Prevalence and classification of chronic kidney disease in cats randomly selected from four age groups and in cats recruited for degenerative joint disease studies

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and degenerative joint disease are both considered common in older cats. Information on the co-prevalence of these two diseases is lacking. This retrospective study was designed to determine the prevalence of CKD in two cohorts of cats: cats randomly selected from four evenly distributed age groups (RS group) and cats recruited for degenerative joint disease studies (DJD group), and to evaluate the concurrence of CKD and DJD in these cohorts. The RS group was randomly selected from four age groups from 6 months to 20 years, and the DJD group comprised cats recruited to four previous DJD studies, with the DJD group excluding cats with a blood urea nitrogen and/or serum creatinine concentration >20% (the upper end of normal) for two studies and cats with CKD stages 3 and 4 for the other two studies. The prevalence of CKD in the RS and DJD groups was higher than expected at 50% and 68.8%, respectively. CKD was common in cats between 1 and 15 years of age, with a similar prevalence of CKD stages 1 and 2 across age groups in both the RS and DJD cats, respectively. We found significant concurrence between CKD and DJD in cats of all ages, indicating the need for increased screening for CKD when selecting DJD treatments. Additionally, this study offers the idea of a relationship and causal commonality between CKD and DJD owing to the striking concurrence across age groups and life stages.

Symmetric Dimethylarginine in Cats with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Diabetes Mellitus

“…Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the most common metabolic disease in cats . Its prevalence increases with age, reaching >80% in cats older than 15 years . Although the diagnosis is often straight forward once cats reach azotemic stages of disease, earlier diagnosis is desirable because recent studies suggest a possible benefit of initiating renoprotective nutritional treatment before this stage …”

The Effect of Moderate Dietary Protein and Phosphate Restriction on Calcium‐Phosphate Homeostasis in Healthy Older Cats

“…The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats is high and increases with age, making it likely that a large number of older cats could have nonazotemic CKD. Thirty‐one percent of nonazotemic cats ≥9 years of age develop azotemic CKD by 12 months .…”

Current Understanding of the Pathogenesis of Progressive Chronic Kidney Disease in Cats

“…Recent studies that include these early diagnosed patients suggest that the prevalence of CKD is much higher, and in the study by Marino and colleagues 80% of cats > 15 years were defined as having CKD. 6 …”