• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 698 0

feline kidney transplant until the new organ starts to work. “Many pet owners today are willing to use their discretionary money to bear that cost if in fact there’s some expectation the animal’s going to recover,” says Dr. Cowgill. “We probably dialyze 50 percent of the animals we transplant.” The school handles up to 400 treatments each year.

Hemodialysis units for pets are only available in a handful of places:

The Animal Medical Center

510 E. 62nd St.

New York, N.Y. 10021

(212) 838-8100, begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(212) 838-8100 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Tufts Foster Hospital for Small Animals

200 Westboro Road

North Grafton, MA 01536

(508) 839-5302, begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(508) 839-5302 end_of_the_skype_highlighti

University of California Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital

Companion Animal Hemodialysis Unit

1 Garrod Dr.

Davis, CA 95616

(530) 752-1393, begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(530) 752-1393 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

UC Veterinary Medical Center-San Diego

10435 Sorrento Valley Rd, Suite 101

San Diego, CA 92121

phone: (858)875-7505, begin_of_the_skype_highlight(858)875-7505 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

fax: (858)875-7583

http://www.ucvmc-sd.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/default.cfm

e-mail: sdhemodialysis@vmth.ucdavis.edu

Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Hemodialysis Center

Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital

3900 Delancey St.

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA 19104

(215) 898-4680, begin_of_the_skype_highlighting(215) 898-4680 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

School of Veterinary Medicine

Louisiana State University

Baton Rouge, LA 70803-8410

(225)578-9600, begin_of_the_skype_highlighti (225) 578-9600 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

University of Florida, VMTH

2015 SW 16th Avenue

Gainesville, FL 32610

(352)392-2235, begin_of_the_skype_highlightin(352)392-2235, end_of_the_skype_highlighting ask for hemodialysis coordinator

fax: (352)846-2445 attn: hemodialysis coordinator

Transplants

Dr. McAnulty began transplanting pet kidneys in 1995. Cats are fortunate in that their bodies will accept the healthy kidney of any other cat with few rejection problems. Different transplant programs obtain donor cats from different sources. Dr. McAnulty gets donor cats from commercial laboratories and from a private local shelter.

Since healthy cats need only one kidney to live long, healthy lives, no cat is sacrificed so another can live. In fact, the owner of the recipient cat adopts the donor cat. That means a happy ending for all concerned. “The owners who do this are true cat lovers,” says Dr. McAnulty. “Everyone has been very happy with the donor cats in their household.”

Candidates for a kidney transplant must be otherwise healthy to be considered for the program. “But we don’t discriminate based on age,” he says. Most are seven- to nine-year old range, but the oldest cat to date has been 16, and one was less than a year old. “If they’re old and look fairly robust, and they’re healthy, then it’s a reasonable thing to do.”

Anti-rejection drugs such as cyclosporine work well in cats. However, surgery is expensive, and anti-rejection medication will be needed for the rest of the cat’s life. “I’ve found our clients are very good at it,” says Dr. McAnulty. But if the struggle of forcing pills into your cat destroys his quality of life, a kidney transplant may not be worthwhile for him.

Kidney transplants are available at only a handful of veterinary centers around the country. University of California-Davis began the first program but it is currently on hold. Another established program is at the University of Pennsylvania. A list of facilities currently performing the surgery is available at the excellent website http://www.felinecrf.com/transb.htm.

Bottom Line

“The typical cost for hemodialysis here is about $300 to $400 per treatment,” says Dr. Cowgill. During the course of treatment that can easily run to $5,000 to $7,000.

Kidney transplant starts at about $6,000 at the University