Original printed byline: Stephen A.Brammeier
Historical February 1996 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Kidney failure, one of the common afflictions of older cats, recently claimed the life of one of our resident cats at Kingsbury Animal Hospital. Mr. What came to us more than ten years ago. At that time he had a lower urinary tract inflammation.
His urethra was obstructed and he could not urinate. Without immediate care he was going to die. Unfortunately, his owner was unable to provide the treatment necessary because of financial limitations. Rather than let the cat die, or be cuthanized for a problem I could essentially fix, the owner allowed me to take responsibility and care for the cat.
After extensive treatment he made a full recovery.
However, this mild mannered, black cat, declawed previously on all four feet did not deserve his given name: Satan.
With respect for Abbott and Costello, I fondly named the cat” Mr. What”.
We already had a resident cat, Mildred, who was also black. Mildred was small, about seven pounds, and quite fu]] of herself.
In his prime Mr. What tipped the scales at seventeen pounds; he was big boned. But, for all of his size, be was quite the mild mannered gentleman. Mildred tormented him daily, chasing him up on the counters, or never giving him a moments peace in the litter box. Of course. my favorite was when someone asktxl about the large black cat at the front desk: “What is his name?”.
The reply: “What cat”.
The response: “That big black cat over there…” “Who’s on first.” Mr. What’s claim to fame, other than being a charming host at the front desk, was donating blood. Occasionally, we would draw enough blood from Mr. What to give a struggling cat, or kitten, a chance at life, and often it worked. About two years ago Mr. What began to lose weight, something truly unusual for him.
We also noticed that the litter box seemed to get saturated with urine more quickly.
A few blood tests, and a urinalysis provided the answer; Mr. What’s kidneys were unable to concentrate his urine sufficiently.
To compensate, his system required a higher volume of water to eliminate the normal amounts of toxic products built up in the blood stream.
The normally insignificant amount of protein lost in his urine became a drain on his system as larger quantities of protein were lost with the increased volume of water intake and urine output.
We changed his diet to a prescription food, KD, made specifically for this problem.
It is a food whose calories come mostly from fat and whose protein is of a simple nature producing less of the waste products for the kidney to eliminate. Within a few weeks, Mr. What had regained his weight.
He did well for several months.
When he started to lose weight again, we gave him additional fluids by injecting them under his skin, about four ounces every other day: just enough to help his kidneys flush his system a little more. (I have several clients whom we have taught to do this with their cats who have the same kidney failure problem as Mr. What.) Eventually, we were giving Mr. What extra fluids and a potassium supplement on a daily basis. Just before Christmas Mr. What began his decline. Radiographs showed mineral deposits in both kidneys.
He lost weight rapidly and lost his appetite.
He was getting too weak to jump on the counters, or greet people at the front desk. Sallie, one of our technicians, took Mr. What home to care for him through the holidays when we would be away from Kingsbury for long periods of time. Besides, he would have a more “cushy” environment at her. house.
He came back to Kingsbury just after the New Year, but it was clear he was miserable and would not live long. So, after we made him drunk on tranquilizers, I held him in my lap and Sallie stroked his head as Dr. Connie eased him into sleep.
We miss Mr. What. And, I’m sure many of my clients will miss him. But, I am also sure, that before too long, another “cat in need” will join our only resident cat, “Which cat.” Whoever it is, I hope they like the name, “That cat.”
Original photograph caption
Mr.What. Photograph accompanying Pet Talk; photographer not credited.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February 1996.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1996_02.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
