Expert: Dr. Christina Chambreau - 8/17/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hello,

My cat lost his battle with chronic renal disease on May 15th of this year. He was 15.5 years old.  On May 13th, he was admitted to the clinic for iv treatment.  He stayed overnight for observation due to eating once that day and immediately vomiting after eating. He did not urinate at all that day.  

On May 14th, He was still hooked up to the iv machine. He was not urinating but was given diuretics to help him. He was force fed. My vet stated she was worried my cat’s kidneys were starting to shut down.

On Saturday, May 15th,  my cat was euthanized due to poor prognosis.  He was still not eating. He urinated 3 times that morning. The output was not enough for improvement of the kidneys. I came to see my cat that morning. He was on morphine for extreme kidney pain. The fluids were emptying into his back legs causing his legs to swell. Fluid(toxins) were starting to drip out of his mouth.  I wiped it off with a Kleenex. He was still hooked up to the iv machine.

I really do not know why my cat was still hooked up to the iv machine on May 15th?  I also do not know why toxins(fluids) were dripping out from his mouth?

Thanks,


ANSWER: I am sorry for your loss. It is always hard to lose a companion of so many years. 15 is a good age for a conventionally treated cat, so you were blessed to have so many yeas. The cat still had a catheter in his arm (the fluids from the machine were probably not running) because it made the easiest and most gentle way to inject the euthanasia solution into his vein to help him smoothly pass on to his next adventures.

The body, as it shouts down, often discharges fluids from various openings in the body. They may have excess saliva, diarrhea or ooze from the rectum, urine passing, eyes and nose dripping. It is just the body failing.

When you are ready for a new cat, please ask here or email me at HealthyAnimals@aol.com so you can try the integrative approach with holistic and conventional, which gives many more options.

dr. Chambreau

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the reply. When I went to see Pepper on the morning of May 15th, I sat with him for about 3 hours. The iv machine was running. Toxins from the kidneys were not being excreted so the fluids were going to his back legs and filling with this fluid. These fluids were dripping out from the side of his mouth. I tried to look inside his mouth and I could see sticky like almost saliva type material inside the roof of his whole mouth. It kind of reminded me of taffee candy that you pull apart and stretch out. He was also given morphine for the kidney pain from the time he was admitted on May 13th.

I do not know really if the sticky substances I saw inside his mouth were coming from. I saw the day previously and he looked better than on Saturday. He was still had the iv machine with the iv lines attached. He did recognize me and I spent some time with him. He was agitated.

I have never seen an animal in the final-end stages of kidney disease before. The symptoms Pepper displayed starting in the early morning hours of May 13th to May 15th common for this disease in the final stages? I still think about May 15th when I went to see him at clinic.

thanks,

Joan Windler

Answer
Now is the time, Joan, for you to stop thinking about May 15th (it is my daughter's birthday) and start remembering all the wonderful times you had together for fifteen and a half years. He would not want you spending time thinking about the few sad days in the hospital. It is very good when a cat is strong enough to die when it is their time and not linger for weeks and weeks. You were lucky.

Dr. Chambreau