Your Cat — November 2017

VET DR BRADLEY VINER

BVetMed MSc(VetGP) DProf

MRCVS is vice president of the

Royal College of Veterinary

Surgeons and vice president of

International Cat Care. He owns

two cats adopted from Battersea

Dogs & Cats Home, where he is

a trustee.

A common ki l ler

A

ll animals really

need their

kidneys, as they

perform a wide

variety of important roles,

including filtering harmful

substances from the blood,

maintaining the correct

balance of water, levels of

salt, other electrolytes, and

acid in the body, maintaining

normal blood pressure, and

producing hormones.

Acute renal failure might be

caused by a severe infection

or by ingesting poisons,

such as antifreeze or lily

pollen. The cat will suddenly

become obviously ill, and

stop producing significant

amounts of urine.

This is an emergency, since

unless the condition is treated

promptly, the consequences

of the kidneys ceasing to

function will rapidly and

irreversibly damage them,

and lead to death.

Treatment will always

require hospitalisation and

laboratory tests to identify

and counteract the cause. It

will also require intravenous

supportive care to correct the

resulting imbalances, in the

hope that sufficient kidney

function will remain once the

damage has subsided.

Fortunately, there is a lot

of reserve kidney function,

witnessed by the fact that an

animal can survive perfectly

well if one kidney is removed.

Signs of chronic (long-term)

kidney disease will only begin

to develop once more than

two-thirds of the kidney tissue

has been damaged. If this

happens in an acute case

and the cat survives, it

may well progress on to the

chronic form.

CHRONIC

KIDNEY DISEASE

Chronic kidney disease (CKD)

is the most common cause of

death in cats over five years

of age, usually due to chronic

interstitial nephritis

— a degenerative change

most commonly seen in

elderly cats due to

long-term, low-grade wear

and tear to the kidneys, and

the replacement of normal

kidney cells with scar tissue.

Cats may also have tumours

develop in the kidneys,

particularly lymphosarcoma,

a cancer of the white blood

cells, which can cause similar

signs, as the normal renal

cells are replaced by

cancerous ones.

The first sign of CKD is

an increase in thirst and

urine output. Early diagnosis

greatly increases the chances

of successful treatment.

As many cats urinate and

drink outdoors, it can be

very difficult to detect this,

but observant owners may

notice a change in the cat’s

normal pattern of behaviour.

For example, a cat who is not

normally seen drinking may

be seen drinking from a tap

quite frequently, or from the

garden pond. If a cat uses

a litter tray, it may require

changing more often.

As the disease process

progresses, waste products

from the breakdown of

protein within the body

start to build up, and in turn

cause further damage to the

remaining kidney tissue. This

causes further signs such as:

● Poor appetite.

● Weight loss.

● Poor coat and body

condition.

● Bad breath.

● Ulcers in the mouth.

● Softening of the bones.

● Anaemia (low numbers of

red blood cells).

38 Your Cat November 2017

The fi rst sign of CKD

is an increase in thirst

and urine output.

Poisonous substances, such

as lily pollen, can cause

renal failure.

š

A^ v

et’s^ view

Vet Dr Bradley Viner takes a look

at kidney disease and what owners

should be on the lookout for.

38-39 YC Health CSEH(SW).indd 38 29/09/2017 12:27