Easing Sage's Pain: A Loving Goodbye

On April 16th I took Sage, my 5 year old cat, into his vet for what i thought would be a simple checkup because he had some smelly breath. We decided to run bloodwork because he had lost some weight. On April 17, I got a call from my vet telling me that Sage had Non-Regenerative Anemia as well as Chronic Kidney Disease with 70% loss of kidney function. This was a huge shock and devastated me. Sage had been seemingly normal. We started him on the Hills Kidney diet and did some Subcutaneous Fluids which seemed to work for a few days. He was seemingly normal and was still loving to hang out with me and his brother. Over the weekend things took a turn. Sage suddenly lost interest in eating and started stashing himself away in my closet. Barely wanting to come out when called but would get excited to go on our walks around the house. I tried giving him his regular food thinking that he just wasn’t like the kidney food anymore but he did not want it. Finally he ate some tuna for dinner but would not even eat that the next morning. I called the vet on Monday and he was prescribed an appetite stimulant. I have been syringe feeding him a mixture of pate and water for breakfast and dinner since Monday evening. He still has no interest in food even with the stimulant. I unfortunately think his kidneys are giving up and I have to let my boy go. This is absolutely devastating for me, him and his brother have been my world for the past 5 years. Putting him down is the last thing I want to do but I don’t think his little body can take it anymore. He is completely not the same cat anymore and it ruins me to see him like this.

Unfortunately to add insult to injury, putting him down is quite costly. Plus I want him cremated because not having my baby with me would kill me, and that is also expensive. I am working limited hours due to chronic pain/illnesses and I simply cannot afford to have him put down but I can’t stand to watch him suffer while I try to gather money. Anything and everything is appreciated. I’m having such a hard time coming to terms that my boy won’t be with me physically anymore but I’m trying to find peace in the fact that he won’t be in pain anymore.