Category Archives: Feline Renal Failure

Farewell My Friend

#cat, Blog, Feline Renal Failure, Ms. Arleen, Uncategorized July 14, 2016 Leave a comment

July 13, 2016

Farewell My Friend.

Ms. Kitty crossed the Rainbow Bridge today at 1:30 p.m.  She had a very restless night. All of the horrible things I heard and read about were coming to fruition. I did not want my sweet little Ms. Kitty to suffer so I took her to our Vet. She passed peaceful in my arms.  I would like to publicly thank Dr. Springer for his kindness and overwhelming compassion today. He cared for Ms. Kitty with the respect she deserved and helped me bear my burden. Such a talented Veterinarian and a wonderfully kind human. I will be forever appreciative.  

Tonight as I sit here at my computer, I hear the sounds of Tazzy eating from his dish. I treasure my fur-babes. They bring me joy and help me through the moments of life that are sometimes so hard to bear. I am filled with guilt for ever buying those cat treats. She was so happy and healthy before she starting eating them. Today was one of those days that I will not forget. The surreal silent solitude as I came home in the car. My oldest brother drove down to help us give her a proper burial. So now, Ms. Kitty is home and she is at peace beneath the shade of the dogwood tree. She loved to play under that tree.

I know in time this pain will not sting so bad but tonight my heart is broken.  I will miss and love her always. She was a trust companion and one hell of a mouser. Some of my dearest memories are of her when she would bring me her “gifts”. She brought us everything from snakes to gophers to lizards. I remember telling her, “Ms. Kitty, I don’t really like lizard, sweetie. You can have that one.” She gave me that Donald Trump look with her lips pursed up as if to say, “Who the hell doesn’t like lizard?” She had those looks; a cross between Trump and Grumpy Cat. In the coming months I will try and recreate those smiles that made my heart laugh. That is one of beautiful things about art, time stands still.

Well not much left to say but thank you Ms. Kitty, RIP my friend.

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Ms. Kitty 2013- July 13, 2016

 

 

Ms. Arleen

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All Things Considered…

#cat, Blog, College after 50, Feline Renal Failure, Ms. Arleen, Slippery Elm Syrup, Uncategorized July 10, 2016 Leave a comment

I didn’t post anything about Ms. Kitty yesterday. The first thing Sat. morning she got up and went to the back door again, just like on Friday. We told her again that it was way to hot to be outside (heat index was expected to be triple digits). She cried the saddest little meow. Kept staring out the back door. This broke my heart. I know she wants out but if she gets to the storage building and gets underneath, I don’t know how I would get her out. We did what we thought was best, told her no. I picked her up and rocked her for a while then took her back to her bed.

Gave her a small dose (less than 1ml) of slipper elm syrup) just enough to coat her stomach. Waited for about 10 minutes for it to work. Followed that up with 2ml of Clinicare Supplement.  We went through this exact procedure twice till 10 last night. Got up at midnight and checked in on her, she was still fine and had used her litter box again.

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Kitty on Sunday morning 7/10/16. 

First thing this morning, I checked in on her. She was sitting there just looking at me. When I reached to pet her, she purred and blinked her eyes. I think I have mentioned this before, I read somewhere that cats say I love you when they blinked their eyes at you. I will have to find that link and post It for everyone.  It’s expected to be a hot day again today but not as bad as yesterday.

I will be sitting with her most of the day in the office. I have a lot of work to get done online, most of it classwork that has be turned in by 10:55 CST tonight. My course this term is Hemingway and it requires a lot of work in prep for writing.  Thank goodness, I didn’t take two classes. There are days when the words flow easy, then there are those days when I have so much on my mind that I can’t concentrate to get anything done. I have had nearly a week like that, a foggy muddled mind. I tried to meditate last night, Mother was restless so that was a no-go. She finally went to bed, so I did too. Long story short, after checking on Kitty at Midnight, I got a few hours of sleep. I had intended on being up at 4 or 5 but slept till after 7. Enough of this, time to get busy on my writing. Putting some classical chamber music on, that would be soothing to both of us. Going now, time to write.

