How to care for a cat with kidney failure and ensure a good life?

Question

Hello, my cat is diagnosed with renal failure. She is 8 years old, and whe live in Spain. In the ultrasound, my cat have the two kidneys very small and in one of them she have a stain. I want to know all of the possibles for a good live of.my cat and if is possible a renal transplant because in spain they do not do this operation. Thank you soo much. Pet's info: Cat | European Burmese | Female | 7 years and 8 months old | 10 lbs

Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA · Accepted Answer

In chronic renal failure, the kidneys can become scarred or small in size, so the ultrasound supports that diagnosis. I am not sure what you mean by stain - this isn't a common term used in the US on ultrasounds. Changing the diet to a prescription renal food, increasing fluid intake by encouraging water consumption or administering subcutaneous fluids, using additional medications as the need arises, etc are ways to maintain or improve quality of life. Depending on the degree of kidney failure and Luci's response to treatments, she may have several more years of good life. But it is also possible that no amount of medical care could keep her comfortable and humane euthanasia may need to be considered sooner than later. Renal transplants are not commonly performed in the world. There is one University in the US that I am aware of performing them, but rarely. There is a large expense, risks of the immune suppressing drugs used, and the ethics of taking a kidney from another cat (that needs to be a perfect match) without them being able to give consent. Often the other cat will need to be adopted by the organ recipient.

How to care for a cat with kidney failure and ensure a good life?

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