As you can guess, at Tabby’s Place we are all true ailurophiles (cat lovers).And, of course, we love each and every one of our cats, from the best looking and sweetest, to the least attractive and most unfriendly.However … we have to admit that Amber is a very difficult cat to like.While she is not unattractive, she is truly one of the meanest-acting cats we have ever encountered.

It is virtually impossible to handle Amber.She cannot be pilled (at least, not without risking one of your body parts) and we have to sedate her for even the simplest procedures (such as an ultrasound).Several people have done their best to socialize her.But, even after many months of effort, Amber remains, simply put, vicious.

Strangely, Amber is not a feral cat.She came us to from a very old couple who had far too many cats living in their house.The couple’s health was failing rapidly and they were desperate to find home for their cats.During her intake examination, we drew bood because we suspected she was at least 10 years old.Much to our dismay, the bloodwork showed that Amber is suffering from chronic renal failure (CRF, also known as kidney disease).

In cats with CRF, the kidneys progressively lose their ability to function.As the kidneys do many things (including regulating fluid levels, filter and dispose of waste products, stimulate red blood cell production and control blood pressure), the loss of function is critical and, ultimately, fatal.

There is often much that can be done to improve the quality of life for a cat with CRF.Unfortunately, because Amber is unmanageable, most of the options are foreclosed for us.The only viable option we have so far found is to try to feed her a prescription diet.We recently learned that Amber loves wet food, so we now offer her this food twice a day.This is a tricky business, since it would be best to crate her while she is eating, so that she can eat in peace.Unfortunately, getting Amber into a crate is not easy.So, we do our best.To add to her difficulties, Amber also has a heart murmur, detected during her intake exam.We have so far held off on getting her an ultrasound, since we assumed there was no way we could medicate her, in the event she does have heart disease.But, given that we can usually get her to eat wet food, we believe we now have a way to get her medication (in her wet food).We will schedule her for an ultrasound in the next month.

We do love Amber and we will continue to care for her, as much as she will tolerate.Honestly, however, there is little chance she will be adopted (though we never give up hope).Please consider sponsoring Amber and allow us to give her the medical care she needs.