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higher BUN and creatinine values, and lose more water in their urine.

Tibbles's creatinine was 2.4, which is indicative of renal failure, and her BUN was around 46, which is elevated, but not dangerously high. At this point, it was hard to say for certain whether she had renal failure-she might have been temporarily dehydrated (or the vet just wanted to make more money for another test), so at this point she had to go in again for a urinalysis.

The point at which most people begin to suspect something is wrong with their cat is, alas, at a much later stage. Usually, what they'll notice is their cat missing the litterbox and peeing on the floor, but the thought that the cat might have kidney problems is the last thing to cross their mind. People, for some reason, fail to realize that cats are neurotically clean-they do not enjoy peeing all over the house-and almost always assume the problem to be behavioral in origin. This is a mistake. In trying to correct the cat's inappropriate elimination, the cat is losing valuable time, during which the damage can be contained and the condition can be managed by simple dietary changes alone.

People also do a great disservice to themselves at catching the first stages of CRF by feeding kibble. A cat on kibble drinks water-a lot of water-and remains mildly dehyrated as long as it is on kibble. A vet, looking at a blood panel for a cat that is borderline for kidney failure, may attribute the numbers to the fact that the cat is on kibble. The owner is not surprised that the cat is drinking water, and the problem will continue to escalate until the cat is peeing on the floors. Canned food is superior to kibble for that reason alone. Given that CRF is the most common cause of death of older cats, one should always remain on guard against it, and it is far easier to notice that your cat is drinking where before it wasn't, as opposed to noticing that your cat is drinking a little more than it used to.

The urinalysis measures the concentration of the urine. Because the kidneys are letting water leak out of them, the urine will be more dilute. Tibbles's urine was dilute-confirming what I'd suspected yet dreaded: she had CRF.

Because I make my own cat food, I called a vet who also feeds raw for a consult, and worked out diet for her. People who aren't so fortunate as to have financial help (the rescue group generously offered to cover half of Tibbles's bills) for a consult can do their cats huge favors by feeding watered-down canned

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