Re: Elevated Renal function test results in Birman Cats

Over the past few years we have noticed that many apparently normal Birman cats have elevated urea and creatinine levels. This is more usually associated with some degree of renal insufficiency, however, some of these Birmans with high renal values have been observed for many years without showing any other evidence of renal disease, or progression to renal failure.

The significance of the high renal values in these cats is questionable, but this does raise concerns as veterinary surgeons unaware of this phenomenon may assume it indicates renal failure. Hence affected cats on presentation for some other reason, may be miss diagnosed, and either treated inappropriately, or euthanased because of a presumed poor prognosis for recovery.

We have also seen a number of very young Birman cats with renal failure. At present we are unsure of how or whether this may relate to the generally elevated levels of urea and creatinine in the breed as a whole. However, we do feel it warrants further investigation as it is only by investigating the situation further that we can hope to gain an understanding of the problem and hence be better able to give advice and care for these cats.

This is clearly an area of concern to Birman breeders, and we would be pleased to help to try to clarify these issues. We have already undertaken a preliminary study looking at renal function tests in 65 normal healthy Birman cats; ageing from eight weeks to 12 years old. This pilot revealed that 25% of the cats had elevated creatinine levels, and 90% had elevated urea levels (although it should be noted that the cats had not been fasted prior to sampling, and feeding may cause a mild elevation in urea level). We intend to follow these cats' progress over the next few years.

To discover more about this condition we need to blood sample more healthy Birman cats in order to gain a better idea of the prevalence of the condition, and to follow their progress with time. Ultimately we need to be able to examine the kidneys of affected cats (whether affected with elevated renal levels alone or with renal failure), when these cats die or are euthanased. Clearly the last option is not going to be an easy one to make, but if a cat has to be put to sleep we would be very grateful if you could have our vet send us a kidney fixed in formalin. A simpler way in which you can help is to ask your vet to check your cats' blood levels, and to let us know the results, or ask your vet to contact us for further information.

If any one feels that they may be able to help, or would like more information on this subject please feel free to contact me at:

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