Tasha: A Cat for the Record Books

Sick cats have an edge over sick people – they have no concept of illness. Life after a major medical diagnosis continues just as it did before. They don’t get depressed or overwhelmed by the bad news -- they just keep being a cat – eating, sleeping, playing and cuddling – at least until their illness physically overtakes them. We took Tasha into our Older Cat Program in 2001 when she was 10 years old. Her story up to that point was like many of the earlier ones we’ve presented. She was rescued from the outdoors as a kitten, and then relinquished when her guardian’s 8-month-old baby developed allergies – becoming another good but homeless cat. Tasha was thin but looked healthy and had no veterinary records to tell us otherwise – she hadn’t seen a vet in over 5 years.

During our intake process, all new cats were given thorough physical exams including the standard geriatric blood panel used to pick up signs of kidney or thyroid disease (as well as a host of other maladies) that often afflict older cats. And sure enough -- with Tasha-- the testing was useful as it showed advanced kidney disease. (By the time a cat’s blood work shows this, at least 75% of kidney function is gone and that’s about how much excess kidney value a cat has.)

Because Tasha was still “young” in terms of having kidney problems -- and because her right kidney felt very abnormal (lumpy-bumpy) -- we tested for polycystic kidney disease and the test was positive. The meant that Tasha’s kidney disease was congenital -- developing almost from birth – slowly but surely losing function as the kidneys turned to scar tissue.

Tasha had become a master of utilizing her diminished kidney capacity over a long period of time. But how much longer she could cope was the question – and we were told at most 6-12 months – with supportive SQ fluids and medications. Her blood work seemed to affirm this as each time we did follow-ups, the kidney values worsened.

We decided to remove her from the cat farm for hospice care in our home-based shelter where we could compassionately see her through these final months of life. Well … that was in August 2002 and almost 7 years later we’re still providing her supportive care – she gets SQ fluids every other day. Apparently we forgot to tell her she was dying so she continues to live a comfortable life using the fluids to compensate for her own kidneys’ shortcomings. How much longer we’ll enjoy her company is not a question we ask any longer – but we are planning to contact the Guinness Book of World Records when she passes – she may well live longer on fluid therapy than any other kidney-failure cat!

Our Velveteen Cat Named Scooter

“I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them anymore, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real." "Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit. "You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to everyone." -- The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams

Scooter and her tuxedo-cat sister Oreo spent their first 11 years in a family with three young children. For whatever reason – we simply don’t know – they lost their home. Nothing on their intake report points to the problem. They used their litter boxes, had no history of aggressive behavior, got along well with children, and were in overall good health – although it had been a few years since their last check up.

They were well-behaved pets, yet through some quirk of fate they became homeless. Maybe two cats and three kids were too much to handle -- or the children wanted a puppy or a new kitten -- or they were moving to a nicer house. These are common reasons why families give up their pets. Lucky for Scooter and Oreo, a second quirk of fate landed them in our cat retirement program instead of on the shelter's death row just because of their age.

Oreo soon found a permanent home with a nurse who had recently lost her pet cat. Scooter was fostered to an elderly couple who had another cat of ours named Joe. He had lymphoma so we took him back to hospice placing Scooter in his place. The foster home worked well for Scooter for many years – until she was 16 and started having health issues that went beyond the foster parents’ ability to handle. Periodically we took her back for extended treatments returning her to the foster home when she recovered. During one of these treatment periods, the foster parents’ adult daughter moved back home bringing her cat along – a young, frisky male. When Scooter returned to their care, she struggled with the young cat, so we took her back again – this time for good.

Scooter’s now 19 years old. She's totally blind and has kidney disease needing SQ fluids to help them function. We compensate for her blindness, by giving her a cat condo with a comfy bed, food, water and a litter box. The cage door is left ajar so she can come out and visit when she's awake -- but more often, you’ll find her sleeping peacefully in her condo.

Much like velveteen rabbits, cats are often the friends and confidantes of young children and they’re all too often brushed aside by the family as they grow older. For these discarded cats, though, there is no Magic Nursery Fairy to make them real again – only the senseless shelter practice of euthanasia -- snuffing them out before their time.