When my cat, Oliver, was about 11 years old, he started to lose weight and throw up a lot – mostly watery mush. Because my father had cats with kidney disease and these are key symptoms, I predicted this would be the case with Oliver as well. Unfortunately, I was correct. Also, unfortunately, I got the diagnosis from an inexperienced vet. She said the prognosis wasn’t good; Oliver wasn’t going to live long. His creatinine levels were supposedly bad, and I should prepare for the end. Thankfully the vet was WRONG!!!!!
I considered a kidney transplant but quickly ruled it out as they quoted me a cost around $8,000 and do not guarantee great results. I also considered subcutaneous fluid administration but Oliver was not a very easy-going cat so that wasn’t really an option either. Instead, I switched Oliver’s food to Hill’s K-D prescription diet food, left the bathroom faucet dripping to encourage extra water intake (and to increase my water bill!) and we went on living our lives. Oliver got regular check-ups and lo and behold, when I finally got to see the great vet that I usually took him to at the same practice, his creatinine levels were not at a death-level. I was told to keep doing what I was doing and that was that.
Oliver went on to live another healthy and happy three years. Chronic kidney failure is not always a death sentence. If you hear that diagnosis from your vet, do not freak out. Ask about and learn about what you can do to help your cat live his life to the fullest.
Aimee Knows 
I don’t think I ever saw that picture of him, so cute!