My 5-month-old kitten has kidney failure. What's causing this?

Poor Echo! This definitely looks like kidney disease from first glance. Since he is only 8 months old I would be concerned about acute. BUT I would certainly want to recheck his kidney values soon as well as an urinalysis. The concentration of his urine will also help to determine if these values are truly due to kidney failure or something else. Since he is so young, I would also consider having an abdominal ultrasound done on his kidneys to see if he is suffering from polycystic kidney disease. I hope this helps!

These lab results do not provide any "normal" values, which can differ based on the type of equipment used to run the sample, however I would agree that based on what I am used to as normal values Sabrina is in either renal failure or has very severe dehydration. Renal failure seems more likely given that she is also quite anemic (has low red blood cells), although her liver values do not look high to me. Typically renal failure is treated with aggressive intravenous fluid therapy, and with kidney values this high it seems unlikely that only getting fluids every 12 hours will make much of a difference. Also, with anemia such as she has, great care has to be taken not to give fluids too rapidly as to worsen the anemia. Persian cats are predisposed to a type of kidney disease known as polycystic kidney disease. This is easily diagnosed with ultrasound examination of the kidneys. Unfortunately, the prognosis is grim.

I'm so sorry Lucy has been diagnosed with kidney and liver disease. Unfortunately I would need to know a little more about her particular case in order to give more specific advice on treatment and prognosis. Acute kidney injury can be caused by toxins or infections, and with aggressive IV fluid therapy and hospitalization sometimes the kidneys can recover full function. Chronic kidney disease happens more slowly, and while diet changes and monitoring for secondary problems like high blood pressure can help slow the progression of disease there is no cure. ALT and cholesterol can increase for a number of different reasons - gastrointestinal infections, pancreatic disease, and liver and gallbladder infections would be a few. It seems like her kidney disease is likely more significant at this point. If you have more specific questions you can consider starting a consultation with an expert or repost your question with a little more detail about her history and current treatments.

Hello. Thank you for your question. I can understand your concern. It is possible that the issue was genetic so It would not hurt to have your kitten tested for any deficits. It could also be completely unrelated. The sibling could have had issues from birth that none of the other kittens had, or it could have injested something toxic. Symptoms to look for would be increased or severly decreased water consumption, lethargy, weight loss, decreased appetite, and bad breath. Your veterinarian will be able to run blood tests that will show if there is any decreased kidney function. I hope everything turns out ok! If you have any further questions you can always contact me directly through the consultaions option.

I'm so sorry to hear about Sylvester and your loss. It sounds like you did everything you could for him and he was likely in renal failure. Sometimes this is treatable, other times the kidneys do not recover and cats may need dialysis or even a renal transplant. It sounds like you did everything right by him but his condition was too severe.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! That is not a sign of kidney failure. This may be due to irritation but it could also be due to a gastrointestinal issue which is why if this continues, she should be evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Have a good day!

I think IV fluids and supportive care are a reasonable place to start. If your veterinarian is suspicious of acute kidney injury then Mimi could regain kidney function with aggressive supportive care, but some cats will worsen despite treatment. If your veterinarian is suspicious of chronic kidney disease then her kidney function may not improve but often cats can be managed with medication and diet changes with a good quality of life for months to years. The acute vs. chronic designation is usually based on the history and overall exam findings. I think an ultrasound and urinalysis are good next steps - you may also want to ask about culturing the urine (although she may currently be getting antibiotics which could change the results, I can’t quite read a couple of the injectable medications). A blood pressure might also be helpful, and checking phosphorous, calcium and electrolytes in a blood panel could help. The only lab finding that is a little odd is the increase in lymphocytes, although sometimes the machine will not differentiate between cell types well and this may not be significant. Good luck to Mimi!