Research Communications of the 27(th) ECVIM-CA Congress: Intercontinental, Saint Julian's, Malta, 14th to 16th September 2017

Disclosures: No disclosures to report. The diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in cats is currently made using creatinine as an indirect marker of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), together with historical and clinical information and evaluation of urine concentrating ability. However, creatinine is recognized to be insensitive for the early decline in GFR. Symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA) is a novel biomarker of GFR, with studies suggesting it may be more sensitive than creatinine in detecting this early decline. Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) is a phosphaturic hormone known to increase with declining GFR and has been shown to be predictive of the onset of azotemia in cats >9 years, indicating disturbed phosphate homeostasis. The introduction of SDMA, has led to the identification of cats where SDMA is increased but plasma creatinine remains within reference interval (RI). There is currently little understanding of the metabolic changes present in these cats. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between plasma FGF-23 and SDMA concentrations in non-azotemic geriatric cats.