For a cat whose kidneys are shutting down, Tig had an awfully normal day. He went in and out in the rain, as he usually does, causing extreme fluffiness in the coat after being rubbed down with a towel several times. He had an argument with a new interloper—a Tuxedo cat—in the front yard this evening, which I interrupted (thankfully) after hearing the preliminaries. And a few minutes later, when I thought Tuxedo would have gone, I let Tig out the back where, apparently, they took up the fight again. I am ashamed to say that Tig let Tuxedo chase him indoors. I blame that on his being four pounds underweight and sick. Oh, and he hissed at me when I wanted him to get down off the sink after my shower, so I could comb and dry my hair. He hasn’t done that in a while. I decided not to test whether or not his illness was making him grumpy and come within reach of his claws. I just plugged in the hair dryer, which made him head for the hills. Then we had words later, when he hissed at me because he walked in front of my legs and got stepped on. I won that argument. I understand grumpy because you’re sick, but I won’t stand for bad behavior from my pets.
I’ve successfully gotten his pills down him two days in a row, and reading up on his ailment, Lynn discovered that polycystic kidney disease is a genetic problem in Maine coons, and also treatable. Tig goes into the vet’s tomorrow to have subcutaneous fluids to wash out his kidneys a bit. And we’ll go from there. But I am feeling much more hopeful about his future. I really want to fatten him up again, though. I mean, yeah, he’s probably at the right weight now, but he just looks wrong at that weight.
A refuah sh’leimah to Tig. I hope he has a speedy recovery…and whups that Tux’s ass.
I’m not a cat person, but having lost 2 dogs to kidneys shutting down I will pray for his recovery.
I know it’s a silly thing to do for pets, but they are MORE than that.
I remember getting Taters flushed after a few days of kidney problems. It was like he was 2 years younger for a time. It was wonderful.
Sooo, things could be hopeful! Will keep praying for you and Tig.
Yeah, I think so. The vet’s assistant laughed at me when I told her I thought that Tig’s diagnosis meant he had only a few weeks to live.
He’s definitely getting better. He fought like hell against getting his pill this morning. And the assistants wrapped him and called me in to show me how to give him his liquid. That’s gonna suck, big-time. Especially as he gets stronger. He has NEVER been one to give medicine to.
Prayers will continue from my end as well. That is a VERY interesting piece of information about kidney disease being a genetic problem in Maine coons, thank you for posting that. I think my longhair is technically a “Norwegian Forest”, but I wonder if he has enough Maine Coon DNA for this to be a problem. I will keep it in mind.
Here’s the link, John. Hope yours never gets it.
Here’s hoping that very soon, Tig will be up to chasing tuxes off his land — and will let off all his steam doing that so you will have an easier time giving him his meds.