One Cat's Cage Is Another Cat's Oasis

When we first introduced you to Tasha last April she was managing her chronic health issues better – and longer – than anyone thought possible. She entered our Older Cat Program in 2001 when she was ten years old. At the time she looked reasonably healthy, but her blood work pointed to renal failure -- with a creatinine level of 6.2 (normal being 0.6-2.4) and a BUN of 80 (normal being 14-36). Because she was relatively young to have that level of renal failure -- and because her kidneys also felt bumpy -- we ran another test and confirmed that she had polycystic kidney disease (PKD) -- a congenital disease that displaces normal kidney tissue with cysts.

Unlike the chronic renal failure that often afflicts older cats, the progression of PKD is very gradual. This gave Tasha time to adapt to her loss of kidney function – and adapt she did -- becoming a master at making the most of the little kidney tissue she had left. Once we understood the problem, we began giving her SQ fluids several times a week to take some of the load off her kidneys. This worked and her kidney values went back in the normal range staying there for most of the last 8 years. Unfortunately as she continues to age she’s picked up some of the other geriatric problems cats get – including hyperthyroidism, high blood pressure and anemia. Tasha is a very willing patient and responds pretty well to treatment so even with the number of illnesses she has, she’s done pretty well.

Recently, though, we’ve sensed a decline in her health. She began sleeping under a chair – where before she would have slept on the chair--hiding is never a good sign. And, I noticed a sour odor coming from her mouth when I give her pills. Since mouth odor is often a sign of end-stage kidney disease I took her to the vet for evaluation. We did new blood work and confirmed her kidney disease is worse and so is her anemia. We’re trying to get them both under control by giving new medications and increased fluid therapy. The mouth odor doesn’t appear to be kidney-related because the values weren’t extreme enough to cause it. But, during the exam we found two growths – one in her abdomen and another on her backbone. If they’re cancerous, they could relate to the odor. Neither are painful to the touch, but diagnosis is difficult given Tasha’s other health problems. And treatment – if they’re cancerous -- would be futile given the state of her overall health. Because of this we’ve decided not to put Tasha through the discomfort of biopsies and further diagnostics.

We’ve pulled a cat condo out of storage and put it in our living room in the area where Tasha spends most of her time. She has her food, water, litter box and bed within a confined area – saving her from exerting herself more than necessary. We keep the condo door ajar when we’re around so she can come out if she wants – but when she does, it’s typically just to sleep on the bed on top of her condo. After awhile she returns to the inside alternating between the beds. When we’re away or sleeping, we confine her to the condo to prevent unintended litter box lapses. She sleeps a lot, eats a little and looks generally comfortable in her own private home. We hope she continues to rest and enjoy the remainder of her time.

It took me almost two weeks to set the condo up – intellectually I know the condo is a comfort for her but emotionally I feel like I’m caging her – restricting her freedom. Now seeing how comfortable she is in her there, I wish I would have set it up sooner – to me it may be a “cage”, but to an elderly, ill cat, it’s an oasis.