How much does a cat with kidney failure live?

Unfortunately, the renal insufficiency It is a very common disorder, especially in older cats. This insufficiency, which consists in the failure of the function of one or both kidneys, can be presented in a chronic or acute. In both cases it will require veterinary management, with treatments, food specially formulated to treat this problem and periodic reviews.

When we receive the diagnosis that our cat suffers from this pathology, the first question we ask ourselves is usually: How much does a cat with kidney failure live? In this article we will give the keys to answer this question.

Kidney failure in cats

Broadly speaking, renal failure is a malfunction of the kidneys, only one or both may be affected. The main problem is that kidney damage takes a long time to manifest because the body is activating compensation mechanisms with which it is enduring.

When we begin to appreciate the symptomatology, the kidneys may already be very injured. Kidney failure can occur acutely, suddenly, with symptoms that will include vomiting, anorexia, dehydration or a prostration more than evident. If left untreated, the cat will die. Other times renal failure occurs chronically. We can see that our cat is thin, is a little dehydrated, vomits, drinks a lot, etc. It also requires veterinary treatment but the situation still would not be of imminent death.

A blood test It can inform us about the state of the kidneys and it is also possible to perform a urine test and an ultrasound. With all these data the veternary will classify the stage of the disease in which our cat is, since this will depend on the treatment to follow.

In acute renal failure the main thing is to recover the animal and it will be once stabilized when the resulting damage and the most appropriate treatment will be assessed. Kidney failure does not heal But we can offer quality to our cat as long as they stay with us. This treatment is oriented, since kidney damage not only affects the kidneys but has progressive consequences throughout the body and it is this deterioration that ends up causing death.

Since the symptomatology can appear when the disease is already very advanced, it is imperative that we submit our cat to reviews every 6-12 months from, approximately, the 7 years of age. With a simple blood test we can detect kidney damage (and other diseases) in the early stages. The sooner we start treatment, the longer life expectancy will be. But how long does a cat with kidney failure live? We see what to keep in mind in the next section.

Factors to take into account in renal failure

You have to start by stating that it is impossible to determine exactly how much a cat with kidney failure lives. We will then point out some relevant aspects that may augur a longer or shorter life time for the cat afflicted with this disorder.

Factors that they influence life expectancy of a cat with kidney failure:

• Acute or chronic kidney failure: an acute presentation can be fatal in a matter of hours, on the other hand, if what our cat suffers is a chronic insufficiency it can be maintained with a good quality of life for years.
• The stage of the disease: the veterinarians classify the phase of the insufficiency in which there is a cat attending to diverse factors, as they are the symptomatology or their levels of phosphorus. Based on these indicators, the disease will be more or less serious and this, logically, will have an impact on life expectancy. Therefore, cats in stages that are less serious will have, a priori, a longer life expectancy and vice versa.
• The treatment: this will consist of a specific diet for kidney patients and more or less medication, depending on the severity of the condition. Discover which are the best feed for cats with renal failure on the market, as well as the steps to follow if you want to offer a homemade diet for cats with kidney failure.
• The handling of the animal: if the cat refuses to consume the prescribed food or there is no way to administer the medication, its life expectancy will decrease. At this point it is important to assess if we want to force our cat to continue the treatment, which will produce a stress that will not help maintain their quality of life, or we decided to leave it, even if that means that it lives less time. It is a circumstance that can occur and we will have to value it.

Life expectancy

Since we can not give an exact figure about how much a cat with kidney failure lives, they are multiple and unpredictable factors to take into account, we can point out the pattern of life expectancy that usually occurs in cats afflicted with insufficiency. It would be the following:

• For cases of acute renal failure The first 24-48 hours are crucial since, if there is improvement, that is to say, the symptoms subside, the animal begins to eat and we can withdraw the fluid therapy and the intravenous medication, we can say that the cat has recovered, but usually it usually becomes a chronic patient, having to follow veterinary care for life.
• In chronic insufficiency life expectancy will depend a lot on the phase in which the cat is found, being higher the milder the symptoms and the contrary. Generally, and taking into account this fact, cats with this type of insufficiency can live from several months to a few years.

When the cat is in the terminal phase, with no possibility of recovery, the veterinarian can recommend Euthanasia in cats that have renal failure, to relieve pain and suffering they may suffer. These cats that are in terminal phase can experience a serious discomfort during the days close to death, preventing them from carrying out the basic routines of day to day.

For this reason, as a last resort and to avoid the serious illness of this disease, some veterinarians may even recommend the euthanasia of the cat. If this is your case, think over the decision and follow the advice and recommendations of the specialist. If you do not agree, go to a second professional to perform a second evaluation to ensure the diagnosis or recommendations of the first specialist you have visited.

As a last point it is important to point out and value the importance of quality of life, above time.

This article is merely informative, in .com we do not have the faculty to prescribe veterinary treatments or make any kind of diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian in case of any type of condition or discomfort.

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