Ms. Arleen

Ms. Kitty update for 07/08/2016

#cat, Blog, Feline Renal Failure, Ms. Arleen, Uncategorized July 9, 2016 Leave a comment

Well it’s 8:40 A.M. Ms. Kitty is wide awake and alert this morning. I did not give her the Clinicare through the night, wanted to let to use the litter box. Afraid if she can’t urinate, it will just cause her pain to give her fluids if she can’t rid them. Above all, I don’t want her to suffer. To our amazement, she jumped off the desk walked to the backdoor and meowed to go outside. We didn’t let her outside for a couple of reasons. First, she is still too sick to be outside But the main reason is the heat index is supposed to be way over 105 degrees today. We were afraid she would be going outside to die and we wouldn’t be able to find her.  Cats do that sometimes, especially cats that were born feral. I suppose it is just her instinct. After Mother and I told her “no Ms. Kitty” she walked back into the office where I have her bed set up on my drawing table. She likes this spot a lot. She meowed for me to put her back up there, so I did. I also have her litter box sitting up there so she can get to it without a lot of effort. She used her litter box, then laid back down on the bed. I am going to get her some Clinicare now and give her 3ml. 

6:00 p.m. Well, had errands to run today so was away from the house for a while. When I got home around 2pm I checked on Ms. Kitty. She was alert sitting on the desk. She had used her litter box a little and was drinking some water from her dish. I gave her some Clinicare around 3:30 p.m. She held it down. Thankful we have no vomiting. Some of the credit for that may come from the use of Slippery elm syrup. Just a tiny bit coats her stomach and lowers the acid. Then I gave her the Clinicare supplement. She took a nap afterwards.  It anyone wants the recipe for the Slippery elm syrup I will provide the link at the end of this post. This is a picture of Kitty tonight quietly taking a nap with her new gray mouse I bought her today.

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Ms. Kitty taking a nap with her new gray mouse. We named it “Minnie”.

 

Well, took care of all the other chores to be done around the house. I still have to work on my homework post for this week so going to sign off now. I will probably be back up at 4a.m. to check in on Ms. Kitty. Goodnight to you all.

Ms. Arleen 

Recipe for the Slippery Elm syrup for cats in renal failure. This is a wonderful website with a lot of information on the disease. The link follows:

http://www.felinecrf.org/holistic_treatments.htm

Ms. Kitty Update for 7/7/2016

#cat, Blog, Feline Renal Failure, Ms. Arleen, Uncategorized July 7, 2016 Leave a comment

Well, it has been a couple days since I brought Ms. Kitty home. On Tuesday I received some products I found for cats in renal failure. One of them is a product called Clinicare Feline Liquid Renal Care. I will not lie, it cost a good bit for one can, but I am down to brass tacks here. I ordered it on Amazon for $11.48 a can with Prime shipping. I needed it fast so I am so glad I have Amazon Prime. It came yesterday.  It’s like Ensure for cats- a liquid feeding supplement for cats in renal failure. I have to do something to get some nutrition in her. I used a feeding syringe that holds up to 10ml. I am only giving 2ml at a time. I figure this is about all she can tolerate. She is still drinking water from her dish.  I started giving the Clinicare around 5 pm as soon as UPS delivered it. She held still while I gave it to her, then she began licking her lips like she liked it. I put a little on a dish but she wouldn’t lick on her own.  So far I have given her a total of 6ml. She has tolerated it well. No vomiting. That was my first concern with giving her fluids by mouth.

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Ms.Kitty at 3 a.m. on 7/7/2016

I got up at 3.am. this morning to sit with her and work on my classwork (I am pursuing a degree online at APUS in English.) She usually sits with me when I work on papers. It felt like old times, she sat up on the desk with me watching me type till about 4:30. Then she abruptly got down, staggering. She went under the bed and sat there until 6 a.m. Mother and I are both wondering if this is one of the signs of her decline-wanting to be alone. I took it as a cue and left her to herself and went back to bed till 10a.m.

She was back on the desk, alert. I could tell she had not used her litter box at all. This worries me. I see her drink water but not urinating is not good. I did not give her the Clinicare yet today. I don’t want to overload her kidneys with more fluid that she can process. She is not in pain. Alert and looking around.

I will go for now. I am going to go sit with her a little while. I will post again tomorrow.

Ms. Arleen