A cat recovers from kidney failure
Channel: Dr David Sing
Date: 2015-03-27

Bladder obstruction around 14 days ago. The first vet unblocked the bladder and sent the cat home after 4 days. The cat would not eat and passed blood in the urine. The owner consulted me. The first vet had taken blood test which showed septicaemia (high white cell count, high neutrophils and low platelets). Yet the cat did not eat and still had blood in the urine.

I got X-rays done after palpation of much enlarged kidneys. The bladder felt hardened.  I got a urine culture and antibiotic sensitivity test. The bacteria in the urine was resistant to Clavulox which was prescribed. 

After 2 days of fluids and antibiotics, the cat recovered. I sent the cat home. The owner could not hand feed him. His urine was clear but he just refused food for the next 3 days. He became very thin, severely dehydrated and could not sit up.  

The owner brought him in for check up and injection. He had a big tongue ulcer, gum ulcer on his right upper gum behind the right upper canine tooth and on the right lip commissure. 

I warded him for another 2 days of treatment as it was not good for the cat as he was very ill, being unable to sit up like a normal cat. 

After 2 days of treatment with fluids and medication (250 ml SC per day for 2 days), he recovered to my surprise. The father was very happy as we thought this cat was in his last days of life. He meowed and sat up. He ate a bit of the canned food by himself and looked bright, as seen in this video.

The tongue ulcer could be due to his uraemia from the kidney infections. His right-sided gum and lip commissure ulcer would be due to forceful hand feeding and water being syringed in. It was important to reduce the painful mouth and not force feed the cat.

The owners wanted the cat to stay 4 days. He recovers and will go home. The father likes him very much because he is vocal unlike the other 3 neutered and spayed cats. He would "greet" him and make meowing sounds as if he was saying "hello" and that is why he is not neutered. He should recover from his kidney disease (not swollen but still painful as seen in this video when he objected to my palpation). This one-year- old cat should be on wet food only.