JJ, Renal failure is extremely common in elderly cats (and often in not-so-elderly cats). Unfortunately, it is as variable a disease as are the number of cats who endure it. There really are no "norms" where renal failure is concerned. There are cats who live for years after diagnosis, and there are cats who fail very quickly. The only thing you can "expect" with renal failure is the inevitable end. It is a terminal diagnosis. As lf mentioned, many of the symptoms of CRF are manageable. The keys to management of CRF are education and vigilant caretaking. You have already been given the URL to one CRF website, but the website which I consider to be the "CRF Bible" is linked below. If you spend as much time as possible reading through these sites, you will learn a tremendous amount about this disease, its associated ailments, and its management. There is nothing more important you can do for your cat right now than to educate yourself about CRF. To answer your questions, at-home subQ fluid administration is a critically important skill to acquire and practice. Your vet can and should teach you how to do the fluid administration, and the websites offer pictorial tutorials to reinforce the procedure and offer helpful tips that your vet might not mention. You'll probably find it a bit nerve-wracking at first, but you'll get the hang of it, and your cat will become more and more cooperative as you become more proficient. It really is a life-saving procedure that provides considerable health benefits to the CRF cat with negligible (if any) discomfort. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of CRF is that a cat's condition can change from day to day, sometimes hour to hour. A cat who is critically ill one day may rally to relative health the next ... or not. We CRF caretakers tend to hold out for the next rally because it's so difficult to tell when a bad day will turn around or when it really does mark the end. If your cat does require hospitalization at some point, you will just need to trust your instincts and your knowledge of your own cat to help you decide whether to give him a chance to rally or to let him go. I, too, have a cat who is in the early stages of CRF with slightly elevated BUN and CREA values. He's my fourth CRF cat, and I know that he could become critical at any moment, or he could live in reasonable health for years. I've been down this road before, so I know what to watch for. I'll be having bloodwork run on him every 3 mos or more frequently if he becomes symptomatic. When his brother developed renal failure a year ago, I couldn't get his condition stabilized and was having to run bloodwork every couple of weeks to keep up with his changing blood values and symptoms. Unfortunately, I lost Bitsy just 3 mos after diagnosis. My first CRF cat, though, lived quite happily for 4 yrs after diagnosis. That's how variable this disease can be. I know you must be feeling overwhelmed right now, and you'll probably feel even moreso once you start reading the CRF websites. Don't let all the info make you crazy. I had to read the same info many, many times before it sank in and stuck. Just remember that the more you know about this disease, the better you'll be able to manage your boy and keep him comfortable and reasonably healthy for as long as possible. I wish you and your cat the best, Laurie Here is a link that might be useful: Tanya's CRF Information website

Oh for goodness' sake. It's a can of paint, I'm not letting him run in the street, eat cupcakes for dinner, stay up all night long, get tattoos, or ride his bike without a helmet! I posted because I was unsure how to make it work, and you all helped me to see that maybe it could, especially if I just do one wall in Downpipe. If his choice was completely untenable, I'd tell him no. But if there is a way to accommodate him, even if it isn't my first choice, why not? It's a can of paint. Besides, it's so fun watching his big brown eyes open so wide with delight when you tell him something he's happy about. He keeps asking to see pictures of the "Avengers' bed" daily. He is so psyched. Yes, he's a lucky boy to have a say in his room. There will be times in his life when he can't paint the wall the color he likes best, and much much worse. But I refuse to prepare him for that famine by starving him now. This kid wakes up every morning, often before 5:30 (!), so excited to start his life that day that he can't fall back asleep. I can only wish that feeling lasts as long as it can.

The dental schools provide treatment on a sliding scale fee. Usually about half the charge of a private practice. They have graduated dentists and students that need patients to treat. All treatment is closely supervised by instructors in that specialty. Each step in treatment is checked by the instructor. It can take much more time then an appointment with you dentist. Finances are the motivation to have treatment in a dental school. And yes joyfulguy they make teeth for toothless folks. An example, GS needed 4 wisdom teeth removed. Charge at oral surgeon would have $2,000. Dental school charge was $375 total. Alisante happy it was not your tooth , glad I could give information that might be a help.

Wilting is actually not necessarily a demand or request for watering, it's a statement that water is leaving the system faster than it's being absorbed--or that the root systems are not up to supplying water as quickly as the leaf systems are transpiring it. It actually doesn't say anything about the state of moisture in the soil, which can be entirely adequate. Cool-season organisms will typically wilt when out of their temperature comfort ranges rather easily, so grasses would certainly be susceptible. It's not an issue for grass to wilt mid-day in 90-degree weather, any more than it's an issue for most plants to do so. One of my best photos of the garden is in hundred degree weather and the greenery is a bit wilted. The issue would be if the grass remains wilted after sunset when the roots have time to catch up and resupply the blades with water when the blade cools and the biological processing rates slow to something the roots can supply. Furthermore, day-wilting produces hormonal responses that spark root growth as temperatures fall in the soil to where root growth can resume. Constantly supplying water as temperatures cross that point mean that root growth never starts when temperatures are appropriate for said growth. Consistent coddling never produces the deep mat of roots that will support grass (or any plant) against wilting, which means it will continue to wilt in less-harsh weather than more harshly-treated lawns. There's a minor argument for syringing the lawn here, but that's not what we're discussing. That involves a drop of surface leaf temperature due to water contact and evaporative cooling, not a root watering.