Topic: Question re: Blood results (Sad News - RIP Billy xx) (Read 14170 times)

CC & The Pussycat Guys & Dolls · « **Reply #97 on:** May 19, 2010, 11:26:15 AM »

So sorry BTC

RIP Billy xxx

pappilon · « **Reply #96 on:** May 17, 2010, 22:54:16 PM »

I am so sorry.

RIP Sweetheart.x

Dawn F · « **Reply #95 on:** May 17, 2010, 14:37:57 PM »

I'm so sorry to read this, he was obviously very much loved

Christine (Blip) · « **Reply #94 on:** May 16, 2010, 14:02:35 PM »

I am so sorry for your loss, BTC, and my thoughts are with you.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #93 on:** May 15, 2010, 09:22:21 AM »

I am so sorry to hear this, but he was lucky to have had such wonderful owners, and ones who were strong enough to take his pain from him when he needed you too. RIP little one, we are all here for you if you need someone to talk to.

Mark · « **Reply #92 on:** May 15, 2010, 09:01:13 AM »

Sorry to hear about Billy.

- it is a horrible feeling but you know he isn't suffering.

clarenmax · « **Reply #91 on:** May 15, 2010, 08:58:24 AM »

Aw sweetie, I'm so very sorry

RIP little one, safe and sound on the Bridge, go find my Max, he'll show you round xxx

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #90 on:** May 15, 2010, 01:04:56 AM »

So sorry to hear about Billy

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #89 on:** May 15, 2010, 00:51:45 AM »

So very sorry and underestand how you are feeling as many do

RIP Billy play hard on the Bridge

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #88 on:** May 14, 2010, 23:59:12 PM »

So sorry to hear this

I know exactly what you are going through

RIP Billy, safe and sound at the Bridge by now, waiting for your Mum & Dad until they are ready to collect you xx

The Greatest Gift

I always knew this time would come,
From the very instant our eyes first met.
How I loved you then! How I love you now!
I made a promise then, and I will keep that promise now...
You will not suffer from a pain that will not heal;
You will not know the loss of a life remembered, now gone.

It is for me alone to make this decision,
The price for the bright joy and pure laughter
You brought me during the time we shared.
I am the only one who can decide when it is time.
When my hope dies, and my fear rides high,
Just when I need you most, I must let you go.

It is for you alone to tell me when you are ready
For without your guidance, I will not know
When to lay my grief, my guilt, my anger
My sorrow and my selfish heart aside
And give you this last gift, this greatest gift.
Your eyes will speak to mine, and I will know.

The pain of this moment is excruciating.
Tears stream down my face in a river of sorrow.
And my heart drowns in a pool of grief.
For you have spoken and I have listened,
And unlike other decisions I have made
This one brings no relief...no comfort...no peace.

For if there´s one thing you´ve taught me,
If there´s only one thing I´ve learned...
Unconditional love has a condition after all,
I must be willing to let you go, when you speak to me
I must be willing to help you go, if you cannot go alone.
And I must accept my pain so you can be free of yours.

Go easily now, go quickly now,
Do not linger here, it is time for you to leave.
Go find your strength, go find your youth.
Go find the ones who've gone before you.
You are free to leave me now, free to let your spirit soar
Rest easy now, your pain will soon be gone.

I pray I will find comfort in my memories...
In the dark and lonely days ahead.
I cannot say I will not miss you, I cannot say I will not cry.
For only my tears can heal my broken heart.
But, I promise you this; as long as I live,
You will live, alive in my mind, forever in my heart.

So I give you this last gift, all I have left to give,
And this will be my greatest gift...sending you away.
It is the measure of my unconditional love...
For only the greatest love can say,
"Good-bye, go find the bridge, we'll meet again,
Loving you has been the greatest gift of all."

Forever and Always... Until Rainbow bridge....

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #87 on:** May 14, 2010, 23:34:58 PM »

So very sorry to hear this

RIP Billy x

JackSpratt · « **Reply #86 on:** May 14, 2010, 22:40:30 PM »

I've read this thread a little, but having no real input to give I didn't really do any posting. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure Billy knew you loved him an awful lot.

Janeyk · « **Reply #85 on:** May 14, 2010, 22:33:26 PM »

I'm so sorry

RIP Billy xx

BTC · « **Reply #84 on:** May 14, 2010, 22:13:55 PM »

The rollercoaster is finally over. Billy, the absolute love of our life, was put to sleep this afternoon after his CRF became too much for the poor mite.

The IV last week helped him get over the initial crash, but then even after two further sub-cuts, his BUN kept rising, surpassing his previous high. This week he's been in our bedroom sat on the side table, really not being himself at all - although in fairness, he hasn't been 100% for some time - far more withdrawn. As such, we knew it was time to let him go. It wouldnt have been fair to him to be continuously in and out of the vets. Let alone his blood results all pointing to end-stage CRF.

