We spent a lot of time trying to come up with new and interesting foods for Sadie. I think her sense of taste kept shifting as her body chemistry changed. A big hit was corned beef. The vet just kinda shook her head and said "whatever works, she's actually gained weight".
Jack's a gorgeous cat. I hope he stays comfortable.
Thanks everyone. Jack is currently getting fluids three times a week and daily doses of Cerenia for nausea and Mirtazapine for his lack of appetite. I have a bewildering assortment of canned food and bags of treats. He seems to enjoy lunch meat too so that gets worked on to his menu several times a day.
Today, he's been eating often and with gusto. Yesterday he hardly ate anything. It's frustrating.
The vet called today and told me that his last blood work was almost identical to the previous results. That's great news because things aren't getting worse. He also gained a third of pound of weight in the last two weeks. More positve news.
Days like this make me feel so good.
Good to hear he’s eating and gaining some weight. Enjoy today, it sounds like he wants to stick with you for awhile. Hang in there Jack!
In reply to jimbob_racing :
Cerenia has been a wonder drug for Linus. We are also supplementing it with 5mg of Famotadine (spelling?) daily, in two 2.5 mg doses. May want to check and see what your vet has to say about it. We get the generic original strength Pepcid, and cut it into quarters, rather than getting smaller ones from the vet.
In reply to jimbob_racing :
Excellent news on Jack! I'm happy to hear it.
We have a 19-year-old female we've been giving fluids 2-3 times a week for about 3 years now. She's actually surprisingly patient about it. She gets a supplement twice a day to keep her appetite up and support her kidneys.
We've had some setbacks this week. Jack is battling severe constipation from being dehydrated which inhibits him from eating and drinking. The vet gave him an enema and manually cleared some of the blockage on Monday which helped him perk up a bit. Unfortunately he's still backed up despite her suggestions of small doses of Miralax over the last 12 hours. I'm trying to get him into the vet today for another round of cleaning. It sucks watching him being so miserable.
So sorry to hear that. Hope the vet (and the Miralax) help out. We had to go from twice a week to every other day to every day for fluids over a period of time due to Linus's kidney issues/dehydration.
We just changed the frequency of the fluids from 3 times a week to every other day. With his constipation problem, we've been doing them every day. I have an appointment at the vet in an hour. I'm hoping for a good outcome.
I'm sorry to say that Jack passed away tonight in my arms. He simply could not overcome his severe constipation issues which contributed to him being extremely weak from hardly eating over the last five days. His quality of life had been slipping rapidly and today was especially tough for both of us.
He was a tremendously sociable cat and loved meeting new people that visited our house. As his caretaker for over 15 years, I was amazed at the variety of his vocalizations and found that I could easily understand his wants and needs. He in turn learned more commands than I've ever been able to teach to a cat. We had an amazing connection and I already miss him tremendously.
I am very sorry to hear this. My heart goes out to you.
Rest in peace Jack.
My condolences. He was a beautiful boy, I have a predisposition towards black cats. I'll give my own boy some extra love for you and yours.
Please remember all those special moments in this time of deep sorrow.....and say....who knows what will be in your lap next when you least expect it....peace out
We have a 5 cat household. The oldest is 19. Two years ago he was injured by either a car or a large fall. Broke his hip. I never NEVER thought that I would not hesitate on a $1000 operation to pull a portion of bone from a hip of a stray cat but it was a no brainer.
Love them forever, show them while you can.
I know how much it hurts. I lost a pet last month.
At least he died in your arms. They really want to be with you, even up until the end.
I am so sorry, my condolences to you. He sounded like an awesome little guy.
I'm sorry. I was rooting for Jack. It's been a painfully familiar story.
You were giving him comfort right up to the end, he knew that his big animal was protecting him and caring for him. That's all we can really do.
In reply to jimbob_racing :
If it was time, that is the best way he could have passed away. I'm glad you were able to comfort him to the end. My thoughts are with your family.
I was hoping this wasn't the case when I saw this thread pop up. Sorry to hear, it sucks.
There are good cats and great cats. Jack sounds like he was one of the Greats. We had one when I was in my late teens, a Maine Coon named Roger. I still tell stories about Roger and its been 30 years and a few cats since then.
You were lucky to have been his chief of staff and he was lucky to have you. He'll always be with you. Sorry for your loss.
I'm so sorry. I'm glad you took such good care of him and got to comfort him all the way, but it's always so, so hard. It sounds like he was a truly fantastic cat.
I could type for days and still not adequately express how special Jack was. He really was one of a kind.
It's been about 14 months since his initial diagnosis of renal failure. I always knew that this would be the outcome but I'm completely devastated right now. I can barely eat and have hardly slept over the past few days.
In the time that I had with Jack, I lost three other cats and a dog. Every loss was hard and somehow Jack understood each time that I was in crisis and he spent many hours by my side providing his type of comfort. His loss today and the lack of that special kind of support has me really struggling right now.
I don't think that I've cried this much or this hard in my life. I see and hear him everytime I close my eyes and can't even imagine what work will be like without him on my lap. The pandemic and shifting to work from home gave me so much more time with him and it further strengthened our bond. The affection and distraction of him sharing an office chair with me also made my miserable job somewhat tolerable.
I'm just beginning to experience life without him and it's obvious how much I took him for granted. Sometimes when I was busy or preoccupied I'd be short with him when he approached me for affection, but he never held a grudge. Of course he was always thrilled when I sought him out to give him a pet, cuddle or a kiss on his forehead. I can't believe how incredibly happy he always was and how often and loudly he purred.
I used to get down and one knee and tell him "up" and he would literally jump up into my arms and onto my shoulder. Holding him and feeling him snuggle into my neck while he purred was truly a mood altering experience. Many of my difficult days were made complely better solely by recieving his amazing affection. I hope that during the last difficult days of his life, he felt the same way about my genuine love and affection towards him.
I'm so sorry for your loss. All of us here understand all too well.
Your love for Jack will sustain you.
Rest in peace Jack. I'll hug my kitties extra tight tonight.
Oh I'm so sorry to see this. You took care of him right to the end and in return got the kind of unconditional love from him that makes the difference. I know it's hard right now, you're missing your friend. Hang in there and hopefully in time you'll smile when you think of him. Rest well Jack.
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