Riley

This is our cat Riley. He is almost thirteen years old and has just been diagnosed with renal failure and hyperthyoidism. Unfortunately the treatment for one will make the other worse.So what do we choose...treat the hyperthyroisism and speed up the renal failure or treat the kidneys and make the thyroid go even more haywire which usually causes heart problems and a total imbalance of hormones.

It's a catch-22 situation. Riley is doing fine right now, losing weight of course but he doesn't know anything is wrong. He is still his cheerful self, feeling fine and hasn't let up with his look of pity when he wants to be fed. For now we choose to let the diseases run their course until Riley's quality of life starts to diminish. And then we say "Good-bye sweet boy" and send him on his way to the Rainbow Bridge.

That will be extremely hard. Riley is very dear to us but we have to do what is best for him and treating either disease will actually make him miserable, cause discomfort and bring about his deterioration quicker.