Home > Symptoms

Overview

If your cat is showing any of the symptoms listed, make an appointment with your vet, since some of the symptoms may have more than one cause, so you need an accurate diagnosis in order to treat properly.  

IMPORTANT: CRASHING

Crashing in a medical context means a sudden and severe downturn in the patient's condition. In a CKD cat it indicates a crisis usually associated with severe dehydration. Crashes are rarely treatable at home - in most cases the cat will require hospitalisation. If, after reading the information below, you think your cat may be crashing, please seek veterinary advice urgently. 

Body Fluid Regulation and Urinary Issues                                                                    Go to page

Regulation of Minerals in the Body                                                                                             Go to page

Phosphorus and calcium are minerals used in the body, but imbalances may arise in CKD cats and lead to a condition known as secondary hyperparathyroidism, which may make the CKD progress faster. 

Metabolic Acidosis                                                                                                           Go to page

This is quite common in CKD cats. Symptoms include weight loss, particularly lean muscle loss and a bony spine, breathlessness, mouth ulcers, vomiting and twitching.

Many CKD cats have problems with excess stomach acid.  Symptoms that may be seen include: Loss of appetite, excess stomach acid, vomiting and nausea,vomiting water, playing with water, hunched over water bowl, liplicking, teeth grinding, yawning, eating grass, bad breath, mouth ulcers, gastro-intestinal bleeding, diarrhoea?, body odour, itching, twitching, seizures, howling, hoarseness.

Constipation                                                                                                                      Go to page

This is also very common in CKD cats. Symptoms include vomiting before, during or immediately after using the litter tray, loss of appetite, pooping next to the litter tray, dry stools and an ungainly walk.

This is such an important topic that it has its own page here.

Crashing refers to a crisis situation for your cat. It may happen suddenly and be what finally alerts you to the existence of CKD in your cat; or it may happen after your cat has been suffering from CKD for some time. 

If your cat exhibits some or all of the following symptoms: is severely dehydrated; has extremely strong bad breath; has a strong body odour; is lying in a "meatloaf" position ; eyes are dull; is refusing to eat and possibly also to drink; then s/he may be crashing.

A cat who has crashed will often be lying in a "meatloaf" position, which is very similar to the Sphynx position but with the head down and the front paws close to the body. I am often asked exactly what the meatloaf position looks like. Indie to the left is lying in the Sphynx position, which is not exactly the same but it gives you some idea of what meatloaf position looks like.  Many healthy cats such as Indie assume this pose too, so the pose itself is not grounds for worry; you need to see the symptoms described below in addition to the pose. Here Indie (non CKD) is in the basic meatloaf position, but her head is not down, her eyes are not dull, and she's making eye contact. The day Tanya died, she lay in this position too but she refused to raise her head and her eyes were dull. She also stayed in that position, seemingly unwilling to move. 

I find this section of the site can really worry people. Remember, the meatloaf position is not identical to the photo above, and on its own it is not a reason to panic. Cats with stomach acid, for example, may lie in this position. It is when you see the meatloaf position in conjunction with the other symptoms described in the second paragraph above that you should contact your vet.

Crashing usually occurs because your cat has reached a crisis point in terms of balancing his or her fluid intake and output. The cat has probably been drinking more to compensate for the increased urination, but can no longer drink enough. As a consequence most cats who crash are very dehydrated, and their bloodwork values when tested are very high. The bad breath smell will be particularly strong, perhaps with mouth ulcers present, and your cat may also have a generally strong body odour. The cat will often be unable to get comfortable because of all the toxins in the body - this may explain the meatloaf position. He/she will have dull, perhaps sunken eyes and not make eye contact. Your cat will probably refuse to eat and may also refuse to drink.

Crashing is a medical emergency. Your cat will usually need rehydration therapy at the vet's in an attempt to combat the dehydration and reduce the bloodwork values, and you should contact your vet WITHOUT DELAY. Delaying could be very serious for your cat, as the toxin levels in the body will continue to rise if left untreated. When Thomas first crashed, I didn't realise what it was and I did not call the vet because it was a Sunday and I didn't like to bother her - she told me off, and said waiting had been very risky and at the very least had condemned Thomas to another day and night of feeling awful. If caught early enough, your vet may be able to save your cat as our vet saved Thomas on two occasions, so don't take any chances. 

During Thomas's first crash, his BUN was 86 (US: BUN 241), and this value did not change at all after four solid days and nights of IV. However, with home treatments, we did gradually reduce his numbers to urea 27 (BUN: 76) and creatinine 316 (US: 3.57), where they stabilised for some months. You can read Thomas's story in the Tanya, Thomas and Ollie section.