How is PKD Diagnosed?
Kidney failure is generally diagnosed through a urinalysis and a blood chemistry panel. There are many causes of kidney failure, however. To determine if the affected cat has PKD, an ultrasound examination is generally performed. On palpation, the kidneys may feel enlarged and irregular in shape. There is no blood test that can identify cats with PKD. An ultrasound can also be used to identify the cysts in the kidney before the animal is showing any signs of disease, even in some kittens as young as 6 weeks of age. Using ultrasound, the diagnosis of PKD in kittens 10 months of age is 98% accurate. Which cats can get PKD? PKD is an autosomal dominant inherited disease. This means that a cat only needs one gene for PKD to develop the disease. A cat can inherit the PKD gene from either parent, or both of them. If the cat has one gene for PKD, it is said to be “heterozygous”, and if the cat has two genes, it is said to be “homozygous.” If a heterozygous cat is mated with a cat who does not
