Essential Kidney Health Tips for Your Cat – Early Detection Can Save Her Life

Kidney failure is one of the top causes of death for cats, especially older cats. Nearly 1 out of 3 senior cats suffer from chronic kidney disease.

While kidney disease is more common in senior cats, it has been diagnosed in cats as young as 3 years old, so it’s never too soon to take measures to try to prevent your cat from developing kidney problems and to make sure she is diagnosed as early as possible; with an early diagnosis, cats can live for many years with chronic kidney disease.

Unfortunately, by the time many people notice the symptoms of kidney disease in their cat, the animal has lost 75% of the function of their kidneys, and the prognosis isn’t as good. Here’s everything you need to know about chronic kidney disease.

What is chronic kidney disease?

According to Healthy Pets:

The basic unit of the kidney is the nephron, a microscopic funnel-shaped tube that helps to filter and absorb the fluids in your cat’s body. All cats start life with an abundance of functional nephrons in their kidneys, but over time nephrons are damaged, and eventually there are no more spare nephrons.

When a significant number of nephrons have been damaged, the kidneys lose function. Once two-thirds of a cat’s nephrons have been damaged, the kidneys can no longer conserve urine. The cat will start urinating large quantities of very dilute urine. As you can imagine, a 2/3 loss of function in the kidneys is a huge problem, and it can’t be reversed. That’s why early detection is crucial.

How is chronic kidney disease diagnosed?

The best way to get an early diagnosis is to bring your cat to the vet for once- or twice-yearly exams. Bringing your cat to the vet when she’s healthy can provide your vet with a baseline to know when something in your kitty changes. According to Pet Health Network:

What are the symptoms?

If you cat has significant kidney damage, she is likely to exhibit some of the following symptoms:

-Excessive thirst

-Excessive urination

-Leaking urine

-Vomiting

-Diarrhea

-Loss of appetite

-Weight loss

-Depression

-Anemia

-Weakness

How is chronic kidney disease treated?

According to Healthy Pets:

Various other medications may be prescribed to help with your cat’s specific symptoms and degree of kidney damage. Dialysis and kidney transplants are occasionally offered at veterinary teaching hospitals, but they are extremely rare and expensive and not usually the best course of action.

How can I prevent my cat from getting kidney disease?

It is thought that most cats don’t drink enough water, and that this is a top cause of chronic kidney disease. Cats in the wild get most of their moisture from the prey that they eat, so house cats don’t have much instinct to drink from a water bowl. Adding wet food to your cat’s diet can help increase your cat’s fluid intake. Other ways to entice your cat to drink water include having a fountain for them to drink from, putting ice cubes in their bowl, and using stainless steel water bowls instead of plastic.

PetFinder also recommends that you:

Now that you are armed with information, you have the ability to extend your cat’s life by hopefully preventing, and if not, identifying, chronic kidney disease in enough time to manage it for several otherwise healthy years.

(H/T: Healthy Pets, Pet Health Network, PetFinder, Petful)