Progressive Retinal Atrophy in Cats

My Siamese Cat named Sam has Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) which is a common disease in Siamese cats.  PRA means that the cats will go blind over time. 

 

At first, we noticed that Sam seemed to not function well at night so we would turn on night lights in every room just so he could see where he was going.   We learned early on that if Sam had this disease that he would go blind and that there was no cure. 

We were told that blind cats can adapt well to the disease and as long as we did not move furniture, food bowls, water bowls or litter boxes.  To not make major changed to our home.

 

We were assured that our 18-year-old FIV cat named Sam would adapt and could life a full life and be a great kitty.  Sam would use scent to mark his way through the house and we always call him by name before we approach him as not to startle him. 

We have other cats and in our observation of them we can see that even our alpha cat Hairy a large Ragdoll seems to be caring when it comes to Sam.  We have seen Hairy grooming Sam and also backing away from the food bowl to allow Sam to eat. 

Sam has lived a very long life and we know that he is at the end of his life.  He is still eating, drinking and using his litter box.  He still sleeps at the foot of our bed and he still loves his catnip toy.  When it is Sam's time, he will let us know and we will take him to the veterinarian to be euthanized. But for now, he still has more kitty lives to live. 

Sam was rescued in 2008 when he was abandoned by his people who moved away.  He was skin and bones and was infected with FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus)

My FIV Cat Has Kidney Failure

My cat Sam was rescued after he was abandoned in the woods by my home. It took us less than a year to catch him because he was so scared. By the time we got him, he was skin and bones and from the looks of his coat, he had been in one too many fights.

We took him to the veterinarian and he tested positive for feline leukemia and aides. The veterinarian at the time wanted to put Sam down but I said no and that was in 2008. To make a long story short I nursed Sam back to health and have enjoyed this talkative, playful, and very loving Siamese cat for the last seven years.

Everything was great in fact in August of 2014 his medical exam and blood work should not have changes, but come to the end of November it was clear that something was wrong. Sam who loves to eat, decided he was not going to eat anymore. We thought maybe he suddenly did not like his only natural food by Merrick.  We fed him the best-canned cat food; de-boned chicken canned cat food that was grain free and had no corn wheat, soy, or gluten so we spiced up his food and gave him Merrick Purrfect Bistro Surf and Turf canned cat food and my cat turned away from his food bowl.

The next day he went to the veterinarian because if Sam is not eating there is something wrong. Well sure enough he had fervor, and an infection from an unknown source, his blood work came back fine but his urine showed that his kidneys were not working properly. Sam was in the veterinarian hospital for 10 days and when he was discharged we were told that his teeth due to feline stomatitis had to be removed but the surgery day was unclear due to his renal failure.

Sam has been home now for two weeks and he is doing better, but the veterinarian told me that he needs a follow-up exam and then he will decide if they will go ahead to remove his teeth. I will know more on Tuesday as it is Sams's next appointment.