Best wishes.

Like you, glad to have done it...

My kitty was diagnosed last year, but I wasn't really instructed to do anything. After speaking with friends, I decided to put epakitin in this Wellness turkey 2 x a day and that seems to help him. Other then getting up in years (16 or 17) and not as nimble as he use to be he seems to be in good spirits.

When did you know that you needed to give him sub-q?

When a blood creatinine test showed ~25% kidney function, our vet suggested the sub-q treatments begin right away. He showed us how to do one, and we started the next day. Even now, we have good infusions, and others that leak, slow drips, etc. Alex refused to eat any of the renal care cat foods.

that are grain free, so I've had to stick with Wellness, even though the phosphates are higher than the K/D diets. If I feed him foods with grains, he exhibits signs of diabetes. What do you feed him?

Alex has always been finicky. At 16 plus and living with CRF, we're happy when he eats well regardless of what it is. He gets tired of flavors very quickly. Some flavors of Fancy Feast Appetizers, Meow Mix wet, people tuna, baby food, Temptations... whatever works one meal at a time. He has constant access to two different kinds of Fancy Feast dry. He drinks a lot of water. Good luck to your kitty and you.

I tried everything to keep him going. He would not tolerate the subQ injections. I fed him -- or tried to -- everything under the sun. For a while, when he would not eat anything else, he would eat the cheap tinned sardines in tomato sauce. Go figure. I made chicken broth for him and fed him with an eyedropper. Everything.

RIP Chester. My best pal for many years.

And they are our best pals, aren't they?

Our Ancient Kitty is 23 and got her diagnosis in 2012. She tolerated getting poked (with growing indignation) until July of 2013, when she put her paw down and started trying to scratch or bite (not normal behavior at all for her.) We had come to the same conclusion (fluids as long as they improve her quality of life) and stopped with the sub-q. We expected we would have only a few months, but she's been fine without, her numbers are stable in the 50-60/3-3.3 range. She eats ALL THE TIME, and is maintaining her 4.5 pounds just fine. She is also spoiled absolutely rotten. (This is not a suggestion that fluids are unnecessary; they're just not needed for her.)

CRF is no more a death sentence than life is a death sentence -- renal failure is how cats get old, the same way that cardiovascular issues are how humans gets old. Yes, we know that our time left has a limit, but that was always true.

Ours is also a chocolate Siamese, quite the chatterbox, and the Boss of Everything.

23 !!!!! That's fantastic! Also great that she's doing fine without the infusions. I'm afraid to suspend the infusions as long as our little trooper is okay with them.

You've made my day.

I am certain that Alex is not just a cat. Alex is family.

It takes patience and commitment to have taken the care of Alex that you have obviously taken. My sincere thanks to you, and my admiration.

But our kitties were 18 and over--at that age, there are more issues than just kidneys. I think I would do it again with a younger cat but not with a very old cat.

They were 16 to ebgin with; India has now been on it for 7 months...started when she was 19...

I had him on Azodyl (Google it), which is a non-prescription supplement. It gave him about an extra year of a decent quality of life. But, there's only so much you can do, short of a kidney transplant, which probably isn't a good alternative, either.

for about one year with it. Sadly, he recently passed away in March at age 18.5 years. What I've learned about the disease is that every cat is different and progresses differently. Do you only feed him wet cat food? Unfortunately my cat developed high blood pressure (watch out for this) and anemia too. This seems to happen a lot with CRF cats. Regular blood work and BP checks are good so that you can catch treat any problems early. Your kitty looks so smart and healthy, hope you have him for many more years.

I was taught to give subcutaneous fluids to my dog, however. Handsome Alex is so very fortunate to have you...

who were treated with sub-q fluids. Another one was helped with Science Diet for Kidneys, a/k/a K-D dry food.

Fletch was 18 when diagnosed with renal failure. Daily IV fluids gave us another nine months with him. Even now, five years later, I'm glad that we had that time to say goodbye to him.

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Daily infusions... that was terrific of you. Fletch must have been good natured to tolerate daily infusions. We found that M-W-F works, and know how demanding that can be. Fletch was a handsome cat. Thanks for sharing.