Stage 1 kidney disease

[SmellTheGlove]

Our old cat (15) has just been diagnosed with stage 1 kidney disease. She's been drinking loads and had a couple of delightful pissing on the bed (with me in it) episodes. Vet did blood and urine tests and she has a UTI (antibiotics for that) and stage 1 kidney disease. I asked what the prognosis was but didn't get much of a sense of what it really meant. Will she get worse quickly do you think? Or could she go on for years?

So sorry to hear that glove - must have been a shock. The good news is that early diagnosis really helps so you’ve already got one thing in your favour.

Eleventycat was diagnosed as stage 2 a few years back. It’s been very stable and she’s still going strong at 19.

I’d talk to your vet about how best to manage. They’ll probably suggest a change in diet and / or meds. It’s really important to control the amount of protein and phosphorus and make sure she has plenty of water.

This is a useful resource my vet recommended if you want to know more about CKD

icatcare.org/advice/cat-health/chronic-kidney-disease-cats

Usually the prognosis is good but it does depend on the individual cat, some seem to decline quickly and others go on for years. Mine is just getting worse now about four years after initial diagnosis (she's 17).

Thank you. We've got some new food that she is tolerating so far! She's such a moody old bag I can't even give her a cuddle to make her feel better - she'd bite my face off!