Kidneys filter the blood and produce urine and so problems with kidney function can result in a variety of health problems for a cat. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the persistent loss of kidney function over a period of time. CKD is the most common kidney disease affecting cats as they get older.

Challenge 

The underlying cause CKD in cats remains unclear. Further characterisation of the processes underlying the development of CKD could identify new ways to treat the condition. There is also a need for non-invasive methods for evaluating the health of specific areas of the kidney, which could provide more precise diagnostic and prognostic information for cats affected by a variety of kidney disorders.

The RVC’s Geriatric Cat Clinic was established in 1992 with the aim of researching the common conditions of older cats and to help with the care and medical management of the cats that attend the clinic. Since then, more than 4,000 cats have come to the research clinic. Eligible cats benefit from free wellness health checks, including a full clinical examination, blood pressure measurement and regular blood and urine tests to check kidney and thyroid function. Regular monitoring of the cats attending the clinic has provided new insights into CKD and related mineral and bone disorder, hyperthyroidism and hypertension (high blood pressure), and supported the development of new diets, pharmaceutical products and diagnostic tests related to these conditions. Current research in the group is aiming to answer a number of key questions about the development and management of CKD in cats.

Current areas of focus include the role of inflammation and dental disease in the development and progression of CKD, the impact of urinary tract infections on cats with kidney disease and the best way to treat these cats. The group have identified that some cats with CKD can be at risk of high calcium levels, on-going research is enabling exploration of whether this contributes to calcification of the kidney and if so, how it might be slowed or prevented. Further work is also exploring the importance of diets for cats with early stage kidney disease helping us to understand which diets are most appropriate.

Solution

The RVC’s Geriatric Cat Clinic was established in 1992 with the aim of researching the common conditions of older cats and to help with the care and medical management of the cats that attend the clinic. Since then, more than 4,000 cats have come to the research clinic. Eligible cats benefit from free wellness health checks, including a full clinical examination, blood pressure measurement and regular blood and urine tests to check kidney and thyroid function. Regular monitoring of the cats attending the clinic has provided new insights into CKD and related mineral and bone disorder, hyperthyroidism and hypertension (high blood pressure), and supported the development of new diets, pharmaceutical products and diagnostic tests related to these conditions.

Current research in the group is aiming to answer a number of key questions about the development and management of CKD in cats. Current areas of focus include the role of inflammation and dental disease in the development and progression of CKD, the impact of urinary tract infections on cats with kidney disease and the best way to treat these cats. The group have identified that some cats with CKD can be at risk of high calcium levels, on-going research is enabling exploration of whether this contributes to calcification of the kidney and if so, how it might be slowed or prevented. Further work is also exploring the importance of diets for cats with early stage kidney disease helping us to understand which diets are most appropriate.  

Impact 

Through longitudinal follow-up of cats with chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism and hypertension, the RVC’s Geriatric Cat Clinic has greatly improved our understanding of these common problems, informed the design of new diets, and stimulated the development of new drug products and diagnostic tests. Many cats have been provided with the best possible management (high quality diets and medications) that their owners could otherwise not have afforded.

Recently the clinic has been running a diet trial to investigate whether a specially formulated diet may be beneficial to cats in the very earliest stage of CKD. Researchers from the group have also recently found that magnesium may be useful as a prognostic indicator in cats with CKD, as hypomagnesemia at diagnosis of azotaemic CKD was associated with a higher risk of death for these cats. The RVC diagnostic labs now routinely include magnesium measurement as part of their renal and comprehensive feline biochemistry profiles, and it is hoped that magnesium will be more widely incorporated as part of feline biochemistry profiles offered by other commercial labs in future.

Partners

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Publications

Title Publication Year
Sodium glucose transporter 2 inhibitors: Will these drugs benefit non-diabetic veterinary patients with cardiac and kidney diseases? Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Theraputics 2024
Dietary magnesium supplementation in cats with chronic kidney disease: A prospective double‐blind randomized controlled trial JVIM 2024
Risk factors and implications associated with ultrasound‐diagnosed nephrocalcinosis in cats with chronic kidney disease JVIM 2024
Detection of nephrocalcinosis using ultrasonography, micro‐computed tomography, and histopathology in cats JVIM 2024
Therapeutics of managing reduced red cell mass associated with chronic kidney disease – Is there a case for earlier intervention? JVIM 2023
Assessment of peritubular capillary rarefaction in kidneys of cats with chronic kidney disease JVIM 2022
Ionized hypercalcemia in cats with azotemic chronic kidney disease (2012‐2018) JVIM 2022
New concepts in phosphorus homeostasis and its impact on renal health with particular reference to the cat ScienceDirect 2022
Risk factors and implications associated with renal mineralization in chronic kidney disease in cats JVIM 2022
Renal Senescence, Telomere Shortening and Nitrosative Stress in Feline Chronic Kidney Disease Veterinary Sciences 2021
Changes in retinal vascular diameters in senior and geriatric cats in association with variation in systemic blood pressure JFMS 2021
A feline-focused review of chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorders — Part 2: Pathophysiology of calcium disorders and extraosseous calcification ScienceDirect 2021
Feline comorbidities: The intermingled relationship between chronic kidney disease and hypertension JFMS 2021
A feline focussed review of chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorders Part 1: Physiology of calcium handlingPart 2: Pathophysiology of calcium disorders and extraosseous calcification Vet J 2021
Risk factors associated with disturbances of calcium homeostasis after initiation of a phosphate-restricted diet in cats with chronic kidney disease JVIM 2021
Hypoxia and chronic kidney disease: Possible mechanisms, therapeutic targets and relevance to cats Vet J 2021
Changes in retinal vascular diameters in senior and geriatric cats in association with variation in systemic blood pressure JFMS 2021 
The effect of attenuating dietary phosphate restriction on blood ionized calcium concentrations in cats with chronic kidney disease and ionized hypercalcaemia JVIM 2021
Investigation of the transforming growth factor-beta 1 signalling pathway as a possible link between hyperphosphataemia and renal fibrosis in feline chronic kidney disease VetJ 2021
Risk factors associated with disturbances of calcium homeostasis after initiation of a phosphate-restricted diet in cats with chronic kidney disease JVIM 2021
The new age of renal biomarkers: does SDMA solve all of our problems? JSAP 2021
The association of bacteriuria with survival and disease progression in cats with azotemic chronic kidney disease JVIM 2020
Hypertension: Why is it critical? VCNA 2020

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