My cat's BUN is high, but vet isn't worried. Should I be concerned?

Question

Hi my question is about kidney values. Tony just had his 4 month checkup and his SDMA is 13 (same as last time), creatinine 1.6 (up from 1.5) and BUN is 39 (up from 36). My vet is not alarmed with these small increases but I see that the BUN range for a cat is (16-37) and 39 scares me as he is outside of the range. She also says there is No protein loss in his urine. Just hoping for another opinion. Thanks! Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Shorthair | Male | neutered | 18 years and 8 months old | 9.5 lbs

Makenzie Kurth, DVM · Accepted Answer

Kudos to you for being such a diligent owner to your senior kitty! SDMA is technically a more sensitive measure of early kidney disease so the fact that it is still normal is excellent news. You’re right that the BUN and creatinine are borderline high, however mild dehydration can do this too. Therefore, if I see values like that in conjunction with highly concentrated urine and a normal SDMA, I’m not going to do anything except to continue monitoring. If the urine is dilute, there is protein in the urine, etc. then I investigate further. All in all, I agree that there is not much cause for concern but I’d recheck in 3-6 months. Best wishes to you and Tony!

My cat's BUN is high, but vet isn't worried. Should I be concerned?

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