Cracker’s Journey: Still Going Strong – Part 3
Remember Cracker? She has been featured in 2 other blogs documenting her journey. Now almost 23 years young, Cracker is still going strong! We checked in with her human mom to see how much life has changed since our 2021 article.
From Cracker’s Human Mom:
The past couple of years has been an amazing experience watching Cracker thrive with the health conditions she has. To recap, Cracker has stage 3 kidney disease, arthritis and new to the list is hyperthyroidism.
Cracker and her siblings have 3 meal times a day. Since Cracker needs access to wet food as much as possible, I’ve split their mealtimes up to give optimal access. Her siblings enjoy that as well!
Cracker and I have a daily medication routine that starts at 9pm and ends around 9:45pm. In that time, she receives 75ml of sub-q fluids (to help filter her kidneys), 2 mls of renal K gel (to support her potassium levels), ¼ tab cerenia (for nausea) and 1.25mg of transdermal methimazole (to regulate her thyroid levels). After receiving her medications, it is dinner time for her and her siblings! They all have microchip feeders so they can’t steal each other’s food. If Cracker doesn’t receive her dinner quick enough after her medications, she lets the entire neighborhood know with her meows!
Cracker ideally should be on a kidney diet as well, but due to her exquisite palate and cravings for fancy feast pate, she refuses to eat the diet. She has been thriving on the fancy feast, so she eats as much as she wants. Sometimes she eats as much as 9oz a day! Because of her health risks, she is unable to undergo a dental cleaning and so she also gets as many dental treats a day as she wants! They help to keep the few teeth that she has left clean!
You may remember that in 2021’s blog, we talked about how difficult walking up the stairs was for Cracker. We now visit Just Cats monthly to visit Cracker’s favorite technician Becca who administers her Solensia injection. Solensia is a new break-through medication that treats arthritis. Since beginning this monthly medication in the fall, Cracker has felt so good that she is now running up and down the stairs that she once struggled with. Her younger siblings have definitely caught her wrath a bit more now that her arthritis is being treated!
Cracker still loves her heating pads and her catnip mousey. She still plays occasionally, and loves to snuggle. I make sure I set plenty of time aside during the day to give her as much cuddle time as she needs. She has been a part of my life for over half of my life now, and I can’t imagine life without her. I know I will have to someday, but I sure hope that day isn’t soon!
Cracker and her little sister, Gamora!
