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Are you worrying that your cat has a urinary or kidney problem? After you finish this article you’ll understand what tests are run for cats in kidney failure. The key to lengthening your cat’s life is to contact your vet as soon as possible to have a a series of diagnostic tests run. Your veterinarian will perform blood and urine tests to check for key symptoms for a cat experiencing chronic kidney failure.

Its important to understand some of the vocabulary used to convey the state of the condition for cats in kidney failure. Acute kidney (or renal) failure in your cat is characterized by complete organ failure where the kidneys stop working altogether. Usually, acute renal failure occurs quite suddenly and can affect both young and old cats.This type of kidney disease is almost always fatal but if treated immediately and aggressively, the kidneys may regain normal functions and your cat may live a normal lifespan.

Another term, chronic kidney failure, is the more common disease. This type of kidney disease is usually experienced by an aging cat when their major organs have diminished function. Sadly, by the time you notice the symptoms for cats in kidney failure, about 70% of your cat’s kidney functions are already in trouble. Chronic kidney failure is a progressive disease and will eventually result in the death of your cat. Early diagnosis and aggressive management can keep your cat comfortable for months, if not years.

Since cats with a kidney problem typically have small, shriveled kidneys, your vet will palpitate the area and may take x-rays or an ultrasound. The most dependable diagnosis comes from the blood and urine tests taken from your cat.

Blood Tests

A blood test evaluates the BUN level of your cat’s blood. No, BUN isn’t a level of yeast but stands for the Blood Urea Nitrogen level. The BUN is a chemical that the liver makes from ammonia. After production, BUN is excreted into the kidneys, which increases in some diseases especially for cats in kidney failure. The test also is a marker for dehydration in your cat or even bladder stones.

Blood tests also show the level of creatinine in your cat’s blood. Creatinine is the breakdown product of muscle and normally is excreted by the kidneys. If your cat’s creatinine level is abnormally high it helps confirm that your cat’s elevated BUN level was caused by kidney failure.

Urine Tests

Your veterinarian will check for signs of infection by evaluating your cat’s urine. He will also evaluate the concentration of proteins. When a healthy cat is dehydrated the proteins show at a concentrated level. For cats in kidney failure, this protein concentration is not there which is key to determining if your cat’s kidneys are functioning properly or not.

The appliances found in most households that we commonly refer to as radiators, in my humble opinion, should not be called radiators as they do not technically radiate. In fact, radiators transfer heat using convection.

The term radiation applies to when heat or energy of some kind is emitted outwards in all directions to ultimately be absorbed by whatever body happens to get in its way, this could be a person or anything really.

Convection is the process of heating liquid, which then passes the heat on to the matter around it, in the case of a house hold heater, the water inside a radiator would be heated, then circulated round the (usually white) iron casing, which would then transfer the heat to the surrounding air. There is very little difference in the end results of radiation and convection (at least not in terms of household heating in the short term) but the way the heat is transferred that makes them different.

So despite the fact that the most common household heaters all (or at least mostly) use convection, they are referred to as radiators.

However convection is far less harmful than radiation. This is because convection is simply the air getting warmer whereas radiation is energy travelling in electromagnetic waves which if youre regularly exposed to, can be dangerous.

The two most common types of radiation are alpha and beta radiation. Beta is stronger than alpha but it wont take all that much to block either of them. A sheet of aluminium would take care of both of these radiation types, but if your household heaters were emitting these waves throughout your life, then that could cause some serious health issues such as microscopic damage to your inner tissue, tumours, cancer and possibly damage to the skin.

So all in all, we should really be calling radiators convectors as that is technically how they function, but considering the potential health risks that are presented with radiation, Id personally rather have it the way it is than the other way around!