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[RedwoodsMama]

      Most of you here know I have a special cat, Karl Kat whom I rescued in 2008. He has been through so much and has never complained despite being in constant pain at times.Now he has been diagnosed with Kidney disese which can be handled for many years . His bloodwork though shows he is anemic, severly so. It is to the point he could be gone in weeks. I was not willing to give up on him and he still looks good but tired. The last few days I have been looking for solutions and came up with some possibilities.

  Today at 3:30 he has a dr. apt to start getting injections to build up his blood. Then after this initial one I will give him injections at home, The medicine has to be kept in the refrigerator as it is very perishable. This is the one or biggest possibility of helping Karl Kat build up his blood. It is not the Kidney disease that is his problem but his severe anemia. If everyone will keep positive thoughts of healing for Karl Kat today and continuing, he and I will appreciate it. He is still young, only 8 and he is not ready to leave this world yet, and I want to give him the best chance possible. Thank you from both of us. The photo below is from a few years ago, He looks the same but has lost 2-3 lbs in the last 5 -6 months which is quite a bit considering his size. ( cat)

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                                      RWM  

[Talon]

My goodness! I'll be thinking of you both!
Talon

[Crewella]

All paws in this house crossed for him.   

[kat]

Thinking of you both RWM, my heart goes out to you.  We all know that you will do the very best you can to keep Karl Kat going.  Love and hugs from all the way over here     

[PleoAibo29]

Sending Love. 
She is such a cutie. 

[fancyfont]

Sending good thoughts that Karl Kat will do well with the injections. He's such a lovely boy!

[Kami]

Oh, what a beautiful cat. 8 years old is definitely still young; he should have many years of lounging and petting to look forward to.

I've definitely heard of cats continuing to live happy, comfortable lives with ongoing conditions. Hope his appointment has been a promising one. 

[Angela]

Really good that you keep trying to help him. Wishing you two all the luck!

[RedwoodsMama]

 Thank you everyone for your well wishes for my Karl Kat, Our apt went well and he is now taking a new med that I give him three times a week, called Procrit, It is to stimulate red cell production when the bone marrow has stopped producing the natural hormone that produces red blood cells, hence the anemia. I was shown how to give him these injectins sub Q, so tommrow will be the first one that I give , ( wish me luck on getting it right...) and then  the following Monday he goes back in for another blood test to see if his blood count is up, ( Keeping my fingers and toes crossed it is..) This is a very perishable med and has to be refrigerated. He is so sweet and was very patient with me on Friday where I did a practice injection and injected sterile water into his or under his skin, He also got an Iron compound shot because of his severe anemia.
     The good news is that in one week he went from 8 lbs 12 oz to 8 lbs 15 oz! A gain of 3 oz on a thin cat his size is like a human gaining 5 lbs in one week! ;DIt does not sound like much, but I am excited because last summer he was 11 lbs 4 oz, when he felt terrible and had his last of his canines removed.( He now has no teeth at all) He almost died last summer, he was that sick, or looked it, and was on pain meds because he was in so much distress. Then our beloved Tortie Lei-Lu who was 15 died of Kidney disease complications and had to be euthanized. ( that was in mid October.) In November we got our kitten who is now 7 months old and also a tortie. When we brought home our kitten, it was Karl Kat who took to her instantly and washed her and played with her when the other cats had not even accepted her yet.
 He has allways been the most gentle good natured cat of any cat I have ever had, He has also had the worst luck with physical problems and I am sure Steroid treatment for his Stomatiis is what caused all this, but without the steroids, there would not have been any other treatment and no Karl Kat. Sometimes the best you can do is not good enough, but Karl Kat is a fighter and still has plenty of life in him.

          I have a hacker problem on my computer or spyware that is preventing me from uploading photos and video at the moment and even getting into my different accounts is a nightmare, but luckily I can still post my words. Hopefully I can get rid of this spyware, malware, whatever is on my computer in the next day or two and upload some photos of him, Please think positive thoughts tommrow, ( Monday) for his first injection from me and that he continues to improve and build up his blood. Thanks and I will let everyone know how it goes tomorrow.                    RWM

[RedwoodsMama]

