Diagnosing a diseased kidney in cats has become a common occurrence in veterinarian clinics. Chronic renal failure is the second most common cat illness – especially in senior cats. Outside of a kidney transplant, there is no absolute cure for a diseased kidney. You can improve your cat’s chances for a longer life by recognizing the symptoms of common diseases affecting your cat’s renal system.

While there isn’t a complete cure for treating a diseased kidney in cats, there are several things you can do to slow the progression of chronic renal failure in your cat. Recognize the symptoms of a sick kidney in cat early in the illness and you can do lots to lengthen the life of your cat.

Common diseases of the kidney in cats include:

Glomerulonephritis, Nephrosis, Pyelonephritis, Amyloidosis, Hydronephrosis, Chronic Tubulointerstitial Nephritis

Symptoms indicating a problem with the kidney in cats are:

Increased thirst, Lots of urine and urination, Loss of appetite, Vomiting, Anorexia, Depression, Lethargy, Weight loss, Poor hair coat

What can you do to improve the quality of life for your cat with kidney disease?

Some treatments for cats with chronic renal failure are similar to what you can to do prevent a sick kidney in cats. Encourage water intake by providing lots of fresh water in bowels or cups or even mini-fountains designed to encourage fresh water intake. Water, water, water. H2O is a key ingredient to preventing a feline urinary infection and to promoting a healthy functioning renal system.

Some treatments for cats with chronic renal failure are similar to what you can to do prevent a sick kidney in cats. Encourage water intake by providing lots of fresh water in bowels or cups or even mini-fountains designed to encourage fresh water intake. Water, water, water. H2O is a key ingredient to preventing a feline urinary infection and to promoting a healthy functioning renal system.

You’ll have to convert your cat to a restricted-protein diet recommended by your vet. This may be dry kibble, but if possible, opt for canned cat food to add water to your cat’s diet. If your cat was severely dehydrated, your vet may set you up with an intravenous apparatus so you can treat your cat at home.

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When you have suspicions for a cat in kidney failure, its key to get your cat in early for a series of diagnostic tests. When you are done reading this article, you’ll understand what tests are run for cats in kidney failure. You can help your cat live longer by getting him in early to the vet to have a a series of diagnostic tests run. Your veterinarian test your cat’s urine and blood for tell-tale signs of a cat experiencing renal failure.

First lets review some of the vocabulary used to convey the state of the condition for cats in kidney failure. Acute kidney (or renal) failure in your cat is characterized by complete organ failure where the kidneys stop working altogether. Acute renal failure in cats happens suddenly. It can affect both young and old cats.This type of kidney disease is almost always fatal but if treated immediately and aggressively, the kidneys may regain normal functions and your cat may live a relatively normal life.

The other phrase you may hear is chronic kidney failure. This is the most common disease and is usually experienced by an aging cat. As cats age their major organs have weakened, including their kidneys. Sadly, by the time you notice the symptoms for cats in kidney failure about 70% of your cat’s kidney functions are already in trouble. Chronic kidney failure is a progressive disease and eventually your cat will die from it. However, the earlier the disease is discovered the longer you can keep your cat comfortable for months or even years.

The most dependable diagnosis comes from the blood and urine tests taken from your cat. Your vet may also palpitate the kidney area and check for small, shriveled kidneys. He may take x-rays or an ultrasound too.

Blood Tests

A blood test evaluates the BUN level of your cat’s blood. No, this isn’t a level of yeast but BUN stands for the Blood Urea Nitrogen level which is a chemical that the liver makes from ammonia. After production, BUN is excreted into the kidneys, which increases in some diseases especially for cats in kidney failure. The test also is a marker for dehydration in your cat or even a urethral obstruction like bladder stones.

Blood tests also show the level of creatinine in your cat’s blood. Creatinine is the breakdown product of muscle and normally is excreted by the kidneys. If your cat’s creatinine level is abnormally high it helps confirm that your cat’s elevated BUN level was caused by kidney failure.

Urine Tests

When evaluating your cat’s urine, the veterinarian will check for signs of infection, the concentration, and any losses of proteins. When a healthy cat is dehydrated the proteins show at a concentrated level. For cats in kidney failure, this protein concentration is not there which is key to determining if your cat’s kidneys are functioning properly or not.

