Yes, I’m a proud fur parent. Hoshi is an 18 year old Tonkinese and Lilly is a 16 year old American Burmese. They look like sisters, don’t they? Their personalities are like night and day. Hoshi loves to cuddle. She owns mommy’s lap. Lilly is not into cuddling, but loves to head butt and wants to get her little ears scrubbed.

My babies have been with me since they were 2 and 3 years old. I’ve been through a lot with them. As every fur-parent knows, you are their voice and their caregiver, committed to providing for them until God calls them over the Rainbow bridge.

I’ll post more later about my babies who have traveled over the rainbow bridge. But for now will let you know that we are fighting Feline Kidney Disease with Lilly. It is heart-breaking. I can tell she is not ready to give up and as long as she wants to fight, I’ll be by her side and do whatever I can to make her more comfortable.

Five years ago, I almost lost Hoshi to diabetes. She has a chronic upper respiratory condition and my vet was giving her steroid shots. The diabetes was a reaction to the steroid shots. I didn’t give up on her and she kept fighting. Today Hoshi is in remission and no longer needs insulin shots.

I take them in annually for check ups and whenever they show any signs of unusual behavior, run to my vet and to get them tested. But even with trying to be an attentive, diligent mommy, I missed the signs of Lilly’s condition. I attributed the changed behavior to me being home 100% of the time starting in March. She didn’t have me to greet at the door, so she didn’t know when to get up. The morning alarm was an hour later, so she wasn’t feeding at her normal time. I thought we were getting used to a new normal, until she started throwing up and having diarrhea.

The bad thing about kidney disease in cats is they don’t show symptoms until almost 75% of the kidney function has been lost. The older the cat, the harder it is to stabilize. For now, we (my vet and I) are doing what we can with subq fluids, diet, and medications to make Lilly more comfortable. She is up and about, still attentive about what is going on about her, but it is still touch and go. Some days are better than others.

If you read this, please say a prayer for Lilly.