Hi all. I was kind of expecting this, just because of his age. He's 16,
and in otherwise great health. A tad of arthritis and his ongoing anal
gland thing, but otherwise, he's good. I've never had a cat live this
long, so in one sense, I'm so blessed. Plus, he's just such a wonderful
guy, so happy, so loving.

I'm devastated for myself, but more so for Jack. They adore one another
so.

The good news is that it's caught fairly early. He has no symptoms.
He's lost two pounds, but that's over a year or so, and at 14 and a
half pounds, he's not skinny; he still has his dewlap.

His appetite is as voracious as always. For years, I've said he has a
hollow leg, and he would eat until he pops if I'd oblige. He's always
been a heavy drinker as well, and that hasn't changed. (In fact, always
drank so much water that I've worried he had diabetes, but his blood
sugar is always perfect) So appetite is good, drinking is good, he's
happy, always smiling and purring.

All of his levels of blood sugar, potassium and so on are all fine.
(His vet thought he might be hyperthyroid, but he's not)

Here are his numbers:

creatine: 3.5
BUN: 55

His vet says we've caught it fairly early, and we discussed down the
road doing the fluid IVs. But because right now he's not dehydrated, he
doesn't need that. In fact, her only prescription is a special diet
(Science KD). No meds or anything, and then in two months, check his
blood levels again.

I did ask her for a timeline, and she said she's seen cats with similar
numbers go in six months, or live 2 or 3 more years with decent quality
of life.

So I'm taking the optimistic outlook and if Jack and I have two more
years with sweet Dmitri, we're good. After all, he's 16, and even that
many years of bliss is a blessing.

I'm here for two things....a few hugs would be great. I know so many
people here have loved the Dmitri and Jack story, and I've been lucky
enough to live it. I've always known it would come to an end, so it's
hard.

The other thing is information. I've read a number of sites this
evening and I realize it's all very individual. I'm wondering what your
impressions of the numbers might be, your thoughts on the food (I'm not
trying to second guess my vet, just wanting to be as informed as I
can...I adore this vet and she's been good to Dmitri for many years),
and just things I can be doing to make his quality of life as good as
possible, and of course to try and prolong it.

Other than these bad numbers, Dmitri is pretty darned good. He and Jack
remain joined at the hip. Dmitri had an anal squeeze today, and Jack
licked his rear when he got home. Very lovingly. (I'm not kidding,
these guys LOVE one another!)

Yesterday was Jack's day at the vet. He had a tooth pulled (canine, it
was bad, but he feels better today) and he had a slight eye infection.
So he's getting drops for his eye and happy to have that bad tooth out.
When we got home from the vet, Dmitri came running to him and bathed
him and Jack told him all about it.

The vet Jack had yesterday had never seen him before (it's a clinic
with several vets) and so I told him Jack's story, how Jack started out
as a feral. He said Jack was such a sweetie and so polite during
everything, that it was a credit to Catharine and me on how wonderful
he is. Then later I was searching for his records and there was a note
in his envelope. A note I'd never seen before. From Catharine to Beth,
thanking her for fostering him.

I barely knew her, but not a day goes by that I don't look at Jack and
think of her. I really hope she's somewhere she can see how happy he
is. For a cat who used to kind of hide a lot, he's turned into a major
lap cat.

I love them both so much.

Juls