Petco Text Logo
Petco Pet Logo

  • Two Easy Ways to Start Earning Rewards!

My cat has kidney stones and failing kidneys. Is there hope?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 10 years old | 8.8 lbs

Is it possible to save a cat with kidney stone and a failing kidney? There huge muscle loss in the cat, she has little appetite and drinks a lot of water, there is sand in the pee and there visible moments she is in pain however not most of the time. Is the best solution to end her life to end the suffering or is there a solution?

This question includes photos that may contain sensitive content. Click to view.

View more to consider that the photos may include sensitive content.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Image profile

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on November 29th, 2019

To be honest, Haruhi sounds pretty bad off, and her urea and creatinine blood levels are extremely high. In this case, saving her is not likely, and her quality of life sounds pretty poor from your description. I'm sorry to say that letting her go is likely best for her.

Vote icon

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Questions

Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hi, my cat is 14 years old, she refused to eat or drink, the local vet says her kidney & liver are weak and almost dysfunctional, she recieves saline and glucose solutions via a cannula every 12 hours, these are her blood results but the vet is not p
These lab results do not provide any "normal" values, which can differ based on the type of equipment used to run the sample, however I would agree that based on what I am used to as normal values Sabrina is in either renal failure or has very severe dehydration. Renal failure seems more likely given that she is also quite anemic (has low red blood cells), although her liver values do not look high to me. Typically renal failure is treated with aggressive intravenous fluid therapy, and with kidney values this high it seems unlikely that only getting fluids every 12 hours will make much of a difference. Also, with anemia such as she has, great care has to be taken not to give fluids too rapidly as to worsen the anemia. Persian cats are predisposed to a type of kidney disease known as polycystic kidney disease. This is easily diagnosed with ultrasound examination of the kidneys. Unfortunately, the prognosis is grim.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hello, my cat is diagnosed with renal failure. She is 8 years old, and whe live in Spain. In the ultrasound, my cat have the two kidneys very small and in one of them she have a stain. I want to know all of the possibles for a good live of.my cat and
In chronic renal failure, the kidneys can become scarred or small in size, so the ultrasound supports that diagnosis. I am not sure what you mean by stain - this isn't a common term used in the US on ultrasounds. Changing the diet to a prescription renal food, increasing fluid intake by encouraging water consumption or administering subcutaneous fluids, using additional medications as the need arises, etc are ways to maintain or improve quality of life. Depending on the degree of kidney failure and Luci's response to treatments, she may have several more years of good life. But it is also possible that no amount of medical care could keep her comfortable and humane euthanasia may need to be considered sooner than later. Renal transplants are not commonly performed in the world. There is one University in the US that I am aware of performing them, but rarely. There is a large expense, risks of the immune suppressing drugs used, and the ethics of taking a kidney from another cat (that ne
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hi,my cat has been diagnose with UTI since 1/5 and has been inserted a urine hose for 3 days and then brought home for home medication.Yet,he displayed dehydration and was rush back to the vet for dehydration and a blood test was done coming back wit
Creatinine of 8.8 is very high and indicates kidney disease/failure. This can be due to a back of urine from the bladder into the kidneys if he had a urinary blockage. Typically this is irreversible damage but only time will tell. Dehydration would not affect the creatinine to that degree. He should be put on anti-nausea medications which may help his appetite.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I have a cat who was recently diagnosed with CRF. She was hospitalized for around 3 weeks, on IV and had had two blood transfusions. She had also received two to three DPO injections. I was told to bring her home, that nothing more could be done for
I am so sorry about your poor kitty. Renal failure can be a very hard and frustrating disease to manage. This is especially true if we can't fix an underlying cause such as an infection, a tumor, or an exposure to a toxin. Usually once cats in renal failure require blood transfusions and those injections it is the end stage of the disease. There are a couple of veterinary colleges that do kidney transplants. One being The University of California at Davis. That would likely be her only option remaining. If you do not want to pursue a referral to a facility that does transplants, which I believe is very reasonable, it is important to keep Freya comfortable. This could include keeping her on a kidney diet, medications to control her blood pressure and G.I. protectants as well as potentially repeating the injections to increase her blood count level. Ultimately kidney failure is fatal. Therefore I would discuss with your veterinarian quality-of-life factors for her as well as what her ul
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Good evening! My cat is only 10 years old and i see that she is dying, and i cant do anything! About 2 weeks ago we went to veterinarian, where we figured out about renal and hepatic insufficiency. She did not eat anything for 1 week and barely drink
