Help..feline chronic renal failure

[diana]

My sister looks after the strays in the area where she lives. One of the cats always sleeps under a motorbike and there were mornings when I sister seen this old man kick him hard to get the cat to move. She screams at him from her 5th story window but by the time she gets there he is gone. Long and short....she took this cat in.
We took him to be vaccinated and also mentioned to the vet that the cat has no front teeth. The vet said it was gum disease and the cat was about 5 years old. We thought the cat (Tutti) was older. A day ago, he just collapse and his whole body was shaking violently (he had fits). Tutti was rushed to the vet and was told that he had kidney failure and also that he is about 9years old. To hydrate him, he was put on drips and will need to go back every three days to get water into his system. He was also given some vitamin pills to take. The vet told my sister to expect the worst and be strong. He will stop urinating followed by him being unable to use his legs.
I am shocked that with the blood test on the first visit, the vet went ahead with the vaccination....we also mentioned that he had swallow gums and no teeth? Why did they do the blood test and still give him a vaccination??? If he didn’t get the vaccination, his kidneys would have not failed ..it really is my fault to make my sister take him to the vet.
MORE Importantly, What can we do for him? Is this really the end for Tutti? Can’t we do anything or any treatment to help him!!
Please help..

[Kooky]

Diana, Furbaby has experience in this area, so please speak to her either here or offline. I'm sure she'll have lots of knowledge to share (remember she took in a little blind cat with kidney problems).

[Lili Von Shtupp]

What a pretty little friend, too. I do hope FurBaby has some advice. Don't be hard on yourself, Diana. Taking a cat to the vet for vaccination is a good thing. When you take in a cat like this you have no knowledge of this cat's medical history or state of health. You can only go by what tests tell you, and a vet won't see things unless he's specifically testing for them. It really could have happened to anybody.

Let's see what FurBaby has to say.

[diana]

I just PM furbaby, I hope to hear from her. He is in alot of pain.

[Fat Bob]

diana, did I miss something in your post? Is there anything you are basing the link between liver failure and vaccination? Seems awfully odd to me when I first read it and the first 10 google results don't really link them either.

Did all of this happen in the last couple of days? Surprised to see that the cat can grow 4 year in that time, but hey, sometimes the vets get it wrong.

With liver failure, then I suppose it may be just time to let the cat go. I can't see a transplant or dialysis being a strong option, therefore the choice is now to spend lots of money on procedures and visits to the vets, or maybe help the cat go quicker and with less pain.

[FurBaby]

Diana, you have a PM.

FB is right, there is no correlation between the vaccination and the kidney failure. chronic renal failure occurs over months and years, it's just that cats are able to behave and look 'normal' until the kidneys reach near-critical state.

the best thing that your sister can do is to make Tutti as comfortable as possible in the time he has left. put him on the vet's recommended diet, learn to administer the subcutaneous drip at home, so he doesn't have keep going to the vet. give him lots of love and cuddles. when the time comes that he is in a lot of pain or will not eat or drink, then you will know that it is time to let him go.

take heart. it's not the length of his life that determines its quality and happiness. it's how much he is loved and cared for, in the time that he has on this earth.

[Possum]

I think the best thing would be to put the poor thing out of its misery now. Sorry but you need to think of the cat first x

[diana]

Tutti passed away this evening.

[Kooky]

At least he passed away in comfort, Diana, and not on the street being kicked.

Thank you, Diana's sister.

[Morrolan]

chronic renal failure occurs over months and years, it's just that cats are able to behave and look 'normal' until the kidneys reach near-critical state.

that's true: when my cat died he'd been fine for most of the day, even playing around as usual and then he literally just dropped dead as he went for a snooze.

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Aw, so sorry to hear it. Kooky's right. Even though it was for a short time, that little bit of love made all the difference, I'll bet. Scary about chronic renal failure.

[Pinklepurr]

Sorry to hear that, but as the others say, at least he was loved and cared for at the end.

[Bender]

diana, sorry to read this news. Don't really know what to say except my thoughts are with you.

[diana]

She is fine. My thoughts exactly..he was not loved and treated badly when he lived in the streets all his life. At least for the last 5months of his life he experience what it is like to be loved and cared for.

Since he is unwell, he sleeps in his basket. But that day, he crawled up and slept with my sister on her bed. In the evening, when he was about to die..he climbed onto her lap and just died suddenly..it was so quick. My sister was devasted and shocked. She is much better today. She took him in this morning to the vet, to get him creameted.

Thank you for your kind words.

[FurBaby]

it's a sign of how much he loved and trusted your sister, that he went to her in his last moments. she has given him a wonderful life in his last months, and he loved her for it.

[diana]