Tracking a Cat With CKD: What to Log Every Day With FurNote

How To

Track it with FurNote, step by step

1. STEP 01

   Understand IRIS staging (the CKD standard)

   IRIS stages CKD into 4 levels by fasting creatinine (mg/dL): Stage 1 <1.6 / Stage 2 1.6-2.8 / Stage 3 2.9-5.0 / Stage 4 >5.0. A urine specific gravity (USG) below 1.035 also suggests reduced concentrating ability. SDMA flags CKD earlier (IDEXX research: on average ~17 months before creatinine, and up to 4 years in some cases). Staging is a vet job — full guidelines at iris-kidney.com.

2. STEP 02

   Log water intake daily — the earliest signal to watch

   Increased thirst is one of the earliest things owners notice with CKD. Under Records → Diet, fill in the water_ml field at each meal so the daily total builds into a trend. If intake looks unusually high for your cat, that trend is exactly the kind of thing worth raising with your vet.

3. STEP 03

   Watch the weight trend

   Weight change is worth keeping an eye on. FurNote's dashboard automatically compares against 30 days ago and flags a drop over 5% or a rise over 10%. Before a vet visit, export the last 6 months of weight history as a chart so the conversation starts from data, not memory.

4. STEP 04

   Score appetite and energy with a care record

   Add one daily care record with appetite_score and energy_level. A steady 3-5 day downward run is the kind of trend worth flagging to your vet at the next check — you are recording what you observe, not diagnosing it.

5. STEP 05

   Log medication adherence

   Whatever your vet has prescribed, set it up as a schedule under the Medications tab and mark each dose as given. Export before a vet visit and the record shows whether doses were actually on time — far more reliable than trying to remember. FurNote tracks adherence; the prescription itself is between you and your vet.

6. STEP 06

   Record symptoms — and know when it is urgent

   If you notice changes like more vomiting, not eating, hiding, or unsteady walking, add a FurNote symptom record with a photo so nothing gets lost. These can be signs that need prompt attention — when in doubt, contact your vet or an emergency clinic right away. The record helps you describe exactly what you saw and when.

FAQ

Frequently asked

What if my cat has both CKD and diabetes?

Many senior cats have both, and balancing their care is your vet's job. Your part stays the same either way: in FurNote you keep logging the four signals (water, weight, appetite, medication) so your vet reads one combined trend at the next visit instead of piecing it together from memory.

Can I check USG at home?

Yes. A veterinary refractometer is inexpensive. Collect fresh urine (a non-absorbing litter or a product like hydrophobic sand works), place a drop on the refractometer and read the value. Leave interpretation to your vet — a low USG only becomes a CKD clue alongside other clinical signs. Do not self-diagnose.

Where do I record at-home glucose readings?

If your vet has you monitor glucose at home, keep each reading in the notes field of a FurNote care record (or the diagnosis field of a vet visit) so the values build into a timeline you can export. The monitoring method and the target range come from your vet — FurNote is where you keep the numbers, not where you interpret them.

What should I prepare before a vet visit?

Use FurNote Export, tick weight, diet, care and medication records for the last 3 months, and generate a PDF. Your vet seeing a 3-month water-intake trend, appetite scores and medication adherence is far more precise than "he's seemed a bit off lately".

Can FurNote tell me which IRIS stage my cat is in?

No. IRIS staging requires bloodwork (creatinine + SDMA), a urine USG test and blood-pressure measurement — all veterinary work. FurNote gives you an environment to track factors over time (diet, water, weight, symptoms), but the staging and treatment must come from your vet.