Adult Cat Diagnosed with Kidney Disease

My tabby cat is five years old and he was diagnosed with kidney disease.  The veterinarian said that he would need to eat a prescription diet food for the rest of his life.  

The Hills Urinary Care prescription diet would not cure him but I was assured that he would not get sicker.

 

The diagnosis was due to my cat's elevated blood phosphorus reading.  It was over the normal 6 mg/dl (USA) and indicated kidney disease.  There were no crystals in his urine or any other indicator.

 

There are many reasons why a cat would develop kidney disease.  Many older cats develop this condition due to kidney changes as they age, they drink less water or their diet is primarily dry kibble.

 

Another reason would be due to an infection, or a cat ate something toxic (lily flowers or antifreeze) and it damaged their kidneys. Also, cats with FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) may develop kidney disease.  My FIV cat named Sam has chronic kidney disease.  Read the article here. 

 

For my tabby cat, the reason was clear, he was not a big water drinker, and he preferred dry kibble over wet canned food.  When cats eat only dry food  which is half the moisture of canned food, and not being a water drinker, those two factors will cause kidney/bladder disease.  I was told that dry cat kibble was the leading cause of urinary and bladder infections in cats.

 

Know that we always topped our cats Purina ONE True Instinct Natural Real Chicken Plus Vitamins & Minerals High Protein Grain-Free Dry Cat Food with wet canned food but this cat would only eat a little canned food, as he preferred dry.  This food has a 12 percent moisture, it's higher than many kibbles on the market, and many have less.

 

Due to his kidney disease diagnosis, we must feed him the prescription canned food.  I mix a little water in the food for extra fluid which is good for his kidneys. He is not a fan of the canned food so I will ask the veterinarian if there is a prescription kibble that he can eat that I could mix with the canned food.

 

Learn more about cat kidney disease by reading this article 

About Sam my 15-Year Old FIV Cat

  

It's hard to believe that my FIV cat is now a senior considering when I adopted him in 2008 every veterinarian told me he would not live a long life.  It's safe to say that the health concerns regarding FIV have changed and that people have learned a lot about FIV.

When I adopted Sam my veterinarian told me that Sam had to be kept in a temperature-controlled room and that he could not have any contact with other cats because he was highly contagious, that even if Sam ate out of the same bowl he could pass the FIV disease to another cat.  I was also told that I could make him sick by bringing germs from the outdoors into his space.  So I would come home from work, shower before putting on new clothing and slippers, and go into my office to see Sam.

Clearly, many veterinarians’ and caregivers got FIV mixed up with FeLV.  Because FIV is only spread through a deep puncture wound that would break another cat's skin. 

I adhered to all of the veterinarians’ instructions then 10 years ago, Sam had gotten out of the office and we found him playing with my other cats.   We took all of the cats in for FIV testing and none of them were infected so the veterinarian at that time said if they get along then they can live together.

Presently Sam lives with my other cats who are not infected with cat disease.  He sleeps with them, plays with them and yes eats out of the same bowl.

Sam is relatively healthy for his age but does suffer from typical senior cat conditions.  He has arthritis in his legs but that does not stop him from running, jumping, and playing with the dog.

Other than his arthritis I have noticed that Sam is grumpy if he doesn’t get canned food when he wants it.  He loves to eat a couple times a day and has slept in bed with us for the last decade.

**The photos in this article are my original photographs of Sam my 15-year-old FIV cat.

Here is the article I published on the day we adopted Sam