Confused and guilty about kidney disease in Molly

Molly and Abby

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I am very confused about kidney disease in cats.

What's the difference between acute and chronic?

Background: I have four cats: Molly Marie (12-1/2 years), Abby (9 years), Punky (5 years) and Henry (5 years).

I love all of my hooligans, but Molly is my favorite. I am her favorite too 😁. She's my Velcro cat and she loves to groom me. Plus, she's a chatterbox! She loves to have long conversations with me, chatting up a storm. (I think she's tattling on the other cats when we have those conversations).

She was diagnosed with IBD
4-1/2 years ago and doing great now with Royal Canine Hydrolyzed Protein diet.

Sometimes her weight goes up and sometimes it goes down with IBD. I have all of their weights checked everytime I take them in to the vet (which is monthly).

Now she is at the hospital because of her poor kidney function and UTI. I noticed she was having occasional nausea but her activity was normal, she acted normally but loss of appetite. However, she had lost weight. So when I took her in to get her monthly Solensia injection, I asked for a vet exam and blood test.

Long story short, the Creatine and bun are elevated so she is in the hospital today and should be there for 3 days total. I am so confused. How did I miss the signs? It looks like a UTI infected her kidneys. But I didn't notice her acting like she had a UTI (like frequency of peeing).

I feel so confused and so guilty. Is Molly going to pull through?
 

MariaMed

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acute kidney failure in cats occurs when the kidneys are suddenly damaged, usually within hours or days. This may be due to or from a fast-acting infection.

Cats with ARF may regain some kidney function with treatment, supportive care, and time, depending on the cause.

In Chronic kidney decline a gradual loss of kidney tissue occurs over a period of months or years due to underlying genetic factors, chronic infections, age, cancer, or other underlying medical conditions.

I’ve had cats with both acute and chronic failure.

Cats tend to hide they have a UTI, especially if you let them outside. It took us a few weeks to discover one of them had it, she did pee out of the litterbox but it took a while for us to realise it was her and not one of the other old ladies. She pulled through and lived another 2 years. In the end she had a birth defect and there was nothing we could do. But with extensive treatment she did recover from the acute failure.

Don’t feel guilty, you did the right thing by asking for blood work and giving her the best chance medicine can offer at the moment. I know the guilt isn’t reasoned away but try to be kind to yourself. Whether she makes it is hard to say, definitely for us on a forum without extra knowledge and seeing the blood work and the cat. But we’ll all root for you and molly!
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. If her UTI spread to her kidneys, it could be a situation of acute kidney disease, but not necessarily. The vet should have some idea about which they deem her condition to be. She is at the age that it could very well be chronic, and many CKD (chronic kidney disease) cats tend to be prone to UTIs. With a kidney infection, she will likely be on long term antibiotics because they are much harder to eradicate than bladder infections.

This is all treatable, and she stands a good chance of recovering, whether or not it is acute or chronic. Acute can lead, or be in combination to chronic as well, so she is likely going to need to be treated/cared for long term at home for CKD.

This (see link below) web site is extensive, and some folks find it overwhelming, but I advise you to start reading through it nonetheless. Start at the beginning, and you can then focus on specific areas that interest you or that can help with information the vets give you about Molly's condition. It does have a section on acute kidney disease, but it is also all about CKD in cats, and I considered it my bible when Feeby was diagnosed with CKD. That doesn't mean you can't ask questions here too, I know I did, but there is no better source to help Molly in her journey with CKD than this web site.
Tanya's Comprehensive Guide to Feline Chronic Kidney Disease - Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Cat

Feeby rarely demonstrated symptoms of UTIs when she had them, so don't feel bad about not seeing things that might have clued you in to Molly's UTI. Some cats are not only better at hiding any discomfort, but they might not always show the typical UTI signals either.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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It sounds like this is acute kidney failure due to a kidney infection, which should be able to be cured. What did the Vet's say were her chances?

I also had a cat with a UTI that was a complete shock to me as he showed zero symptoms. The only way we found out was with a routine urine test during one of his semi-annual exams. Please do not beat yourself up because you didn't realize this. Sometimes it's just not possible to know.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:for a good outcome for your Molly Marie :hugs:
 
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Molly and Abby

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It sounds like this is acute kidney failure due to a kidney infection, which should be able to be cured. What did the Vet's say were her chances?

I also had a cat with a UTI that was a complete shock to me as he showed zero symptoms. The only way we found out was with a routine urine test during one of his semi-annual exams. Please do not beat yourself up because you didn't realize this. Sometimes it's just not possible to know.

:vibes::vibes::vibes:for a good outcome for your Molly Marie :hugs:
No, I asked if she was going to die - my immediate question - and he said it depends on how she reacts to treatment. That was yesterday. I spoke to the vet and today she is doing better - eating, peeing, pooping. It looks like I can bring her home tomorrow
 
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Molly and Abby

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Thanks you, everyone for your support. I got the new food (Veterinary Diet Multifunction Renal Support + Hydrolyzed Protein ) plus the supplements.

I have a funny story about Molly.

She sleeps with me every night, curled up by my side or on my belly (always the lap cat). And as soon as I open my eyes in the morning, she's licking my face and purring as if to say "Good Morning, Mommy!". (I think my breathing changes and she knows when I am awake).

So one morning, I woke up Molly licking me and purring but the sun was so bright! I looked at my alarm clock and it was 8 am! I overslept! Oh, no! I was going to be late for work! How did I forget to set the alarm? So I gave Molly some extra pets and told her "thank you, Molly, thank you, for waking Mommy up".

And as I stumbled to the bathroom, to brush my teeth and debating if I should forgo a shower to get to work on time, I realized - it was Saturday! 😁
 
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Molly and Abby

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Update for Molly - Good news and very worrisome news. I feel like crying.

Molly is home after 3 days in the hospital.

The good news is that her kidney function tests are completely normal. Once the antibiotics kicked in and the UTI and kidney infections cleared up. So no kidney disease.

The worrisome news is that her latest blood cultures were off, so the vet sent the results to a pathologist. It may be cancer, particularly given her weight loss.

I am so scared for her.
 

FeebysOwner

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I am glad for Molly recovering and not having lasting kidney issues as a result of her infection. I hope the bloodwork results are 'off' due to some residual effect from what she has gone through and nothing more.

Keep us posted.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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I'm so glad her kidney issues have been resolved. As for the other, many, many things can cause bloodwork to be off, particularly when they have been under stress, which she certainly has been.

Just as an aside, one of mine was recently diagnosed with lymphoma, and even has an oncologist, however, he isn't receiving any treatment because he went into remission without any treatment. The Vet said she has never seen this happen before, and of course, we keep a very close eye on it, but still...

And even if Molly does turn out to have something like small cell lymphoma, cats seem to do very well with chemo, unlike humans. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Try to stay calm until you actually have a diagnosis, although I'm not sure how they can give you one without tissue to analyse :dunno:
 
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