The best transplant candidate is the patient that is outwardly healthy. These patients are able to adequately maintain their own food and water intake. Certainly, cats that require subcutaneous fluids or an indwelling stomach tube for their continued survival should have their transplant as soon as possible. In general terms, candidates for transplantation should be screened and determined to be free of infectious or other organ diseases (see section on RECIPIENT TESTING FOR FELINE RENAL TRANSPLANT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN for actual tests that should be run before coming to the UW for transplant). Kidney transplantation would not be performed on patients with significant heart disease, diabetes, liver failure, active bacterial urinary tract infection, certain cancers or viral infections such as FIV, FIP or FeLV. Similarly, diseases such as oxaluria, cardiac problems, hypertension, inflammatory bowel disease or amyloidosis increase the chances of a poor outcome after surgery or a shortened lifespan for the transplanted kidney and may eliminate a candidate from consideration. See RISK FACTORS FOR SELECTED RENAL TRANSPLANT CANDIDATES for a discussion of some of these problems.

As part of the process in deciding if your cat is a transplant candidate, you will also need to consider a number of issues impacting you as the owner of such a patient. For a select list of these questions and other issues as presented from the cat owner’s perspective, see our LINKS section. A good list of such issues is presented in the Feline Chronic Renal Failure website at http://www.felinecrf.com.