Ester
June 4th
Miss Ester went to the vet last week to see if there were any modifications that will help her as she continues to receive palliative care for chronic kidney disease and azotemia. They did a full exam, took her blood pressure and gave her subcutaneous fluids.
They recommended a renal care diet but typically cats aren’t crazy about prescription diets and they advised that if she was uninterested, to keep her on low phosphorus foods as it would be her second best bet. So of course after a couple days of being on a renal diet she just wasn’t having it and decided to turn her nose up to it.
She prefers her feline broths, soups and occasional purées with lower phosphorus content. We have been supplementing her with Hydra Care along with doing subcutaneous fluids ourselves every 2-3 days (as advised by the vet) to keep her hydrated and flushing her kidneys. She loves being cuddled and enjoys the chest of anyone and everyone who visits. Once you receive a “Ester hug” you won’t rise again for hours.
June 17th
Last week she wasn’t eating as well and we could tell she seemed more nauseous than the weeks prior. Normally social, she was hiding more often which was the complete opposite of what we had seen previously. Ester is the type of cat that always wants to be held. Due to the fact that our #1 goal is to keep her comfortable on her palliative care journey, we made a trip to the vet.
Wondering if she had a UTI (not uncommon for chronic kidney disease cats and lack of water intake) she received antibiotics and pain medication in addition to medication for the arthritis we noticed in her back end. The vet recommended we give her subcutaneous fluids under the skin every two days to keep her hydrated and make sure she was drinking enough. Within a few days she was back to begging for attention and snuggling up to shoulders and faces again…this lovable girl sure knows how to melt one’s heart. So glad that she is feeling better again!
July 26th
Ester has been at FHAH for over two months now. She has her good days and she has her not so great days, but shes always in the mood for attention and looks forward to snuggles from her human friends. Her appetite changes daily, always switching to a different food and tiring from it a few days later. Due to the fact that she is on comfort care from her azotemia and kidney disease, Miss Ester can have whatever she likes and she enjoys her gravies. We have now increased her subcutaneous fluids to every other day which has helped with the nausea tremendously. For a couple of weeks after, her appetite had almost doubled. She gained .8 ounces during that time which is a huge stride for her. We give her as much as she wants but we do have to limit her food at times. We found that on days shes feeling really good she will get so excited about what she’s eating that she will overeat, making her nauseous as well and then she won’t have an appetite.
Ester loves everyone and knows no stranger. She enjoys her long naps, head rubs and falling asleep on anyone who comes to visit.