Kidney Disease in Older Dogs and Cats
As they age, our pets frequently experience urinary tract dysfunctions. These disorders most often affect the kidneys, which are very fragile organs, especially in the cat. This abnormal aging of the kidneys leads inexorably to destruction of the organ and death if not stopped.
Whether it intervenes in a dog or a cat, this aging of the kidneys manifests itself in the same way. But for reasons still unknown, cats easily develop kidney failure as they age. This means that the kidney gradually becomes unable to assume its primary role, that is, to eliminate waste from the body. By a complex mechanism, the abnormal aging of the kidney self-aggravates and self-accelerates. So we have to act quickly.
To act on time, here are some tips that will help you to intervene before it is too late:
1. Monitor the weight of your old animal
Indeed, the first symptoms of kidney disease can be translated only by a progressive, slight but constant decrease in weight. An old healthy cat is a stable weight cat. An old dog should neither lose weight nor grow fat for no apparent reason.
2. Monitor the amount of water your pet is drinking
A healthy cat is a cat that drinks little. Let us remember that our domestic cat came from ancestors who lived in Africa and who had adapted to the desert. If your cat begins to drink abnormally, it is because his kidneys do not work well; Paradoxically (and contrary to what happens in humans), a cat that drinks and urinates a lot is a cat that is not going well. I suggest that you control this disorder by measuring the amount of water drunk or by observing your pet (which will stay longer near its bowl of water, or re-pee inside during the night) or by changing its litter (Abnormally dirty).
3. Watch your old companion's appetite
When the disease worsens, the toxins usually eliminated by the urine are no longer so (the urine is becoming clearer). They remain in the blood where they gradually poison the animal. This "poisoning" with urea (one of the most widely known toxins) will result in a decrease in appetite due to the presence of gastritis (manifesting as vomiting, or an appetite More and more capricious), bad breath and oral lesions.
4. Monitor the general condition of your pet
An abnormal fatigue (not because your animal is old that it must be tired) manifesting itself by a quasi-permanent somnolence may very well reveal the slow work of urea sap on the brain. Lastly, a deterioration of the coat resulting in a stinging hair, in clusters must also alert you.
The sooner you get involved in the course of the illness, the more effective you will be in its control. The wisest is to opt for the annual achievement of a geriatric health check from 10 years for cats and 7 years for dogs.
Indeed, the kidney disease is translated rather quickly by an elevation of certain blood parameters that the veterinarian can measure by a simple blood test. But beware, when the markers of renal function are in the red, the kidney has already been destroyed by more than ¾ of its substance; It is high time to intervene.
In the face of kidney disease: what to do?
So when you've seen a change in your pet's lifestyle or pace that you've alerted your veterinarian and the veterinarian has been able to diagnose the onset of kidney disease, it's time to act:
Firstly, diet is an essential and effective way of fighting the progression of abnormal renal aging. Your veterinarian will advise you the best diet depending on the stage of kidney failure. It will most often be an industrial feed (box or croquette) very effective in the control of renal aging. You will be able to enrich this diet by adding omega 3 fatty acids, which have recently been discovered to be actively involved in the fight against renal destruction: you can find them in sardines, rapeseed oil (one teaspoon per day ) Or specific food supplements.
Then by a medical treatment that your veterinarian will prescribe. New molecules now make it possible to guarantee very good results. It is your responsibility to ensure that you take this medication daily in drops or tablets. It ensures a noticeable slowing down of the kidney destruction rate.
By regular checking of your pet, its weight, its appetite, and its quantity of water drunk. All these precautions will be able to prevent the occurrence of a crisis of acute kidney failure: "the crisis of urea". To avoid being confronted with this terrible crisis, alert your veterinarian to the slightest risk of dehydration: small gastroenteritis, passing cold, heat wave, fugue ... if you do not react quickly, you must hospitalize your animal and put it on infusion during Several days to try to free his body from the urea that poisons him. Another solution to prevent this terrible imbalance is to anticipate the crisis by bringing your pet once every two or three months to the veterinarian to rebalance it through an infusion that can last between 24 and 48 hours.
In conclusion, remember that the key word of age-related kidney disease is prevention. From the first signs observed, as soon as the first abnormalities observed during the annual geriatric health check, it is necessary to act by slowing down the course of the disease by a diet and an adapted treatment. Thus protected, your companion can again hope to live long in full form.
Dr Boudaroua
Translated From Frensh by Taylor Ayotte
