....but even if it is kidney failure it sometimes is treatable... and ers for you and your kitty!