Advice received by a vet - would appreciate your thoughts

[clarenmax]

Thanks hunnies 

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

Something our CP lady said has got me wondering though, she said that with any illness where there is a gradual decline, we can't really do anything, and should make sure the cat is happy.

Maybe I was wrong in taking Maxy to the vets for all the tests we did, and I hope I didn't make his last year miserable 

  awww Clare don't think that, you did you all you could and what you believed right for Max just as we all do for our cats.  Do you know, I've been the same with every single cat I've lost thinking what if I'd done things differently.... I'm sure we all have those thoughts at times

Yes we all have those thoughts, i know i certainly do with Issey.....
but we all deff do what is right for our babies
big hugs Clare xxxxx

[Mark]

Something our CP lady said has got me wondering though, she said that with any illness where there is a gradual decline, we can't really do anything, and should make sure the cat is happy.

Its partly true but we do what we can to improve their quality of life at the same time. It still breaks my heart when I think I might have hurt Willow's mouth trying to feed her A/D with a syringe.  Also I probably could have saved her from her last suffering - but even the vet said there was a chance she could have turned around - so I gave her the chance.

[JackSpratt]

I'm sure we all have those thoughts at times

We do. When I lose any of my furbabes (or scaly babes in our house) I spend days beating myself up about what more I could've done, what I shouldn't have done and if I did everything I did fast enough to make a difference. My partner has to spend a great deal of time reassuring me about all the decisions I made because I'm terrified that I didn't give the animal in question the help required fast enough and therefore the chance it deserved. I feel like that every time. We all know how it feels, Clare.

[Janeyk]

Something our CP lady said has got me wondering though, she said that with any illness where there is a gradual decline, we can't really do anything, and should make sure the cat is happy.

Maybe I was wrong in taking Maxy to the vets for all the tests we did, and I hope I didn't make his last year miserable 

  awww Clare don't think that, you did you all you could and what you believed right for Max just as we all do for our cats.  Do you know, I've been the same with every single cat I've lost thinking what if I'd done things differently.... I'm sure we all have those thoughts at times

[clarenmax]

Thanks for your thoughts peeps, its a tough one to call I think.

For now I think she is going to go with their advice.

Something our CP lady said has got me wondering though, she said that with any illness where there is a gradual decline, we can't really do anything, and should make sure the cat is happy.

Maybe I was wrong in taking Maxy to the vets for all the tests we did, and I hope I didn't make his last year miserable 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I think it depends on what treatment the vet would propose if the blood tests showed kidney values had gone up.  If the treatment would be no different to what is being proposed anyway, then I'd say there's not much point in doing further blood tests right now.  Although if it was me, I would want them done because I'd want know what the kideneys were doing and at what rate they were deteriorating.   I suppose the obvious answer is for your friend to ask the vet why he doesn't want to do bloods now.

[Mark]

On one hand, the vet advice is in line with "Treat the cat, the the numbers" which I could understand this if the cat was on Benazedril (Fortekor etc) as there is nothing else that could be done - but with CRF, there is decline happening all the time. This can be slowed down with Fortekor, which my vet is a big believer in as it normalises blood pressure and reduces the burden on the kidneys. Its a difficult one. I would question why the cat isn't on Fortekor if it were me.

[Janeyk]

If she is a good vet I would be inclined to trust what she says too, when Pep was last due his thyroid before his dental my vet only advised the other bloods as she was pretty confident his thyroid was ok, there are usually many signs if things arent right.

[Bazsmum]

One good thing, you know she has a decent vet who is not wanting to do extra things just for the money.....Id go with Debs thoughts, Im sure if he thought any symptoms to be worried of he would of done the testing! 

[Debsymiller (Rufus' mum)]

With Monty, who has been in renal failure (diagnosed- was probably a bit before too) for about 2 years, the vets said just have him blood tested if his symptoms go downhill. This may be a bit different to the standard advice for 2 reasons though; 1, he is a VERY elderly cat and so the vets are impressed he's still around. We have discussed what would happen if he became more poorly and will do whatever is best for him but wouldn't put him through a huge amount of treatment which ultimately wouldn't prolongue his life a great deal. and 2. Our Monty has an abnormally bad vet phobia, a trip to the vet will affect him quite badly. He becomes terrified and very agressive at the vets and then will have stress diorreah (excuse sp!) for at least 3-4 days afterwards. Because of this, it's in his best interests to be very careful about how much poking and prodding he gets at the vet. (It took 3 vet nurses and a vet to take blood last time!)
If he was a younger cat though, I would imagine the vet would want to be more vigilent and do bloods more regularly but maybe in this case, he thinks the cat is doing well so doesn't need it. It's usually the case that you get offered to do bloods when not needed just to be on the safe side not the other way round so maybe the vet is confident that the cat is doing well?

[Lottie (Team Svartalfheim's)]

I have not had a cat with thyroid or kidney problems but if it was one of my cats I'd be telling the vet I wanted the tests done now as otherwise June will be 10 months from when the last tests were done 

[clarenmax]

One of my girlfriends has a cat aged about 7-8 we think, who has been treated for thyroid/kidney disease for the last 2 years I would guess?

He's on Felimazole for his thyroid, and renal food for his kidneys.

She took him for a check up today, as it had been about 4 months since his last lot of blood tests.  He's lost a bit of weight, but otherwise seems bright in himself and generally healthy.

The vet recommended not doing the bloods today, and waiting until June to repeat them?

I'm not sure that's advisable, certainly with Max we did bloods every 3 months without fail to monitor how things were going, even when the results seemed fairly stable and only declining by a small amount.

I know for a fact that early indications of changes in kidney disease are paramount, as they can go downhill fast, and are so good at hiding their symptoms anyway?

What do you make of this advice?

Its not something I would be happy agreeing to, and would appreciate your take on this too 

Thanks hunnies x