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My cat has kidney injury. Can kidney damage be reversed or managed?

Updated on September 23, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Domestic Mediumhair | Female | spayed | 7 months and 14 days old | 5.75 lbs

Creatinine was over 9 and SDMA was 81 - the vet suspects kidney injury. We can't think of anything toxic she might have gotten into. She had her right hind leg amputated by the humane society at 2 months of age. The notes show her BP dropped to 87/29 and 15 minutes later, 82/28. We're taking her for an ultrasound after IV therapy got her enzymes back to normal but a week later creatinine is at 3.3. Could that be the cause five months later and if so, can the damage be reversed? Thank you so much

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 29, 2018

Hello, so sorry that Clara is having this issue.

With the blood pressures you listed I am not sure if you have the systolic and diastolic pressures or is that the systolic and the mean (MAP)? The systolic (and the MAP) are the ones that we are most concerned with under anesthesia and 87 and 82 systolic are not low. Anything under 70 and we will start to intervene to increase the blood pressure. So, I doubt that had any negative impact on the kidneys however, it could of course. Stranger things have happened. Do you have any "before" surgery bloodwork? That would give you the best indication as to if this was surgery related. Unfortunately, we will probably never have a 100% answer to that question. My guess is that she may have some congenital kidney anomaly.

Kidney damage cannot be reversed. It can only be managed and the best way to do that is with a prescription diet. Study after study has shown that the proper diet is the number one factor that helps manage kidney disease. I suggest you talk to your vet about starting a prescription diet (if you haven't already done so).

I recommend that she have an abdominal ultrasound to check the architecture of the kidneys and monitor her blood pressure every few months with your vet.

Hope this helps. Best wishes.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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