We lost our cat to renal failure 2 years ago. As for actual pain, I don't believe so. We did the following for the last 3 years of her life:
1. We gave her fluids (lactated ringers) under her skin. This acts like peritoneal dialysis. At first, just once/week. As we followed her renal function labs, we had to increase her fluids to 2/week and then every day. It only took us about 10 minutes to get 250ml in her using a 20G needle. As long as they are making urine, you can keep their life quality high if they stay hydrated. We left water all over the house so that she could drink all the time.
2. They have a tendancy to lose their appetite. So instead of giving her the low protein diet that the vet wanterd her to have because of her kidney function (she hated it) we decided to let her eat what she wanted. Cats need protein regardless of kidney function. She maintained her weight much better after this.
3. They will have a chronically low RBC count. It goes with renal failure. Anemia can be deadly. We started her on a steroid called Winstrol. It helps the bone marrow to produce RBCs and it also acted as appetite stimulator.
4. With all of the extra fluids and diuresis, we also needed to supplement her potassium (K+). We solved this by giving her a dropper of Pet-Tinic a great tasting vitamin supplement that you can get from your vet. It's base has K+ in it, and it is easy to give.
5. Lastly, we had to give her 2 ml of Mg+ every day to counteract high levels of calcium (also a problem in renal failure) which we did by giving her Mylanta. Go for the most benign tasting one ... We ended up using bubblegum.
We just mixed all of this by crushing pills and adding the rest of the stuff to a TBSP of chicken infant baby food. It was thin enough to draw up in a syringe, and then squirted it into her mouth. It was easy. As for the Sub-Q fluids, we bought them by the case from the Kroger pharmacy. It was much cheaper than the vet. You will have to get a Rx from your vet as well as the IV tubing and needles. We kept the same tubing until the IV bag was used up, but changed the needle every day. We would change to a new tubing with a new bag. Also, renal kitties have a hard time staying warm. So warm the fluids in a sink of hot water for 10-15 minutes before giving them.
At the end stage, you will know that it is time to quit because your cat will quit eating, begin losing weight and hide from you. Typical sick cat behavior. Our cat got 3 years of really great life due to our efforts. Once she began to really deteriorate, we had her put down. Renal failure in cats is quite prevalant and I for one believe it is due to the over-vaccination of pets in America. Humans don't get their shots every year! I feel that rabies titers probably remain adequate for several years, yet we continue to bombard the immune system with these agents. You can google renal failure in cats and get into lots of sites with chat rooms from others who are battling the same. It is not rocket science, and there are certain steps that you can take, but there is no cure. Sorry to hear that you are in this camp. Hope that this helped.
1. We gave her fluids (lactated ringers) under her skin. This acts like peritoneal dialysis. At first, just once/week. As we followed her renal function labs, we had to increase her fluids to 2/week and then every day. It only took us about 10 minutes to get 250ml in her using a 20G needle. As long as they are making urine, you can keep their life quality high if they stay hydrated. We left water all over the house so that she could drink all the time.
2. They have a tendancy to lose their appetite. So instead of giving her the low protein diet that the vet wanterd her to have because of her kidney function (she hated it) we decided to let her eat what she wanted. Cats need protein regardless of kidney function. She maintained her weight much better after this.
3. They will have a chronically low RBC count. It goes with renal failure. Anemia can be deadly. We started her on a steroid called Winstrol. It helps the bone marrow to produce RBCs and it also acted as appetite stimulator.
4. With all of the extra fluids and diuresis, we also needed to supplement her potassium (K+). We solved this by giving her a dropper of Pet-Tinic a great tasting vitamin supplement that you can get from your vet. It's base has K+ in it, and it is easy to give.
5. Lastly, we had to give her 2 ml of Mg+ every day to counteract high levels of calcium (also a problem in renal failure) which we did by giving her Mylanta. Go for the most benign tasting one ... We ended up using bubblegum.
We just mixed all of this by crushing pills and adding the rest of the stuff to a TBSP of chicken infant baby food. It was thin enough to draw up in a syringe, and then squirted it into her mouth. It was easy. As for the Sub-Q fluids, we bought them by the case from the Kroger pharmacy. It was much cheaper than the vet. You will have to get a Rx from your vet as well as the IV tubing and needles. We kept the same tubing until the IV bag was used up, but changed the needle every day. We would change to a new tubing with a new bag. Also, renal kitties have a hard time staying warm. So warm the fluids in a sink of hot water for 10-15 minutes before giving them.
At the end stage, you will know that it is time to quit because your cat will quit eating, begin losing weight and hide from you. Typical sick cat behavior. Our cat got 3 years of really great life due to our efforts. Once she began to really deteriorate, we had her put down. Renal failure in cats is quite prevalant and I for one believe it is due to the over-vaccination of pets in America. Humans don't get their shots every year! I feel that rabies titers probably remain adequate for several years, yet we continue to bombard the immune system with these agents. You can google renal failure in cats and get into lots of sites with chat rooms from others who are battling the same. It is not rocket science, and there are certain steps that you can take, but there is no cure. Sorry to hear that you are in this camp. Hope that this helped.
