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Worried about my cat
My cat is around 10 (she's a rescue so exact age is uncertain). She's been the picture of good health until about a year ago when she developed fur loss and also had a bout of acute pancreatitis (now resolved).
She's been getting regular blood work, and has had 2 abdominal ultrasounds in the past 6 months. All is coming back normal, except her urine specific gravity is low- which the vet says is a sign of early kidney disease. No signs of kidney issues in her blood, though- this is normal. The vet has put her on a low protein Rx diet, and we are starting Azodyl.
The only other symptom my cat has now is weight loss. Due to this, my vet recommended biopsies to rule out a malignancy (she says that this might not show up on blood or ultrasound). Here, I am a bit hesitant. I am concerned on putting my cat through this- apparently it is invasive (vet says like a spay) and my girl is older and already been through so much. I was quoted a 5 day recovery period. I don't want to do this unless absolutely necessary. At the same time, I don't want to avoid something that might catch a critical disease. But, couldn't the weight loss just be due to early kidney disease and the diet change?
WWYD?
Re: Worried about my cat
What are they biopsying? The kidneys? Both kidneys?
I'd probably be hesitant to do an exploratory biopsy with that kind of recovery time. It's true, a tumor could cause weight loss and might not show up on an ultrasound. But there's also no guarantee that even if there is a tumor, it would be in the same part of the kidney they take the sample from.
If the diet is a recent change and the weight loss didn't start until then, I'd also be questioning the new food as a source of the weight loss. Maybe look into other options (or, try switching temporarily back to her original food and see if the weight loss stops/reverses). If the goal is a low protein diet though, the pp's suggestion of going grain-free may not be what you want. Maybe a homemade diet if the vet's food isn't ideal.
I think (the biopsy) is a personal call though. If the purpose is to detect a tumor, you have to decide whether you would be willing to treat a tumor if one is found. Would you be willing to go through the surgery, or would you let nature take its' course? If you would choose the latter option, maybe it's best to forgo the biopsy and just treat the symptoms, as long as her quality of life remains good.