Diagnosis of the cat with early chronic kidney disease
Abstract
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a highly prevalent disease and common cause of morbidity and mortality in older cats. Early diagnosis and management of CKD is thought to be able to slow disease progression and impact positively on quality of life and longevity. Dietary management with a therapeutic renal diet is regarded as the mainstay of treatment for feline CKD from International Renal Interest Society stage 2 onwards. However, since the advent of markers such as symmetric dimethylarginine that have enabled clinicians to detect non-azotaemic CKD, there has been growing debate about how to best manage these patients. At this stage there are a limited number of studies investigating this. This article covers the current diagnostics used to identify renal disease. A second article looks at current understanding of therapeutic strategies and the impact this can have on progression of the disease, focusing on dietary management.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a highly prevalent disease and a common cause of morbidity and mortality in older cats. It is estimated to affect up to 30–40% of cats over the age of 10 years (Lulich, 1992) and is the cause of death of over 13% of cats (O’Neill et al, 2015). Th ere are thought to be a number of potential underlying aetiologies contributing to disease, but the risk factors, other than age (Sparkes et al, 2016), and causes associated with the development of CKD are still not well elucidated, and most cases are classified as idiopathic in origin. However, there is an increasing awareness that early diagnosis and management of CKD can slow the progression of disease and have a significant impact on longevity as well as quality of life. Th is has a number of challenges and controversies associated with it.
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