We are devastated - as all of you who have had cats PTS before can understand.

I know time is a great healer, but coming home, everything is still very raw right now.

Thanks everyone for all your comments and helpful posts since I joined back in August - you've all been of tremendous help and I can thank you enough.

Maybe we'll get to join him again in time. I'd like to think so.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #83 on:** May 08, 2010, 08:32:08 AM »

Am glad that he is doing well and has put some weight on.

BTC · « **Reply #82 on:** May 07, 2010, 22:11:05 PM »

yes, im sure youre spot on. still, if he only keeps a quarter of it i'll be chuffed!

Mark · « **Reply #81 on:** May 07, 2010, 21:39:49 PM »

I would guess that a lot of it is water but I'm sure there is still a good real weight gain in there. Glad to see he is doing well

BTC · « **Reply #80 on:** May 07, 2010, 21:26:30 PM »

Blimey! Billy's put a whole KILO on since Tuesday lunchtime, when he started on the IV, till this evening. He's back up to 3.5kg, which was his weight when the CRF was first diagnosed, back in August.

Really wasnt expecting to see his weight increase that much at all. Really, really chuffed - and so is the vet. Smiles all round tonight. Hope he can keep it on for as long as possible!

Janeyk · « **Reply #79 on:** May 07, 2010, 17:16:25 PM »

That's good news

Rosella moggy · « **Reply #78 on:** May 07, 2010, 14:48:58 PM »

Just read this thread for 1st time and sending a few

to Billy.

So glad he will be on his way home soon

. He is lucky to have such caring parents

clarenmax · « **Reply #77 on:** May 07, 2010, 13:11:55 PM »

Good news he can come home

I used to get lost with all the numbers too, it was creatinine I used to pay most attention to as that's what used to fluctuate more with Maxy, his other readings where always only just upper end of normal, but that might have been masked by his thyroid issues, I found it all most overwhelming and confusing, as I think do/did many of us on the CRF rollercoaster

Dawn F · « **Reply #76 on:** May 07, 2010, 12:23:25 PM »

glad he can come home, don't really understand all the numbers but less must be good!

BTC · « **Reply #75 on:** May 07, 2010, 12:21:57 PM »

Oops - got that wrong, it was 20mmol/l (I was using the US metric). As such, clearly its about double that of a normal furbag, but much better than the original figure of 42. Its stayed the same this morning so we are able to take him home tonight which is good and bad news. Ideally would have loved to see BUN come down to mid teens, but I guess I'm just happy that we've seen a 50% reduction on what was a very bad original number. Just really hope that he has enough nephrons left in his ickle kidneys to maintain a decent balance for some time to come. Seems that we might be able to get sub-cuts arranged after all, still discussing the in's and out's of it. Might have to bring him in to begin with.

Will take him back in a couple of weeks to see what his numbers are like after this has all settled. Fingers (and everything else) crossed that this has given him a boost that lasts for some time.

Thanks for the support to everyone who has replied to date. A problem shared and all that.

clarenmax · « **Reply #74 on:** May 06, 2010, 12:03:54 PM »

Good news indeed

It defo is a roller coaster, and all you can do is ride it and see what happens

Dawn F · « **Reply #73 on:** May 06, 2010, 11:48:58 AM »

good news!

BTC · « **Reply #72 on:** May 06, 2010, 11:30:05 AM »

Ok some great news. Billys BUN level has halved over the past 24hrs!

He's down to 20mg/dl now.

He's staying for at least another day though as the vet wants to see if his levels will come down anymore - wants to get a baseline before removing the drip, as that way he knows Billys at his best level before finishing the therapy. Have also seen some good reviews of a new renal food I hadn't seen before - Integra Protect Renal, so have ordered some of that to go with his Royal Canin. Yay. (For now!). The rollercoaster continues...

BTC · « **Reply #71 on:** May 06, 2010, 08:41:44 AM »

Visit went well - Billy spent most of the time we were there eating

So good to see his appetite is as good as ever. Hoping that his numbers start to come down today. Would really like to get him back by the weekend.

Yes, I know the fluids only last a limited time, however I have read of many other CRF cats who have lasted quite some time thanks to fluid therapy, so I live in hope. The vet I spoke to last night (another partner at the surgery) seemed more open to the idea of sub-cuts, so its an ongoing discussion. So long as he's still jumping about and eating we will do whatever we can for him. Some rollercoaster this is. My first furrball lasted 19yrs and she had fullfat milk every day!