  At last I got control of my computer back.. had a Trojan virus, etc, took three days to get my computer back.. terrifying when you have virus protection and still have this stuff happen. Anyway here is the video taken last Monday when I got back from the vets with Karl Kat and later that afternoon got the call from the vet saying how anemic he really is. He was started on last Friday, the 10th, on Procrit to try and build up red blood cells and now I give him injections at home three times a week; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Next Monday he goes back for another blood test to see if his anemia has improved at all, Keep your fingers crossed that it does. (otherwise he has a month or less to live by the vet's estimate. he said, "terminal". It is not the kidney disease that is his biggest problem , but his anemia. If you do not have any red or white blood cells to fight infection, not only are you a siting duck, but you can not pump enough oxygen to your heart and brain.
                He looks better but has a long way to go, This is from oNe week ago and less than a minute or about that.  Thanks for watching and caring for Karl Kat.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1FbW6hcgPY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1FbW6hcgPY</a>    RWM

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Big hugs and a big tin of tuna for KarlKat

[RedwoodsMama]

IMR, thank you so much, and Karl Kat would love a Big tin of Tuna, but his mom knows it is not good for him, addictive and probably too much mercury these days. He would grab it if I let him and Probably would as it is better to eat things that are not as good for you then starve to death. So many of these Kidney cats lose their appetite, ( esp if anemic like Karl) and Kidney cats need to be on high quality protein, but low amounts of it and low phosphorus as the phosphorus damages the kidneys. My other cat Aiffa who will be 19 this summer, was diagnosed in July of 2010, so she is almost 3 years post diagnose of kidney disease and still alive. The record for a kitty diagnosed with kidney disease, chronic renal failure, not acute which can be caused from things like antifreeze poisoning or easter lilies which are toxic to cats, is 16 years.  Many cats though only live months to years.


       Right now I am doing all I can to make his life as comfortable as possible and to fight the anemia. Speaking of which, I have a nice needle with Procrit all drawn up to give to him right now, I am nervous but know I can do it, not really that difficult. It doesn't hurt, and not giving it hurts more. I will be adding photos and video of him and let people know when he goes back to the vets on the 20th, what the vet says about his anemia. I am praying it has improved. I do not believe in ever giving up on something or someone you love that is worthwhile!

           Karl Kat says, hey , I like Tuna and Tuna juice is yummy too....   RWM

[InmemoryofRomeo]

My kitties get a tin of Tuna on their birthdays, and a tin of salmon for christmas. But only good quality human grade tuna. If its not good enough for me, its not good enough for them Plus the stuff marketed for cats is just tuna offal which is awful!

If Karl Kat isn't eating a bit of tuna juice over his food might perk him up, as you say eating that is better than nothing at all! And its great for hiding health food in

[RedwoodsMama]

 Here is a new video of Karl Kat and six of his feline Friends, ( only two of our nine cats are not in this video.) Aiffa the oldest is almost 19 and was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in July 2010.( almost 3 years ago!) then there are Tassawar the orange and white tuxedo male, ( rescued as a kitten from a feral colony of 24 I took care of ) Dinta, the orange and white male( is the first born son of Lei Lu, our beloved Tortie who was 15 1/2 , (had kidney disease and had to be euthanized in mid Oct. 2012 because of fluid in the lungs.. ) Sewa, the pretty grey boy doing a lot of rolling, the younger brother of Dinta, and last son of Lei-=Lu, Suzy -Q, the other Brown tortie, a female who is also a rescue, from my late father inlaws property, and last but not least is Fuzi -Faqiti, the beautiful "little" Black and brindle Tortie, just turned 8 months old, She has grown a lot, weighed her yesterday and she is over 8 lbs! Two of our other cats are not in this video, Tassawar's younger sister, April the pretty diluted calico or what is termed a Pastel Calico, ( white with peach and light grey) and Jon-e_Hu, our big Russian Blue, both rescues.

          You can see that there are lots of plants we have on the table in the video, and Tassawar the orange and white tuxedo boy is enjoying the fresh catnip plants. LOL, As you can see, Karl Kat still looks ok in this video, just thinner and not as energetic as when he was on Steroids, which are bad in the long run..........<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvAcKWnF3d0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvAcKWnF3d0</a>

                Hope you enjoy it, oNce a week or so I will try to post new video or photos of how he is doing.           RWM

[kat]

He does look skinnier than he use to but he doesn't look too bad.  Fingers crossed that everything your doing for him will put him back on track and bring him back up to full health.  Your doing the best that can be done for him RWM, now the rest is up to him.     

[fancyfont]

He doesn't look like a cat that is ill. Sending hugs to you and Karl Kat. Such a sweet kitty!

[Angela]

Cat Karl looks like a happy cat, behaves like a happy cat, all thanks to your efforts RWM. Still fairly quickly some good results...
 
