Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
You can help prevent kidney
disease by feeding your senior
cat a good diet that does not
over-acidify the urine and pro-
viding plenty of clean, fresh
water.
The kidneys are organs that
do not regenerate, so once they
are damaged, disease will
progress. By intervening with
diet, fluids and other treatment,
the process can be slowed but
not cured. It is hard to know
how quickly problems will
progress, so monitoring
changes in blood urea nitrogen
(BUN) and creatinine will give
a veterinarian an idea of the
stage of degeneration. BUN
and creatinine are products that
are present at higher levels in
the blood when cats have kid-
ney disease. However, as I've
already mentioned, abnormally
high values of these products are not even detectable until more than
50 percent of kidney function has been lost.
If it is detected in the early stages, kidney disease can be managed,
possibly for years. Management requires active owner participation and
care, including fluid supplementation.
Chapter 20 contains more information about renal problems in cats.
Owners are often able to administer subcuta-
neous fluids at home to treat kidney disease
and dehydration. A needle is placed under the
skin between the shoulder blades, and sterile
fluid is given.
Hypertension
High blood pressure (hypertension) does occur in cats. Most often it is
secondary to hyperthyroidism or chronic renal failure. Testing a cat's
blood pressure can be tricky, because cats are generally stressed when
they go to a veterinary clinic and stress increases blood pressure.
Hypertension can be addressed by controlling the primary disease that
caused it, and by using oral medications.
Chapter 16 contains more information about hypertension in cats.
