Being cat lovers we all need to take a minute and understand the signs of our beloved feline companion. In this new series we will touch base on some of the diseases that you kitty could face. Cats are stoic which means they do not show when they are sick. Watching the subtle things we can pick up when something wrong. The first topic will be kidney disease.

Chronic kidney disease

One of the top silent killers of cats is chronic kidney disease (CKD) (This is sometimes called chronic renal failure or chronic kidney injury). These terms are all semantically the same, and basically mean that 75% of both the kidneys are ineffective and not working. Clinical signs of CRD include:

• Excessive drinking

• Excessive urinating

• Larger clumps in the litter box

• Weight loss

• Bad breath (due to toxins building up in the blood and causing ulcers in the mouth, esophagus, and stomach)

• Lethargy

• Hiding

Thankfully, with appropriate management, cats can live with CKD for years (unlike dogs where CKD usually progresses more rapidly). Chronic management may include a low-protein diet, frequent blood work, increasing water intake (e.g., with a water fountain or by feeding a grueled canned food), medications and even fluids under the skin (which many pet guardians do at home, once properly trained).