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Dr Kim Kendall
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Two 'kidney cats' - same organ in trouble, two totally different treatments.
'Walter' and 'Levi' are two cats whose kidneys are in trouble. They hid their problem very successfully, and it was a surprise in both to discover that the underlying damage was in their kidneys. Walter 'blew up' - his skin became puffy and his legs swelled. Levi, on the other hand, vomited and lost weight over a period of a year or so.
Walter is middleaged (8 years) and Levi is young (4 years). Blood tests on both revealed the underlying malfunction was in the kidneys, but through different mechanisms.
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Walter was rejecting his own kidneys
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Walter was 'rejecting his own kidneys' - he had glomerulonephritis, a condition where the filtering function of the kidneys is disrupted by antibodies (part of the cat's own immune system) being laid down in the filtering membranes and causing the sieve-like membrane to leak! He was losing important proteins from his blood (albumin mainly) into the urine, and this resulted in water leaking out under his skin (a function of osmotic pressure for the scientists out there).
Treatment for him requires high levels of corticosteroids to tone down his overactive immune system, and allow the body to repair the sieve!
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Levi has renal failure
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Levi, on the other hand, had no kidney function or reserve left. He had surreptitiously been drinking twice the normal amount of water for some time, and he could not concentrate his urine at all. This is a very common problem in old cats (in fact, 50% of old cats die of kidney failure), but Levi is only young, and blood tests revealed that the rest of him is working well.
Treatment for him, therefore, involves getting a new kidney and fortunately he only has to go to Brisbane to get it done!
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A kidney transplant for Levi
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A kidney transplant is a costly and involved procedure, but the outcome is usually excellent. One of the interesting features of the procedure is that after surgery, Levi will also need corticosteroids at high doses to prevent him 'rejecting' his NEW kidney! Plus he will come home with a friend!
The 'rules' of the surgery are - only basically healthy cats are candidates (ie. cats that have kidney failure as their only problem and are otherwise healthy), preferrably purebreds & especially Siamese as they have a much lower rejection rate than domestics, the owner has to have about $4000 spare now plus $1500 per year for maintenance, and two cats come home because the owner has to keep or find a home for the donor cat ( as only one kidney is harvested from the donor cat).
Living with one kidney, especially in the lap of luxury, is no hardship, and the donor cats live a normal life. The first cat to have a transplant (in Davis, California - the only other place the surgery is done) is alive 9 years later!
It is amazing what can be done for our feline friends these days!
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Author: Dr Kim Kendall BVSc MACVSc (Feline Medicine) graduated from the University of Sydney in 1982 and established the East Chatswood Cat Clinic in 1994, a dedicated cat-only Veterinary Clinic. The practice does everything for cats and is a full service veterinary clinic.
www.catclinic.com.au
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