Poorly puddy and other beasts

[bunn]

Poor Kjetil, one of our two Big Brown Bear cats, is in hospital tonight, diagnosed with failing kidneys.  He has been losing weight for a little while, but suddenly seemed to drop a lot of weight and became very lethargic.   It's sad to see such a happy energetic cat suddenly losing his joy in life.    We are hoping that if the vet can get him stable again, he may have a bit longer but this isn't really fixable.

 Kjetil is only 12 and has always been so healthy and active.  I guess he couldn't last forever - he is a very big cat too, I don't know if that makes a difference - but still, I hadn't really got used to him being an 'older cat' yet!    Our Liverpool Mogs, Perl and Footie are several years older and still trundling grumpily along, not that that means anything really. 

I don't tend to share as many photos of the cats as the dogs, but Kjetil is a very beautiful cat.  Here he was in September of this year:
 

In other sick-beast news, Az is... doing OK really.   

 I've also started him on Metacam, as he was a little arthritic around the neck and legs.  He's had a few more incidents where he's lost his appetite, probably due to his heart being knackered, but I now have a supply of appetite stimulant pills for him, and if he's having an off day, they seem to help him get started again.   He's still able to walk for an hour or so and mostly seems to be enjoying life at the moment. 

  I think that I may stop buying Naturediet dog food and just cook up chicken stew to put on top of his kibble: it seems to motivate him to eat more, and it's not that much more trouble.  I cooked him a turkey leg today, but that was a mistake: the turkey leg fit in the pan when I bought it, but it expanded amazingly when cooked and then I couldn't get the lid on!    It will be handy to have chicken stew around the place if Kjetil needs nursing too. 

Comments

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

We had two 'kidney cats' and knew a third. They seemed to chug along for a while until they passed away - we never changed their diets because they clearly didn't want to eat this horrid nasty food.

One got taken out by strokes, while the other one (23 year old Polly...) - I think it was the kidney trouble that ended her life eventually.

Ah, cats. They're heartbreakers. Glad to hear Az is doing better.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

That's good to hear. Apparently he has eaten while he's been at the vet (he is just the most relaxed cat ever, and not at all picky about food) so if he will eat the prescription stuff we'll give it a go. Mixing it with chicken stew may make it more palatable!