Many readers will be familiar with @Petiethecat, a 15-year-old Canadian man cat and dear friend of mine who was diagnosed last year with kidney failure. I interviewed Petie to find out more about his illness, how it has affected him, and why his recent vet visit is the talk of Twitter.

Hi Petie! I’m thrilled to get an exclusive interview with you; it’s quite a coup for The Anipal Times! Could you tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Well, I am a 15 year old orange tabbycat. My birthday is in December. Mama and Daddy adopted me from the Humane Society when I was 18 months old. I had been born on a farm.

You have been with your mama and daddy for a long time! They must have been devastated when you fell ill last year. How did they know that something was wrong?

Oh dear, yes Mama was just beside herself. She could not eat and she was throwing up all the time and crying when the vet told her what was wrong. It started out with me rapidly losing weight – over the course of a week and a half it appeared that I had lost half my body weight. I was drinking almost a litre of water a day, and doing lots of pee-pee. In addition I was very irritable; crying all the time for no apparent reason. Mama and Daddy made a vet appointment for me on the Saturday morning and got the devastating news that I had chronic renal failure (CRF).

Mama was absolutely devastated because I am her best friend. It took her a month to stop crying all the time – and I mean, ALL the time.

I am not surprised that your mama was so upset. What did the vet say could be done about the CRF?

Well, the vet said that the best we could hope for was to maintain the point that I was at. He gave me two medications to take: one to stimulate my appetite, and another to help my kidneys to function better at what they’re supposed to do.

Now I have to eat special food, and it took four tries to find one I would eat! It is Purina Veterinary Diet Kidney formulation, and I actually eat it better than I did my old food! It has to be measured out carefully, as I can only eat just so much. I am not supposed to have any treats except the prescription ones, but sometimes Mama and Daddy sneak me little bits of chicken, and sometimes a tiny little bit of milk.

Oh, your poor mama! And poor you! I am glad you’ve settled into your new routine, though. What happened after that first visit?

After I got sick I had to see the vet three months later. Mama was so hopeful that I had gained weight.But when we went to the vet I had lost even more weight. Mama was devastated again. The vet at that point increased the amount of food I could have.

I understand that your most recent vet visit caused a bit of a stir?

Yes it did. On Saturday April 3^rd I went to the vet for my three month checkup and I gained a whole pound. Mama was sure that I had this time because she said I was heavier to carry and some of my saggy skin had filled out. She was so happy about the weight gain  Then it was on to have blood tested. When Mama got the results she was ecstatic – the blood had improved even more!  The vet said that I was the first cat they had seen at their clinic (we are sure there are others elsewhere) that had actually shown improvement. Most just maintain or get worse. The vet asked Mama to sign a release so he could publish my blood values! My next vet check is in six months and, if I continue this way, hopefully I can come off one of the medicines.

Mama attributes this improvement to the Reiki healings she gives me everyday in addition to all of the wonderful prayers from all of my anipal friends.

Finally, Petie’s mama has a message for his friends.

If it were not for the kindess and generosity of Petie’s dear friends, I am sure we would be in a different place right now. When Petie first got sick, so sick, it was a terrible shock and a terrible expense that we were not really prepared for. Once again Petie’s dear friends rallied to the rescue and for that we are so very, very grateful. That is all OK now, because now we have planned for such things. If there is any lesson in all of this, it is to plan for your pet’s illness as you would your own.

We really would like to take another opportunity to thank all of Petie’s dear friends for helping him out when he needed it most, in whatever way they could.  This all helped him to fight the good fight and live to chase another cat down the road

Thank you so much to Petie and his mama for telling his story. It’s wonderful to have a happy ending!

Tagged as: @Petiethecat, cat kidney failure