If you are worried she is dying she needs to be seen by a veterinarian right away. Not eating is a serious problem in cats and will only cause her further liver damage, plus she is likely severely dehydrated by the lack of drinking. She needs immediate supportive care and reevaluation to see if anything can be done to save her life and make her more comfortable.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
hello yesterday i went to the vet after my cat lost weight he told me that my cat suffers from kidney failure now he has one kindey that works but not with high efficiency and the other one stopped completely now my cat refuses to eat or drink what s
Sorry to hear about your kitty. It sounds like he is in the advanced stages of kidney failure. Unfortunately kidney damage can not be reversed once it occurs - only managed. Once cats get to this stage of kidney disease, most treatments are focused on trying to make cats feel as good as possible for as long as possible. Sometimes treatments that are prescribed include SQ fluids (water given as an injection under the skin to increase hydration), anti-nausea medications, blood pressure medications, antacids, and other therapies to manage complications associated with kidney failure. It is hard to give a prognosis without knowing the specific details of your cat's bloodwork and history, but if he is not eating or drinking, he may be suffering and can quickly decline. If you are concerned about your kitty's quality of life, have a discussion with your veterinarian.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
Hello! I went to the vet because my cat had diarrhea,a small change in her voice and stopped purring.It was just a minor concern,but when the vet examined her (x-ray,blood tests,etc.) she diagnosed her with acute kidney failure.Since two weeks earlie
Thanks for using Boop by Petco! I do not have her labwork and test results to know for a fact that this is accurate but I would have to think so. Acute renal failure can be diagnosed incidentally when working up something else. How likely she is to improve depends on what is causing the renal failure. There are several possible causes such as an infection, toxicity, among other possibilities. I would recommend diagnostics such as abdominal ultrasound and urine culture which may help clarify what may be causing this. Treatment can then be more targeted at what seems to be affecting her. Good luck!
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
I visited an emergency clinic last night with my cat and they diagnosed him with Kidney failure. I can't talk to that vet again til 7pm tonight and I'm trying to decide whether it would be kinder to let Squeaker go now, or to try to extend his life
Part of this decision should be based upon how Squeakers is doing clinically and how bad or not bad his values are. In general, if kidney disease is caught early on, it responds very well to treatment. Most of the time, treatment is simply a diet change to a kidney friendly, prescription diet. Pet’s where the disease is more advanced, may need to take a pill to decrease protein loss through the kidneys and they may need subcutaneous fluids on a daily or weekly basis. For cats with more advanced disease, they may need hospitalization and IV fluids to see if they will recover. Again it all depends on the blood values and how the pet is doing clinically. Most cats with kidney disease, if caught in time, will live an average of 2 to 3 years of quality life after diagnosis. This is variable though. Some pets progress quickly and others live longer than 3 years. You don’t know until you try. I hope this helps to guide your decision making. You can also find a fair amount of information about
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
my cat Bella 9 years old, she have UI, so Iv been feeding her wet food, and I noticed she start to lose weight so I took her the vet, and stated that she have Mild Kidney d, he asked me to do cat scan, but it was too much, and I ignored it. So i star
Kidney disease is difficult to treat, and first we need to know what is causing it. An ultrasound can tell us quite a bit about the potential causes, including an infection in the kidneys, a birth defect that is causing the kidneys to be misshapen, or even cancer. Infections can be treated fairly easily, but usually once a cat is in kidney failure, to the point that they are vomiting and not eating, they need to be hospitalized and receive fluids (intravenously) to get better. I would encourage you to follow your veterinarians's advice - even if you cannot afford the ultrasound, get her treated with fluids and other therapies to help get her eating again and reduce nausea.
Updated on September 24th, 2025
Petco Pet Education Center
Health & Wellbeing
My 18-year-old cat has had borderline hyperthyroidism for several years but has been on meds for only the last 1-2 years: 30mg gabapentin 2x daily [arthritis]; 5mg prednisolone daily; and methimazole [1/2 of 5mg tablet in AM, 1/4 of 5mg tab in PM].
Chronic renal failure is a common problem in elderly cats, so this is certainly possible - blood work would be needed to know for sure. However, she could also have a completely different problem such as diabetes, a urinary tract infection, or she may simply need her thyroid medication adjusted. I would recommend taking her to the vet to have this checked when you are able to. He/she can do blood work and a urinalysis to help diagnose the problem and get her started on appropriate treatment.
Updated on September 24th, 2025

Related Searches

Cat Supplies Cat Food Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication Cat Urinary Care UTI Cat Food Wet Cat Food Diuretics for Cats Electrolytes for Cats Pain Meds & Arthritis Relief for Cats Heart & Blood Pressure Medicine for Cats Potassium Citrate Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication CitraVet Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication Pet Honesty Cat Urinary Care Ursodiol Tablets Cat Urinary Tract & Kidney Medication Potassium Citrate Cat Medicine Hill's Cat Urinary Care Prescription Diet Cat Urinary Care Fera Pets Cat Urinary Care HomeoPet Cat Urinary Care Pet Wellbeing Cat Urinary Care
image
Have A Vet Question?

Book an appointment with the pros – our expert vets are here to help.

Book Now

Sponsored