Cat home urine test high protein/pH, vet says okay. Kidney care?

This does indicate kidney disease but not necessarily permanent. Cystitis can cause improper emptying of the bladder. If the bladder gets backed up, it affects the kidneys and can spread the infection there. Clearing the infection and getting the bladder emptying properly can resolve those values. You can switch him to a kidney diet and make sure he gets plenty of water. I would recheck the blood work in 1-2 weeks and see how the numbers compare. If they are worse, then you likely have kidney disease and he may benefit from IV or SQ fluids. If they improve, then it may have been a result of the cystitis and medicines

His SDMA is normal which is a more reliable marker for kidney function. He may have been mildly dehydrated which can cause creatinine to elevate. Your vet could run a urinalysis to check his urine specific gravity and then recheck his BUN and Creatinine in 3 months to monitor for any increases.

There are many options, the one change which is proven to extend life expectancy and quality is to convert to a specialist kidney diet, preferably wet kidney food. These are enriched with antioxidants and b vitamins, contain highly digestible protein to reduce the amount of work the kidneys need to do and are high in antiinflammatory omega fatty acids. A kidney tonic such as pronefra can also help. Regular blood and urine testing to track progress is important as additional measures to treat high phosphorous, urine protein loss and high blood pressure may need to be added over time

Everything seems absolutely normal. Higher protein in urine could be unrelated to any specific disease and found commonly with higher USG (which means that the kidney are working fine and concentrating the urine). I would not be worried about PH at all. Rest of blood work seems normal (Probably 80% or more of cats tested for coronavirus are positive for it). Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Kudos to you for being such a diligent owner to your senior kitty! SDMA is technically a more sensitive measure of early kidney disease so the fact that it is still normal is excellent news. You’re right that the BUN and creatinine are borderline high, however mild dehydration can do this too. Therefore, if I see values like that in conjunction with highly concentrated urine and a normal SDMA, I’m not going to do anything except to continue monitoring. If the urine is dilute, there is protein in the urine, etc. then I investigate further. All in all, I agree that there is not much cause for concern but I’d recheck in 3-6 months. Best wishes to you and Tony!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If the veterinarian did not test her urine, I would recommend having her urine tested to see if she is dealing with a urinary tract infection. If she has a UTI, she will need an antibiotic and potentially an anti-inflammatory. If her urine was tested and came back normal, I would recommend providing her with multiple litter boxes with different litter and consider the use of a product called Feliway, which can be found online or at your local pet store. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

Even though Annie's SDMA is at the upper end of normal, I don't see evidence of early kidney disease due to her normal BUN and creatinine values. A urinalysis will help to determine how well her kidneys are functioning to concentrate urine. It looks as though she has a few extra red blood cells (mildly increased hematocrit) and is making some extra red blood cells (slightly increased reticulocyte count), as well as a mild drop in her neutrophils (a type of white blood cell). All of these fluctuations could be associated with a relatively recent mild infection or illness that she's since recovered from. If she's clinically doing well, I wouldn't otherwise think too much of these values. I see that she also has a bit of hyperkalemia (high potassium), which is increasing her Na/K (sodium to potassium ratio). While hyperkalemia can occur with kidney disease, I would also expect to see at least moderate increases in BUN and creatinine at the same time. Other issues, like stomach upset, parasites, or certain medications can also increase the potassium values. I would still check a urinalysis to help get a complete picture. If your vet also recommends doing so, repeating this bloodwork in another month or two is a reasonable idea to track any changes. I hope that everything goes well!