Up to 40% of cats over ten have kidney disease. Most owners find out late.
Creatinine only rises after about three quarters of kidney function is gone. There is now a marker that moves earlier — and a reason the first sign an owner notices is usually the water bowl.
Editorial placeholder for an article about feline kidney disease
Feline kidney disease is the clearest illustration of why screening exists at all. It is common, it is progressive, it is silent for a long time, and the interval between the first detectable change and the first visible symptom is measured in years rather than weeks.
Cats compensate. A cat with meaningfully reduced kidney function will, for a long period, look entirely normal — because the remaining tissue does more work and the animal drinks more to make up for urine it can no longer concentrate.
Chronic kidney disease affects up to 40% of cats over the age of 10, and 80% of cats over 15.
Why the timing of the test matters so much
The two markers do not move together. By the time the traditional one shifts, most of the organ is gone.
This is not a small distinction. It is the difference between finding a condition when diet and hydration management can slow it, and finding it when the conversation is about comfort.
SDMA becomes detectable when roughly 40% of kidney function has been lost. Creatinine — the older marker — typically rises only after about 75% has gone.
Cats diagnosed at IRIS Stage 2 have a mean survival time of two to three years. Cats diagnosed at Stage 4 survive, on average, less than six months.
The gap between the two markers is the gap between managing a condition and managing an ending.
The water bowl
If there is one thing worth watching at home, it is drinking. Increased thirst and increased urine volume are the earliest changes most owners can actually observe, and they are worth mentioning even when the cat seems perfectly well.
Multi-cat households are the hard case: nobody can tell which cat is drinking. That is an argument for screening bloodwork rather than for watching harder.
- Any cat aged 7 or older, as a baseline while well
- Drinking noticeably more, or urinating larger volumes
- Weight loss without an obvious cause, even slight
- Appetite that has become selective or unreliable
- Vomiting, poor coat, or unusual lethargy in an older cat
The register, in one place. Each claim is graded individually because a single article legitimately contains settled consensus and open questions in the same paragraph — the citations and the stated limits sit with each claim above.
Chronic kidney disease affects up to 40% of cats over the age of 10, and 80% of cats over 15.
SDMA becomes detectable when roughly 40% of kidney function has been lost. Creatinine — the older marker — typically rises only after about 75% has gone.
Cats diagnosed at IRIS Stage 2 have a mean survival time of two to three years. Cats diagnosed at Stage 4 survive, on average, less than six months.
TIMOMAX did not conduct this research. This article summarises the work below; the principal source is Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine.
- 1Principal sourceChronic Kidney DiseaseCornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine·Veterinary institution
- 2IRIS Staging System for Chronic Kidney DiseaseInternational Renal Interest Society·Professional guideline
This is general education, not advice about your animal. TIMOMAX is not a veterinarian and cannot examine anything. If something has changed about your animal, that is a question for a veterinary practice — and most will answer it on the phone.