Pets and Dialysis

[pianoflute2]

Can you have pets while you're on dialysis? My little brother really wants a cat, but my aunt is worried that because he is immune suppressed a cat might cause infection or something. In general, can you have pets while on dialysis?

[PaulBC]

Dialysis won't make him immune suppressed, though transplant medications will. I'm not sure if he is immune suppressed for any other reason.

But if he's going to do home dialysis, you will need to keep the setup sterile. That could be more difficult with a pet around. I don't think there are any reasons to avoid animals when not setting up dialysis. If he's doing dialysis as an outpatient, I don't think pets are relevant.

I am not sure about the situation post-transplant, but I think someone said that cats are more of an issue than dogs. He might as well get the most out of his immune system now, because if he does need a transplant, then he will definitely be immune suppressed later on.

[pianoflute2]

The cause of his kidney failure, Wegener's Granulomatosis, is an auto immune disorder, so he's on medication to suppress his immune system. He is violently against home dialysis, it scares him to even be home from the hospital. He wants a cat so badly... I guess we'll just have to talk to his doctor.

[skinnacat]

well i do home dialysis...pd...and i have a kitty cat and i have not had any problems. she is even in the room when i hook up...shes just not by me.
all i would say is i think its perfectly fine to have a cat and be on any form of dialysis. maybe just make sure he doesnt change the cat box if he has immune problems.
but it should be fine....i could not live without my cat...no way!!!

[PaulBC]

The cause of his kidney failure, Wegener's Granulomatosis, is an auto immune disorder, so he's on medication to suppress his immune system. He is violently against home dialysis, it scares him to even be home from the hospital. He wants a cat so badly... I guess we'll just have to talk to his doctor.

I'm sorry to hear this. I know it must be really hard for him, particularly at his age. You said he was trying out new roller blades before all this happened. Can he get back to being active now that he's home?

When we left the hospital (after just two weeks) it was basically an admission that the doctors didn't have any good ideas about what else to do. The biopsy looked terrible, and kidney function wasn't coming back after a steroid pulse. Despite this, we were all very happy to get things back to normal as much as we could.

Is your kidney team providing any kind of counseling? Keeping him away from cats might protect his physical health a little, but there's a lot more than that to providing adequate support.

[pianoflute2]

He's slowly being able to be more active, but right now for him it's hard to get to the bathroom even. He's got a walker for home, and a wheelchair for going to doctors and stuff, but he's going to be in physical therapy for a bit, most likely. He was in bed for more than a month. Not eating at all for two and a half weeks of that, so he's very weak. He requires help sitting up most of the time, but he's starting to take some steps on his own. I honestly think a cat would be good for him, something to talk to and cuddle when mom or I can't be right there with him. Daniel's biopsy didn't look terrible, the doctor said there was no scarring, so hopefully his kidneys will kick back in, but there hasn't been much improvement on steroids yet, but I don't know how quickly these things happen! The hospital suggested that he go see a therapist, but he doesn't want to, he's had bad experiences in the past. I really just want to do everything in my power to make him feel supported and loved.

[Deanne]

I was on PD for six months and now have a transplant. I've had 3 or more cats and 2 dogs through it. My dialysis team and transplant team have been aware of them through it all. They said they know pets are important and had no objections, other than that I didn't connect or disconnect with them in the room when I was on dialysis, and the transplant team asked that I don't bring additional pets into my home until I was one year post transplant. I've never had any issues because of them. If he gets a cat, I suggest an adult though, not a kitten. Kittens are much more likely to scratch and create potential for infection.

[PaulBC]

I'm happy to hear there was no scarring. If he can get his kidney function back, that is much better than any of the alternatives, so I hope he does.

I don't know anything about Wegener's Granulomatosis except for a few web pages I just looked at. I guess there are more issues than kidney failure, but it looks like a recovery is possible if it's caught in time.

Your situation is really different from ours, and I don't think you should consider PD until you're certain he's going to be stuck with dialysis for a long time and need to resume normal life as much as possible.

