Big Trouble in Little Kitty Kidney
Donation protected
Smudrick Featherbane is a good kitty, but his insides are broken. Two years ago, when he was just a kitten, we reached out to you for help so he could have surgery to reconstruct his butt and poop all by himself. It was a success and today Smudge is a celebrated pooper. However, due to his underdeveloped hindquarters, it appears that his fight isn't over yet.
There is scarring on his kidneys, and the doctors believe it might be a rare form of early onset chronic kidney disease. This is usually found in older cats, but due to the malformation of Smudge's innards, he may have contracted it now.
While treatable, at this point we don't know if Smudge will be with us for years or months, and the only way to find out is with an ultrasound. Once the specialist can determine what exactly is wrong with Smudge's kidneys, and how extensive the damage is, we can begin a supplement treatment and help alleviate the pressure on the kidneys.
We are asking for your help to get the ultrasound. Right now our doctor thinks that Smudge is in stage two of this chronic kidney disease, which has four stages, but she can't be certain without it.
Part of why this eluded us was because Smudge is doing so well otherwise. He has a healthy appetite and bright eyes, a cold wet nose and a mischievous personality. We love those things about him, and so did the vet during our annual checkup last year. And because CKD is something that is expected later in life, it wasn't a consideration until he was peeing outside of his litterbox and we went in to check for bladder crystals. We didn't expect to find kidney failure. Without the treatment his kidneys will shut down and he will die.
We know he has so much energy and life in him, and while CKD is incurable, it is manageable. We want Smudge to be happy and healthy for as long as he's able. If we can do that by adding some vitamins and supplements to his diet, you bet we will. The ultrasound treatment to determine how much and how often we need enrich his diet is the only thing preventing this from happening immediately.
If you donated during Operation SmudgeFudge and can do so again, if you didn't donate before and want to now, if this is the first you've ever heard or seen anything about our cat Smudge and want to help, we thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your contribution. Thank you for helping keep this little guy in our lives.
There is scarring on his kidneys, and the doctors believe it might be a rare form of early onset chronic kidney disease. This is usually found in older cats, but due to the malformation of Smudge's innards, he may have contracted it now.
While treatable, at this point we don't know if Smudge will be with us for years or months, and the only way to find out is with an ultrasound. Once the specialist can determine what exactly is wrong with Smudge's kidneys, and how extensive the damage is, we can begin a supplement treatment and help alleviate the pressure on the kidneys.
We are asking for your help to get the ultrasound. Right now our doctor thinks that Smudge is in stage two of this chronic kidney disease, which has four stages, but she can't be certain without it.
Part of why this eluded us was because Smudge is doing so well otherwise. He has a healthy appetite and bright eyes, a cold wet nose and a mischievous personality. We love those things about him, and so did the vet during our annual checkup last year. And because CKD is something that is expected later in life, it wasn't a consideration until he was peeing outside of his litterbox and we went in to check for bladder crystals. We didn't expect to find kidney failure. Without the treatment his kidneys will shut down and he will die.
We know he has so much energy and life in him, and while CKD is incurable, it is manageable. We want Smudge to be happy and healthy for as long as he's able. If we can do that by adding some vitamins and supplements to his diet, you bet we will. The ultrasound treatment to determine how much and how often we need enrich his diet is the only thing preventing this from happening immediately.
If you donated during Operation SmudgeFudge and can do so again, if you didn't donate before and want to now, if this is the first you've ever heard or seen anything about our cat Smudge and want to help, we thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your contribution. Thank you for helping keep this little guy in our lives.
Organizer
Gregory Barrett
Organizer
Milwaukie, OR
