Screening of ragdoll cats for kidney disease: a retrospective evaluation

To assess the prevalence of renal abnormalities in ragdoll cats. Ragdoll breeders often warn clients to watch for future renal problems, mainly due to chronic interstitial nephritis and polycystic kidney disease. Therefore, ragdoll screening by abdominal ultrasonography, measurement of serum creatinine and urea concentrations and genetic testing is often performed without documented scientific evidence of increased risk of renal disease.

Retrospective evaluation of ragdoll screening for renal disease at one institution over an eight-year period.

Renal ultrasonography was performed in 244 healthy ragdoll cats. Seven cats were positive for polycystic kidney disease, 21 were suspected to have chronic kidney disease, 8 had abnormalities of unknown significance and 2 cats had only one visible kidney. Cats suspected to have chronic kidney disease were significantly older and had significantly higher serum urea and creatinine concentrations than cats with normal renal ultrasonography. All 125 genetically tested cats were negative for polycystic kidney disease. However, only one of the seven ultrasonographically positive cats underwent genetic testing for polycystic kidney disease.

Ultrasonographic findings compatible with chronic kidney disease were observed in almost 10% of cats, and polycystic kidney disease occurred at a low prevalence (<3%) in this ragdoll population. Further studies are required to elucidate if ragdoll cats are predisposed to chronic kidney disease.