[jeannea]

I understand some of the worst risk with a cat is when you clean the litter box. It sounds like he can't clean it now anyway. Keep the litter box somewhere besides his bedroom or bathroom I think. Whoever does clean the box needs to do a thorough hand washing afterwards. If he gets stronger and can clean it, buy him masks and gloves. Better safe than sorry.

[Charlie B53]

Aside from the litter box, the danger of infection from a cat's claws is always possible.  Especially with a suppressed system.  I hate the idea of making a cat defenseless by removing their claws, BUT...... if the cat is never allowed outdoors this could be a possible solution to greatly reduce an infection from a scratch.  Cats to not wash their hands after using that litterbox.  Removing the claws AND cleaning the litter box OFTEN may be well advisable.

I have one cat left, she comes and goes as she pleases.  She comes and meows, telling me I need to go open the door for her.  No litter box at all.  She's a few years old but still playful.  Sometime just grabs me around the ankle, and gives me 'Love Bites'.  They don't bleed, but sometimes a claw will pin-hole my leg.  Fortunately I have a well working immune system.

[pianoflute2]

Well, I talked to the doctor, and he said that if we had a cat he wouldn't make us get rid of it, but he doesn't recommend getting one while Daniel is this sick, so.... no kitty for us  Maybe it will be ok once he's off the prednizone though, we'll see. Thank you all for your thoughts and advice!!!

[PrimeTimer]

My husband does home hemo. We love cats and had a dog. The cats got use to our dialysis routine with putting them in the back room during treatment, they eat and conk out almost automatically til after treatment, when I go back in and wake them. (I move their box and food/water dish to the "nap" room til we are done with treatment for the nite.) As for the dog, he was an old cattledog, not one to jump up into our laps, he just wanted to be in the same room. He pretty much would nap or watch TV with us until we were done and then one of us would take him out for a quick walk before bedtime. Unfortunately we had to put him asleep due to hip problems and losing control of his bladder. I want very badly to have another dog but we just are too afraid to commit to another. However, I tell people dogs are good to have because having to walk them forces you to move around. I have fibromyalgia and actually started to improve by regularly walking my dog. It helped my pain and overall attitude, lifted me from the fog of depression and kept me mobile and less creaking from my bones could be heard (seriously!). We were good walking partners and I also felt safe, he was like my private guard dog. I wouldn't get a puppy because they require a lot of training and energy and time to do that and cleanup but a mature dog that is already housetrained and likes to walk on a leash might help you stay on your feet and keep you healthy while also offering some trusty companionship, not to mention a lot of laughs. A little lap dog might not be a good idea, unless you want to train it to sit in another room during treatment (if you ever do home treatment). You wouldn't want a dog suddenly jumping up on your blood lines and risk a needle flying out....Anyways, there are a lot of "No Kill" shelters where dogs are waiting to be adopted and they don't just have all puppies but a lot of more mature housetrained dogs. Places like the Animal Defense League might be a good place to check. Don't get me wrong, I love our cats but the dog was able to offer me more in the way of exercise and mobility. Good luck with whatever Daniel chooses. He's darn lucky to have you!!

[Sugarlump]

I was always told that children that grow up with cats and dogs have a stronger immune system and there is nothing like the comfort of a pet when all else around you is crashing down...
I had both a cat and dog during dialysis, transplants and immune suppressant drugs including prednisolone and didn't have any ill effects (the worse thing for me was hospitals for getting infections!)
I do remember that parrots aren't recommended for a particular reason

[Deanne]

Birds carry a fungus that can get into the lungs. My brother-in-law was on prednisone for ulcerative colitis and they got a parakeet. He got very sick with a lung infection from the bird.

[Sugarlump]

Does that apply to chickens as well?

[Deanne]

All birds carry it.

[jeannea]

It's been a few years but there was once an article in the Philly Inquirer. They talked about a woman who had a kidney transplant. All she did was regularly walk by a pet bird. She died of a bird disease. It's scary.