# Dialysis Means Getting Rid Of Your Cat?!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dialysis-means-getting-rid-of-your-cat/394568>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 4, 2007, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dialysis-means-getting-rid-of-your-cat/394568 "2007-03-04T19:52:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dialysis-means-getting-rid-of-your-cat/394568/21 "2007-03-05T16:29:47Z")

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My ex-GF kept her cat while she was on dialysis with no problems at all. But litter box duty was my job.

She did die a few years later, but it was from complications of a non-feline nature.

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dialysis-means-getting-rid-of-your-cat/394568/22 "2007-03-05T16:53:12Z")

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[QUOTE=Harriet the Spry]  
I agree the idea of confining the medical treatment or the cat to a specific part of the house is worth considering. An older cat spends the vast, vast majority of its time sleeping anyway. Also, maybe ask the vet and physician about preventative antibiotics for the cat, if what we’re talking about is a bacterial infection.  
[/QUOTE]

I agree with this. I see no reason why she can’t just keep the cat out of the dialysis room.

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**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dialysis-means-getting-rid-of-your-cat/394568/23 "2007-03-05T17:02:28Z")

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In peritoneal dialysis, how is the opening into the peritoneum managed? Is there an indwelling catheter or a stoma?

Are dialysis patients significantly immunocompromised?

Could the doctor work around the cat by checking for infection more frequently? Prophylaxis? There must be some options.

This is what I would consider to be a quality of life issue, and there’s very little point in treating a patient if doing so reduces the quality of life, which it sounds like it will if you have to get rid of the cat.

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**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dialysis-means-getting-rid-of-your-cat/394568/24 "2007-03-05T18:52:36Z")

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[QUOTE=Szlater]  
In peritoneal dialysis, how is the opening into the peritoneum managed? Is there an indwelling catheter or a stoma?

Are dialysis patients significantly immunocompromised?

Could the doctor work around the cat by checking for infection more frequently? Prophylaxis? There must be some options.

This is what I would consider to be a quality of life issue, and there’s very little point in treating a patient if doing so reduces the quality of life, which it sounds like it will if you have to get rid of the cat.  
[/QUOTE]

indwelling catheter

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