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You would never think of giving poison to cats, but you may be doing it by accident. In fact, overloading your cats’ diet with some hairball remedies can prevent absorption of a vital vitamin.

Many of us rely on supplemental vitamins to provide a nutritional boost to our human diets. Perhaps you even thought about supplementing your cat’s diet with vitamins. After all, didn’t you read somewhere that kittens with diets low in vitamin D develop rickets? Or what about older cats with low levels of vitamin D in their diet suffering from brittle bones?

These problems are totally possible, but such deficiencies are rare in today’s cat diet world. That said, it is possible that you may cause your cat to have a vitamin D deficiency simply by treating him for hairballs. You could be literally giving poison to cats when you treat them with hairball remedies that have a mineral oil or petroleum jelly base.

If your cat ‘just loves’ his petroleum based hairball remedy and you ‘just love’ giving it to him, you both may need to back off the program a bit. Excessive use of this type of hair ball remedy can interfere with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamin D.

Now that you know better that indulging your cats with this type of hairball remedy don’t be tempted to add vitamin D back into their diet. Just continue to feed a high quality cat food which is full of vitamins cats need. Now that your cats are off the petroleum based product, their digestive system will be able to absorb the vitamin D again.

Let’s now consider completely removing this ‘petroleum based’ product from your cats diets. Would you swallow something made of petroleum? That’s right – have a pint of oil to goo up your insides. Its really not a far stretch to consider this as something close to giving poison to cats.

Switch your cats over to an herbal hairball treatment. There are herbal compounds that provide a gentle yet effective solution to cat hairballs. Psyllium nigrum is a very high source of dietary fiber while Aloe ferox (a well known medicinal herb) is known for its beneficial effect on digestive functioning. Nux vom is a proven homeopathic remedy often prescribed for indigestion, constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, violent retching and abdominal cramp.

Its easy to give this natural remedy and if you have a cat who hates the other products, bets are that he’ll never even notice when you add a bit to his canned cat food. Just give 1/2 capsule 2 times daily for 10 days, followed by 1/2 capsule once daily as a maintenance dose for cats who are prone to awful hairballs.

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It probably never occurred to you that you are damaging your cats with the hairball medicine you give them. Certainly not that you were giving poison to cats. In fact, overloading your cats’ diet with some hairball products can prevent absorption of a vital vitamin.

Many of us rely on vitamin supplements to provide a nutritional boost to our human diets. Perhaps you even thought about supplementing your cat’s diet with vitamins. After all, didn’t you read somewhere that kittens with diets low in vitamin D develop rickets? Or what about older cats with low levels of vitamin D in their diet suffering from brittle bones?

Both of these conditions are possible, but such deficiencies are rare in today’s cat diet world. That said, it is possible that you may cause your cat to have a vitamin D deficiency simply by treating him for hairballs. You could be literally giving poison to cats when you treat them with hairball remedies that have a mineral oil or petroleum jelly base.

If your cat ‘adores’ his petroleum based hairball remedy and you ‘adore’ giving it to him, you both may need to back off the program a bit. Excessive use of this type of hair ball remedy can interfere with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamin D.

If you indulged your cats with this type of hairball remedy, but now know better, don’t be tempted to add vitamin D back into their diet. Just continue to feed a high quality cat food which is full of vitamins cats need. Once your cats are off the petroleum based product, their digestive system will be able to absorb the vitamin D again.

Now let’s consider completely removing this ‘petroleum based’ product from your cats diets. After all, would you ingest something made of petroleum? Here, have a pint of crude to slick up your innards. Its really not a far stretch to consider this as something close to giving poison to cats.

Consider switching over to an herbal hairball treatment. There are herbal compounds that provide a gentle yet effective solution to cat hairballs. Psyllium nigrum is a very high source of dietary fiber while Aloe ferox (a well known medicinal herb) is known for its beneficial effect on digestive functioning. Nux vom is a proven homeopathic remedy often prescribed for indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, violent retching and abdominal cramps.

Its easy to give this natural remedy and if you have a cat who hates the other products, bets are that he’ll never even notice when you add a bit to his canned cat food. Just give 1/2 capsule 2 times daily for 10 days, followed by 1/2 capsule once daily as a maintenance dose for cats who are prone to awful hairballs.

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