If you're a cat owner, you want to ensure that your feline friend enjoys the happiest and healthiest life possible. In order to help make this possible, it's important for you, as the pet owner, to be educated about feline health issues. While cat kidney disease most often affects elderly felines, it has the potential to affect cats at any stage of life. So in order to protect and promote your cat's health, it's a good idea to understand the basics of feline kidney function and cat kidney disease.

The Feline Urinary Tract

Generally, a healthy cat's urinary tract will consist of two kidneys, each of which is each connected to the bladder by a ureter. As a physiological system, the feline urinary tract carries out several different functions, including the regulation of the concentration and acid-based balance of the blood. However, the main function of the kidneys and urinary system is the filtration and removal of waste products.

Feline Kidney Disease

Feline kidney disease occurs when the kidneys are no longer able to function properly. This usually occurs because the kidney cells become damaged or worn out. In most cases, feline kidney disease will develop slowly over time and a cat with this medical problem generally won't display any symptoms of the disease until approximately two thirds of normal kidney function is lost. At this point, the kidneys are no longer able to sufficiently remove waste products from the body and toxins begin to accumulate within the cat's system, causing significant discomfort for the animal as well as dangerous and potentially fatal disruptions with several other physiological pathways.

Symptoms

Once a cat reaches this point, where approximately two thirds of normal kidney function is lost, a variety of signs and symptoms will begin to appear. Two of the most frequently displayed symptoms in cases of feline kidney disease are increased thirst and increased urination. Other common warning signs include bloody urine, loss of appetite, weight loss, lethargy, depression, and poor coat quality. In some cases, feline kidney disease will also cause vomiting and bad breath. Since chronic kidney disease, which develops slowly over time, is more common in cats than acute kidney disease, signs and symptoms will typically occur with a gradual onset and grow increasingly severe with time.

Diagnosis

Generally, a case of cat kidney disease will be diagnosed through blood tests and urinalysis. With respect to blood tests, the concentrations of the substances urea and creatinine can be very helpful with diagnosing feline kidney disease. Both of these substances are typically filtered out of the body by healthy kidneys and, therefore, unusually high concentrations of urea and/or creatinine could suggest a lack of proper function on the part of the cat's kidneys. Also, when a cat is suffering from this disease, the concentration of its urine will often be higher than normal as well. As a result, urinalysis can also be helpful when it comes to diagnosing feline kidney disease.

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