My best friend Benny (Benson Hurst) was diagnosed with Stage 4 Kidney Failure this week. After several tests, he underwent a blood transfusion along with IV fluids and medication. His vitals are slowly improving and the medical bills are continuously climbing. Unfortunately there will be many more follow up visits for him on top of medications that I am hopeful will make him better. Benny is the sweetest cat, always full of energy and ready to give kisses, cuddle, play fetch and give love; and only 6-1/2 years old. This past week, we noticed his energy levels completely dropped, and he lost all color in his nose. We called the Vet who instructed us to bring him to the BluePearl Animal Hospital in Brooklyn, as this was a life threatening emergency. He was immediately rushed in to undergo testing which resulted in a diagnosis of non-regenerative anemia and stage 4 kidney disease. After 4 days in the hospital, they were able to stabilize him and allow us to bring him home, however his hospital bill is going to take us years to financially recover from. After putting over $5k towards credit cards, we took out a 12 month no-interest veterinary credit loan to pay off the remaining $7000+ of hospital bills. I’m reaching out to all my friends at this time of need to help my best furry friend. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts. Notes from the Doctors Assessment: “During his hospitalization, Benny was admitted with intravenous fluids, antibiotics to treat for any possible infections and his red blood cell count was monitored. Because his red blood cell count was low at 15%, he was administered a blood transfusion, which he tolerated well (7/13/23). After this he began to feel much better and began to eat well on his own. Repeat blood work showed that his kidney values did improve slightly, but they are still moderately elevated. For this reason, his hospitalization was continued. His red blood cell count was 21% after the transfusion, which is still below the normal range, so he was administered an injection of darbepoetin, which is a synthetic hormone to stimulate red blood cell production. He was transitioned to oral medications and was started on some medications to help reduce his phosphorus. His kidney values continued to improve. At the time of discharge, his phosphorus was within the normal range and his kidney values had stabilized (BUN 56, Creat 4.9). As we mentioned, in some cases we do not see kidney values go back to normal, but they tend to plateau at a higher level, which might be the case for Benny. As we discussed, long term therapy works to slow the progression of disease as much as possible and this involves making some lifestyle changes that are kidney friendly. This includes switching to a kidney specific diet. We are starting a medication to help reduce his phosphorus level. He will be started on subcutaneous fluids to be given at home to maintain his hydration. Additionally, we will be monitoring his electrolytes, red blood cell count and blood pressure very closely over the next few weeks. Unfortunately given the advanced stage of the disease, our treatments will be aimed at maintaining his quality of life for as long as possible. In Benny's case, this may be only months and it will depend on how he responds to medications at home. Eventually, their kidney disease can progress to the point where all of out palliative and supportive care measures at home are not enough to keep him comfortable any more and we may need to consider making a difficult choice.”
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