On Vetting

Kidney disease will be a topic I revisit regularly, because there are so many things I’ve learned about managing it. I’ve learned so much about the best foods to keep kidney levels relatively low and stable. I’ve learned how to get my kitty to actually eat these foods, which has also been a mini battle of sorts. Working with the vet to figure out if her peeing outside of the box was related to kidney problems or just behavioral was another fun adventure. There’s a lot to cover.

While I have had many cats throughout my life (shoutout to Powder Puff, Patches, Nala, Cloy, George, Ginger, October, Shiraz, and other neighborhood cats that I’ve considered mine even if they felt differently), Midnight is the cat I’ve had the longest. She’s 19 years old and in 2019, she was diagnosed with kidney disease. But my girl is still going strong!

Going back to early 2019, I did not know Midnight had kidney disease, but there were indicators. The increasing number of days I would find throw up around the house, urinating outside of the box, and a kitty who used to eat almost everything getting more and more picky were a few indicators. My little round mound used to weigh 14lbs and was steadily dropping weight was another indicator.

Midnight, who is known among my family as friends as a ferocious and territorial house cat, hated going to the vet. She would have to be sedated to do very basic healthcare activities. So, I did what any other overprotective mother would do and I tried to find a solution online.

We tried different foods, high calorie gels, and hairball supplements to try to remedy the situation. Naturally, it did nothing and we finally bit the bullet and took her to the vet where we finally got her diagnosis.

My point of today’s post is to share that I shouldn’t have tried to solve this on my own for as long as I did. I won’t say I ignored the red flags, because I was hyperaware of them. I was just trying to avoid stressing Midnight out by taking her to the vet and also was praying a solution would appear in an aisle in Petsmart. While I didn’t wait too long, I would have saved time, money, and my own stress by just taking her sooner. Luckily, I took her early enough to get her the right treatment and improve her quality of life.

So, if you’re seeing this, and your kitty is having health struggles, take kitty to the vet.