Is proteinuria a rare condition in apparently healthy and sick cats? A feline practice experience (2007-2018)

Abstract

Background: Proteinuria is assumed to be less frequent in cats than in dogs and is mainly associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Aim: The current study aimed to evaluate and compare UPC values retrospectively in cats visited for comprehensive annual health check or for presenting systemic clinical signs related to CKD. Methods: Urine protein-to-creatinine ratio (UPC) was retrospectively evaluated in 112 owned cats, out of which 51 (45.5%) were apparently healthy cats according to their owners who visited for comprehensive annual health-check and 61 (54.5%) sick cats, presenting systemic clinical signs suggesting CKD, such as weight loss or polyuria/polydipsia, among others. Results: Based on UPC, the present study found that 54.5% of all cats included were borderline proteinuric or proteinuric, so have increased UPC (UPC  0.2), with 35.7% included in the sick group and 18.7% in the health-check group. Increased UPC was also statistically associated with azotemia and isosthenuria (urinary specific gravity between 1008 and 1035) in both sick and health-check groups of cats. Conclusion: Independent of the reason for their medical visit, it could be concluded that borderline proteinuria and proteinuria were statistically mainly related to CKD in cats. Furthermore, measurement of UPC could be very useful in the detection and management of CKD in apparently healthy cats during a medical visit for annual health check irrespective of the age.

Keywords

• annual health-check
• kidney
• urine protein-to-creatinine ratio
• upc
• urinalysis