Millys Mum · « **Reply #70 on:** May 05, 2010, 20:37:31 PM »

Hope your visit went well

I dont want to sound down but your vet has explained that these fluids will only last a limited time?

BTC · « **Reply #69 on:** May 05, 2010, 09:17:49 AM »

Just had a call from the vet:

His creatinine level hasn't come down but his urea level has a bit. Saying that he appears perky and is eating well. The vet thinks that it may take another 2-3 days before his creatinine numbers come down to a more manageable level, but he is happy that Billy appears well in himself and said that it is often the case that IVs have no impact on the numbers initially. He said it was good timing to have him on the IV now as he thinks his creatinine levels would have continued upwards without the IV.

We're going to see him after work. Can't wait.

Mark · « **Reply #68 on:** May 05, 2010, 08:55:52 AM »

I have mixed feelings with it as it pulled Willow around last Easter but she had another 6 months of being poorly so I have to question if it was a good thing. Myabe others have more positive experiences.

Dawn F · « **Reply #67 on:** May 05, 2010, 08:42:09 AM »

I've no experience of crf myself but I'm sure people on here have done sub cuts - I personally don't agree with keeping them going for our sake, but if he has life left in him its definitely worth asking around

BTC · « **Reply #66 on:** May 05, 2010, 08:39:53 AM »

Thank you both. It's been quite cathartic to come here and update every so often. So good to know there are other owners who have experienced the rollercoaster that CRF is. Should be hearing from the vet's this morning to see how our little man's done after a day/night on the IV. I know it can take several days, and in some cases I've read doesn't do that much, but we're both hoping that it does him some good. As I said before, he was quite perky over the weekend and was still eating ok, so we're hopeful that the IV will help to bring his numbers back down to something more manageable. Am a bit gutted that the Vet didn't think that Sub-Cuts would be of benefit as it seems US Vets think differently. Still, I'm not a vet and I don't want to keep Billy alive just for our sake - But I do want to do all I can for him whilst he appears to still be enjoying life.

Would be very interested to hear from anyone who has had their CRF fluffball on a drip.

Thanks again.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #65 on:** May 05, 2010, 08:14:54 AM »

Am sorry to hear this, fingers crossed the drip works well.

clarenmax · « **Reply #64 on:** May 04, 2010, 15:17:56 PM »

Aw, sorry to hear this, you must be worried

Your vet sounds good though, the iv fluid is the best idea for now, and Billy will be in safe hands

Can you go and visit him, maybe take a jumper or something which smells of home and will relax him?

BTC · « **Reply #63 on:** May 04, 2010, 12:25:28 PM »

Update:

Unfortunately not so good.

Took Billy to the vet last Friday as he hadn't been himself for several days last week, wasnt eating much at all and had constipation. Turns out his numbers were all very high. Seems he had crashed.

The vet adminstered fluids sub-cutaneously along with a durabolin shot and off we went - he's been much, much better over the weekend, eating well and pooing again (yay)!

Took him back this morning to enquire about doing the Sub-Cuts at home but the vet was against it. He said that he had done sub-cuts on several CRF cats in the past and on the whole the benefits were not enough to warrant their continuous usage. Instead Billy's now staying at the vets on an IV drip for somewhere between 1-4 days whilst the vet can monitor his numbers and get them back down to the best they can be, before he comes back home. It was hard because he's been bright as a button again over the weekend, and ate a whole packet of food only this morning - but in the vets opinion this is the best time to go on the IV as it means he wont be on it as long, and his levels wont be as high as they would be thanks to the sub-cut he had on friday.

Having to leave him at the vets kills us. I wish I could tell him it's only to make him feel well. Still, I do trust the vet and his staff are lovely, so I know Billys in good hands. Even though, I'd much rather he was at home. I have this horrible feeling that the rollercoaster ride could well be coming to an end. Even writing that brings tears to my eyes.

It's horrible not knowing how long you have left with your little ball of fluff. Still, they say treat the cat not the numbers, and this is the first time he's crashed so I'm hoping he sticks around for a while yet.

BTC · « **Reply #62 on:** March 01, 2010, 08:12:39 AM »

Hi Mark

I can only hope, but it certainly does give me great comfort to know that!

Mark · « **Reply #61 on:** February 28, 2010, 13:21:23 PM »

Great news

Hopefully he will follow in Clapton's footsteps 3 years, 4 months and still doing well

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #60 on:** February 28, 2010, 11:27:10 AM »

Glad to hear this.

Janeyk · « **Reply #59 on:** February 27, 2010, 19:56:23 PM »

Fab!

clarenmax · « **Reply #58 on:** February 27, 2010, 18:38:10 PM »

Author Topic: Question re: Blood results (Sad News - RIP Billy xx) (Read 14170 times)