The most important part of being a pet parent is being able to accept when our pets aren’t feeling their best. For those with middle-aged/senior kitties, it is important to understand how Chronic Kidney Disease can own and operate itself with our cats. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive disease that affects more than a third of cats over ten years old.
An affected cat will show these clinical signs:
- Nausea & Vomiting
- High Blood Pressure
- No-Appetite
- Urinary Tract Infections.
The good news about CKD, that if managed will not compromise the quality of life. The hard part presents itself when attempting to diagnose with Chronic Kidney Disease. Since cats are extremely secretive about when they aren’t feeling their best, it can be hard to justify if any of the above symptoms are a sign of CKD. This disease can create a challenge for both the owner and the vet.
Since this is a widespread disease to pop up within senior kitties, we(the vets) are well aware of how to test, diagnose, and treat so that the cat can continue it’s life, for many more years to come.
Evidence proves that a change in diet can be the most helpful for a kitty with CKD. Renal-specific diets are the best bet in keeping your kitty healthy and happy. As it is not always easy to get your cat to start eating a new food, whether wet or dry, Diets to support kidney failure can help cats quality of life in the long run.
Along with being on a healthy renal specific diet, it important to have routine blood assessments to make sure all of the other organs are in good working condition as well.
Chronic Kidney Disease is completely manageable for cats and their owners. While it is important to spend a little extra time to make sure your cat is taking to the new diets and other various treatments, we want to emphasize on having a good relationship with your vet. CKD should include having a lot of communication between the owners and us (the vets). Our team is available for any questions or concerns you may have when it comes to your cat’s chronic health. Please contact us if you’d like to make an appointment.