I wish you all the luck for even more such good results 

[RedwoodsMama]

   My cat, Karl Kat has taken a steady but sudden drop in the last two days. He has dropped his appetite even more so than a few days ago, and woke up this morning with the sniffles with drainage on one side of his nose, and is having to be force fed. He looks very tired and I am sure he has lost more weight, even though he gained almost a lb in two weeks.

         The vet put him on two more meds on Friday, after I called her office and pleaded for him to be put on them, He has such severe anemia, his HCT dropped from 10.5 on April 29th, to 10 on May 10th, Then the latest blood test on this past Monday, May 20th, it had dropped another point, dropping it to 9.0. ( it can not get much lower..) Normal is about 30-45....so you can see how severe he is. He also has a VERY low White blood count, and may have bone marrow cancer or a lymphoma. He has what is termed Non -regenerative anemia, which basically means he has an immune system problem where his own body is attacking itself and destroying his own red blood cells.

                 He was put on a ESA which produces the natural  hormone that the bone marrow is supposed to produce to make more red blood cells, but there is no proof it will work.. It is the human form of the medication, because the cat form is so expensive. This drug is called, Procrit, they often give it to cancer patients. He was also put on an antibiotic called Doxycycline in the chance he has what is basically called, Feline Infectious Anemia, or the Hemobartanella virus. He takes this for two weeks and also a hormone steroid called Prednisone. He just started and got another injection from me this afternoon, but now he is looking worse.

 The only thing he would take voluntarily is tuna juice. It is not good for him considering he has Kidney disease as well, but at this point any food he wants to eat is more important or the alternative is starving to death. More cats are euthanized with Kidney disease as a direct or indirect result of starving to death then the disease itself.

              Please keep healing thoughts for my cat, he is only 8 years old and I can not stand to see him suffer and feel so weak with nothing I can do to make him better. RWM   

[kat]

I'm so sorry RWM.  That doesn't sound good at all.  Poor baby    I really hope that he is able to pull through.  Thinking of you all 

[Talon]

Man, Redwoods! Sorry your boy is feeling so poorly. I hope things will improve for him soon.
Talon

[Crewella]

Thinking of you both. 

[RedwoodsMama]

 Hi Guys, haven't posted in awhile, with Kat's passing of Teddy, didn't seem like a good time, Karl Kat is a fighter, but he is weak, his anemia is bad, very severe and He has gotten even skinnier than a couple of weeks ago.. :oPoor guy has dropped a pound, perhaps more, I started syringe feeding him Thursday with big syringes, 10 ML size they use to force feed sick infants. The ones I had been using were only 3 ml, the ones you get from the vets, NO wonder poor guy is so weak, Every two to  three hours I assist feed him his canned food, his potassium supplement, a protein supplement and three or four crushed up Renal Tablets ( Prescription from vets for Kidney Failure cats) along with a high calorie supplement gel, it all goes into a blender( like a baby bullet, )just adding enough distilled water till it is consistency of a milk shake. Then he gets two to three tubes at a time with me feeding him, 20-30 ML at a time. Even during the nighttime, like 2:00 am. and at 4;30 am, I get up to feed him, Luckily he still is drinking water on his own, though not as much as he used to. He doesn't have the strength to really jump anymore so is sleeping on the floor in the bedroom by a space heater. Then I carry him to the litter box or he will go where he wants which I have no problem with when he is like this.

           Yesterday he looked so weak I thought I would have to take him to get euthanized but I realized it was not him wanting to go yet, he has not given up, he is just weak, He is also getting injections from me at home 3X a week of a drug called Procrit that they give Humans who have cancer and can no longer produce red blood cells. Please everyone keep him in your thoughts and well wishes, He is a fighter but this is the toughest battle of his life so far. I have been afraid to post photos, he looks worse then skinny with all his back bone showing, Now that I am assist feeding him, I am hoping the weight will come back on, Karl Kat is the love of my life.

                        RWM 

[fancyfont]

RedwoodMa, Karl Kat is so lucky to have a human mom like you trying to make him feel better. He does sound like a fighter! I am sending well wishes to him and comfort to you, knowing you are doing your best for him.

[kat]

Stay positive and strong RWM.  There is still hope for Karl Kat.  Sending love your way 

[Kami]

Karl Kat really must be feeling your love in all you're doing for him, and I'm sure that's why he wants to keep fighting. You're both definitely in my thoughts at the moment.