Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Ionized high calcium in cats with kidney disease 2012-2018
By van den Broek, Dirk Hendrik Nicolaas et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary internal medicine·2022·Department of Clinical Science and Services, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Ionized hypercalcemia in cats with azotemic chronic kidney disease (2012-2018).
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 164 cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) were studied to see how often they had high levels of ionized calcium in their blood, which can be a concern for their health. About 20% of these cats had elevated calcium levels at the time of their CKD diagnosis, and those with higher total calcium and potassium levels were more likely to have this issue. Over a follow-up period, 26% of cats that initially had normal calcium levels developed hypercalcemia after about 140 days. Regular blood tests to check calcium levels are recommended for cats with CKD to catch any problems early.
People also search for: cat chronic kidney disease symptoms · high calcium levels in cats · cat kidney disease monitoring
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hypercalcemia is associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats, but studies assessing the physiologically relevant ionized calcium fraction are lacking. OBJECTIVES: To describe the prevalence and incidence rate of ionized hypercalcemia, and to explore predictor variables to identify cats at risk of ionized hypercalcemia in a cohort of cats diagnosed with azotemic CKD. ANIMALS: One hundred sixty-four client-owned cats with azotemic CKD. METHODS: Variables independently associated with ionized hypercalcemia at diagnosis of azotemic CKD were explored by binary logistic regression. Cats that were normocalcemic at diagnosis of azotemic CKD were followed over a 12-month period or until ionized hypercalcemia occurred and baseline predictor variables for ionized hypercalcemia explored using Cox proportional hazards and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. RESULTS: Ionized hypercalcemia (median, 1.41 mmol/L; range, 1.38-1.68) was observed in 33/164 (20%) cats at diagnosis of azotemic CKD and was associated with male sex, higher plasma total calcium and potassium concentrations, and lower plasma parathyroid hormone concentrations. Twenty-five of 96 initially normocalcemic (26%) cats followed for minimum 90 days developed ionized hypercalcemia (median, 1.46 mmol/L; range, 1.38-1.80) at a median of 140 days after diagnosis of azotemic CKD (incidence rate, 0.48 per feline patient-year). Only body condition score was independently associated with incident ionized hypercalcemia. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The occurrence of ionized hypercalcemia is high in cats with CKD. Continued monitoring of blood ionized calcium concentrations is advised.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35608146/